Home Speaker Asylum

General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

Re: Magnepan 1.6QR Speakers :Chameleons?

204.210.193.104

"I'm having trouble getting my wife interested in the 1.6 -mainly because of an unsatisfactory dealer demo. We
brought some of our favorite cds of acoustic music [mostly Baroque] and were chagrined by a hard, metallic,
'in-your-face' presentation that had us both cringing and beating a diplomatic retreat. What went wrong here?
Why do these speakers sometimes sound completely inimicable to music? [The room was a a major part of it no
doubt -a concrete box. Electronics were by Bryston with a modest Linn cd player.]"

I tried a pair in my room and didn't really care for them. The older 3.5R is a better speaker to my ears. The 1.6's are really rolled off in the highs, have little to no bass foundation, and the most annoying thing I found was the soundstaging.. the images seemed to want to stay on the panels. I tried both SS and tubes, with and without subwoofers, and 3 different crossover points for the subs along with many different positions in the room. They also tend to be too "upfront" IMO. I also found the midrange has a "plastic" coloration that can be bothersome after listening to a good electrostat (Eros) or a less colored dynamic speaker (Coincident Super Eclipse).

For the money they are a good value but..

I'd buy used 3.5r's over them in a heartbeat.

Mike Bates




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  • Re: Magnepan 1.6QR Speakers :Chameleons? - Mike Bates 08:41:08 12/10/99 (0)


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