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In Reply to: RE: Quick opinions wanted - to upgrade my maggies or not? posted by j beede on February 04, 2016 at 20:41:39
j beede - could you possibly point me to a good thread where the benefits of Quads over Maggies are clearly explained? Is there any sort of consensus that Quads are better?
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1.7s would actually be smaller than the 12s you have mounted.
A room that size I'd consider the Mini Maggie. I saw one used online for $900 recently but at that price I'm sure it's gone.
If you go through Magnepan I 'think' they offer a home trial period. Win/win in my opinion. They shipping to return them would be minimum.
From listening to the 12s over the weekend, I really don't *need* to upgrade at the moment. They sound superb, filling up the room with a powerful and lifelike sound. Since adding the Electrocompaniet power amp and CD player which took the sound to a new level I've only listened to a fraction of my CD collection - I should just keep enjoying the improvement for a while.
With the Electrocompaniet gear and and the 12s being solidly mounted, I am perfectly happy listening without my sub, I never thought they could give so much weight to the low end.
I can't do the Maggie free trial, being in the UK.
What do others think about the big 10 year old electrolytic cap in my crossover, should I replace it with a film cap with a better tolerance?
Nick, just let go of the audiophilia nervosa bug will you? Sounds to me like you got a wonderful system that you truly enjoy. Just sit down and enjoy it! let the AN demons go perch on somebody else's shoulder for a while...
After 10 years with the same speakers I think I'm allowed to cast my eye around :P
But the system is sounding superb, even better after a cable upgrade today, so not thinking about new speakers anymore.
Some think the MG12 was one of the best speakers they ever made.
In my experience, cap changes (upgrades) are almost always worthwhile no matter what type of equipment. Like rolling better tubes in an amp. I would upgrade your MG12s and enjoy for another decade (at least).
Nick-N,
Interesting question. I have never evaluated a speaker by reading about it. I own QUAD ESLs and QUAD 11L2s and multiple sets of Magneplanars. In my opinion there is no doubt which comes closest to producing the original sound. Understandably, not every is satisfied with the original sound. For example, I would not recommend QUAD ESLs for home theater--though a stack of healthy ESLs would handle this task with aplomb in my opinion.
FYI: I just (temporarily) replaced my QUADs in listening room #2 with a pair of Martin Logan hybrids. The difference was startling in terms of lost detail and exaggerated output at both extremes. I was surprised by this and am motivated to restore the ESL's to their rightful place.
I find that my SMGa (wire tweeter) and MMGs (foil tweeter) have a similar spectral range as the ESLs but with less detail, more bass output, and just slightly restricted low frequency range in comparison. Both are very pleasant to listen to. I do not pad the tweeter in the MMGs. The MG-1.6QR were unbearable without tweeter padding. I must say it is the loudest playing loudspeaker I have ever owned. I believe this is there key salient feature. If I had a home theater (I do not) the 1.6QR would have been assigned there. They are gone now. I also own STAX "earspeakers" for occasional late night listening and they sound more like the QUADs and SMGa in terms of spectral balance and high frequency reproduction.
I gave up on the QUADs 30 years ago... I returned to them last year and have enjoyed hearing the music I have acquired in the interim in a whole new way. I would think you could find a pair in decent nick for 200-300 pounds? Not much to lose!
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