Home Speaker Asylum

General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

Problems with Maggies - don't shoot me ;)

208.201.224.36

Did you read my posts? I hinted at some of their problems. I don't like to put them down, because they are great speakers in many respects. But their problems are the following

3.6
Very audible mismatch between the magnificent ribbon tweeter and the other to panels. Listen to a soprano climb up its range and you will hear it. The ribbon outclasses the rest of the speaker. In my house the speaker sways around alarmingly when I walk around the room. Its costs a fortune to upgrade the components, and a fortune in amplification.

1.6
No true ribbon. Crossover is internal.

All of them
Cheap components internally - wire, inductors, caps. Used to be prone to breakdown, I don't know about now. Fabrics are ugly, IMHO. Generally big and ugly. Require to pulled FAR away from back wall - REQUIRED. This is a problem in most listening environments. Since they are also very wide require a lot of distance around them, especially if you put wings on them (recommended tweak). Very picky about amplification - sorry Myles, if your listening. Maggies do NOT 'luv tubes'. I listened to others on this and regretted it. They require lots of current, high power, low output impedance and bi amplification, at least bi-wiring. Why does Jim Winey biamp with Brystan amps? At loud volumes they compress and distort, worse than many box speakers. Regarding soundstage, they both magnify performers (plane wave effect, I believe) yet place the musicans at a distance, like your sitting in middle or back seats. Very odd. They don't have the 'presence' that good boxes, and horns achieve.
The high power requirements place more importance and stress on all the rest of the components of the speaker. Worse, they are prone to getting burned out, requiring a fuse on each panel. High power, and prone to getting burned out, huh? I was always worried about ruining them with my OTL amp, which is why I sold the lot. Also, they all have weird, cheap binding posts.
Sorry about this if your a Maggie fan, this is all IMHO. I still like them in many ways, but as I say elsewhere - I wouldn't go back if you paid me.


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