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Magnepan 1.x Series SPL Measurements

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Posted on April 15, 2023 at 05:58:56
Joe Schmo
Audiophile

Posts: 518
Location: Palm Beach
Joined: April 21, 2008



I spent some time measuring my One Series Magnepans.

I made the measurements using REW and a MiniDSP UMIK-1 calibrated microphone. Each of the four speakers was placed in the center of the room individually for each measurement. The microphone was positioned on a stand and centered vertically and horizontally with the speaker driver at a distance of 1.5 meters. After the initial setup of the first speaker, the floor was marked and each speaker was exchanged for its measurement. Nothing else in the room or setup and settings was changed between each measurement. The speakers not being tested were not in the testing room.

The attached graph depicts the SPL data for an average of each speaker model along with the average of the two models combined.





-Joe

They're not that big!

 

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RE: Magnepan 1.x Series SPL Measurements, posted on April 15, 2023 at 06:42:01
Davey
 What is your conclusion based on those measurements??

Dave.

 

RE: Magnepan 1.x Series SPL Measurements, posted on April 15, 2023 at 08:10:59
Joe Schmo
Audiophile

Posts: 518
Location: Palm Beach
Joined: April 21, 2008
 The big takeaway for me was how similarly they measure. There is a notable "house curve" to each model that looks for all practical purposes identical. This was unexpected given my perceived subjective differences in their presentation. I really expected to see a greater pronounced difference in their measured values.

You may recall that my 1.6s have been modified in that the frames are constructed of red oak and the crossover components were "upgraded" while retaining their original values. The 1.7i speakers are in all original factory form. As you can see from the SPL data, that aspect of them looks remarkably close.

Both models have their pluses and minuses as far as my subjective listening experience, I'm just not sure why. I'd be happy to try and put those differences into words if you'd be interested in discussing it, but of course that would be getting well into my own subjective perception.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on all this.
-Joe

They're not that big!

 

RE: Magnepan 1.x Series SPL Measurements, posted on April 16, 2023 at 18:11:22
emailtim
Audiophile

Posts: 5428
Joined: July 2, 2017
 Thanks for posting. I never measured my 1.6's.

That appears to be a warm house curve.

Tools paper on house curves:

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Subjectively-preferred-steady-state-room-curve-targets-in-a-typical-domestic-listening_fig6_283039780
.

2022/03/30 Historical Records CENSORED

 

RE: Magnepan 1.x Series SPL Measurements, posted on April 17, 2023 at 06:30:14
Joe Schmo
Audiophile

Posts: 518
Location: Palm Beach
Joined: April 21, 2008



Thanks for the link to Tool's paper. That's an interesting read.

In the late '70s when graphic equalizers were all the rage in consumer electronics, my first job was in sales at a busy Radio Shack in a regional mall. Pretty much without exception when customers would play around with the audio systems on display, the equalizers would end up in a classic u-shaped loudness curve.

In my current setup, I find the 1.7s quite bass heavy and rolled-off compared to my 1.6 speakers. Looking at the data a little closer, it does appear that if you consider the 1.6(green trace) as having the flatter response and use it as the reference, the 1.7(red trace) curve is tilted approximately +2dB around a 500Hz anchor point. I suppose this would explain the 1.7 bass boost and high frequency roll-off I'm hearing compared to the 1.6 speakers. Adding in room interactions below 200Hz and that upward tilt in the 1.7s bass response gets multiplied by about +5dB at 50Hz compared to the 1.6s response.

As you say, there is definitely a warm house curve to the 1.x series voicing. It seems with the 1.7, Magnepan responded to consumer feedback and gave us the more is better curve.




-Joe

They're not that big!

 

RE: Magnepan 1.x Series SPL Measurements, posted on April 17, 2023 at 07:05:06
Davey
 With the series crossover it's pretty difficult to tone down the midrange bump.
I find that all of these speakers in the lower cost range 1.X, MMG, LRS, etc, all have too prominent midrange. At least with the parallel crossover you have much more control over the blending. Electronic equalization is the solution.

Your measurements are interesting, but you're pretty close with your microphone so that yields not the most accurate characterization of the subjective in-room response.

What I've done in the past is tip the speakers over on their side (tweeter side near the floor), and put my microphone on the floor for a ground plane measurement. That will yield a measurement that looks more similar to the overall response you'll experience in normal listening

Dave.

 

RE: Magnepan 1.x Series SPL Measurements, posted on April 17, 2023 at 09:36:44
emailtim
Audiophile

Posts: 5428
Joined: July 2, 2017
 I could relate to the comment about rental cars which I have found also extends to new car test drives, but it is usually more on the bass controls being cranked into distortion.

Maybe they are trying to recreate the loudness curves ???


.

2022/03/30 Historical Records CENSORED

 

RE: Magnepan 1.x Series SPL Measurements, posted on April 18, 2023 at 09:10:33
Joe Schmo
Audiophile

Posts: 518
Location: Palm Beach
Joined: April 21, 2008
 I did think about the mic to speaker distance and remembered discussions you've had before about that. In my case it was a matter of trying to strike a balance in a very small (approx. 12'x14') room. I placed the mic about equidistant between the wall and speaker. I figured that was the best I could do to avoid boundary interference.

In this case I was also mainly interested in the relative comparison between the two speaker models rather than absolute SPL value accuracy.

Thanks for the input Dave, I might give the ground plane measurement a try. I've not seen or heard of that before.
-Joe

They're not that big!

 

RE: Magnepan 1.x Series SPL Measurements, posted on April 18, 2023 at 09:13:15
Joe Schmo
Audiophile

Posts: 518
Location: Palm Beach
Joined: April 21, 2008
 I can imagine. The automotive bass craze seems over the top to me.
-Joe

They're not that big!

 

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