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Planar Speaker Asylum

The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans

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If you are contemplating the purchase of a pair of Maggies, watch this video; it will tell you everything you need to know, good and bad, plus and minus. 15 minutes, worth every minute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZwlmo232hQ

Lack of skill dictates economy of style. - Joey Ramone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZwlmo232hQ (Open in New Window)

Follow Ups:

RE: The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans - Keith944T 05:51:47 12/01/23 (6)
I spent a good chunk of my first paycheck from my first "good job" after college on a demo pair of MGII's in 1979. My friends have been down many alternate speaker paths, so I have listened to quite a few others (as well as visiting various high end stores (just in case something more to my liking appeared--it hasn't. (Currently have 3.6's in the main room with a CC3 center channel--and MMG's in the basement) At one point I had the 3.6's (powered by a Rogue Zeus (not an Atlas) stereo tube power amp--the really BIG one) as fronts and 1.6's as my surrounds with monoblock 180's powering them.
I decided at that point I needed to want to leave the house a bit more--so I downgraded a bit (But I have to tell you-- surround sound SACD's were beyond imagination !)
anyway--back to the video review--
All true --with what I think is one comment I thought a bit misleading--
Pinpoint location--
The draw to me back in the 70's (and still holds) is the incredible depth and breadth of the soundstage.
So- as I audition "other brands" I sit where they tell me-- and close my eyes--and invariably--when I listen to the same recordings-- I can point to the speaker itself as the origin of an instrument---voice -- or sense of movie sound motion--Not so with the Maggies--One is immersed in the stage.
Now the negative that I was surprised wasn't mentioned (perhaps it is not as critical as it once had been) is the "sweet(est?) spot"
Where I agree it is not as technically difficult to set up your Maggies as some would have you believe--
The optimum spot for greatest advantage is (was?) not very large.
That said- the area that is "still way better than most anything else" is as large as any other speaker setup I've tried.

Edits: 12/01/23
- RE: The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans - Steve RII 17:18:52 12/04/23 (5)
  How well did the big Zeus drive the 3.6's? I am redoing a pair of 3.6's myself I recently acquired, and am very curious how well they can be driven by big tubes. I heard a new pair of 3.6 in Houston 25-30 years ago (they were not broke in at all) being driven by some 185 watt VTL's, and they sounded very anemic. Like I said though, they weren't broken in.
  The thing is, I've never seen any Maggies at shows being driven by tubes. Maybe there's a reason why?
  Thanks, Steve
  - RE: The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans - vandendungenmuziek@kpnplanet.nl 10:01:01 02/27/24 (0)
    The truth is that a Magnepan let you hear wether your acoustics are allright or not. And what the quality of your equipment is. Nothing more and nothing less.
  - RE: The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans - Keith944T 18:42:26 12/04/23 (3)
    Well--
    the Zeus was 225 watts and the room is relatively small, aprox. 13'x 18'-- and with the m180's driving the 1.6's it was quite "compressed"
    the AVR ran the CC3 center---plus a Klipsch 12" sub in the corner--
    
    -later--
    I Bi-amped the 3.6's with a D-Sonic Class D on the low side and the Zeus doing Mid and high--That kicked some serious A--
    BUT the stage shrunk --to me Maggies are all about imaging-- My Bi-amping seemed to cut the imaging --and the big Zeus really made some heat--I actually had it in an adjacent room, ran the speaker feeds and input leads through a hole in the wall.
    I backed off the Bi-Amp and tried just the D-sonic--there was a bit of a decrease in quality -but not the imaging --
    I then "downsized" and switched AVR--(the Integra died) to a Pioneer Elite that drives the CC3 and a pair of Hennessey bookshelfs as surrounds--and a bigger newer D-Sonic driving the 3.6's now-- in front of an 85" TCL QLED-- not quite what the prime setup was --but way cheaper--and it is quite nice.
    I think the Zeus did quite well on it's own though.
    - RE: The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans - TitaniumTroy 16:52:32 12/09/23 (2)
      I agree the imaging is somewhat diffuse with Magnepan's, compared to conventional speakers. I read somewhere that precise imaging is pleasing because in stereo be we do not have the visual benefit of a performer in front of us. Therefore our minds seek something to grab onto to compensate, not sure if that's true but it's an interesting concept.
      
      Also I read that Telarc records thought along similar lines but did it by trying to increase the dynamic range, of a recoding. And using very loud bass drums thwack's, hence their warnings on volume level on some recordings.
      
      I do believe the diffuse sound is closer to a live orchestra's sound in a concert hall, however except for movie soundtrack's a lot of my music is amplified recording's in a studio.
      - RE: The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans - FX35 08:05:36 12/10/23 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans posted by TitaniumTroy on December 09, 2023 at 16:52:32
        
        The imaging of Maggies is certainly not diffuse, that is, if it is hooked up to a resolving high quality system. Correct set-up and sitting in the sweet spot there is no lack of imaging or detail compared to dynamic speakers, the images are indeed larger but not diffuse, there is also more information about the acoustical space surrounding the players, creating images that are more " life like" as compared to dynamic speakers.
        
        This, to me, is one of Maggies strongest points, but they do need a certain volume to become "life like". Raise the volume on dynamic speakers and they play louder, raise the volume on Maggies and the stage starts to grow.
        
        Precise imaging is essential and often underrated, lack of imaging and a blurry soundstage is a major cause of listening fatigue. People often state " why do I need exact imaging? if I sit in a concert hall and close my eyes I don't have pinpoint imaging, just waves of sound" that's because you have visual contact with the players, so the brain has no stress trying to locate the origin of the sounds being reproduced.
        
        This is a automatic process of the brain and cannot be "turned off", when sitting in front of a stereo set-up without precise imaging the brain is constantly searching for the origin of players, vocalists, e.t.c. The larger the number of players, the more work there is for the brain, the sooner listening fatigue sets in.
        
        Imagine you are taking a walk through the woods and you hear an unexpected sound, what is your first reaction? to turn your head in search of its origin. Its how our brain works and that is why pinpoint imaging is essential in audio reproduction.
      - RE: The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans - UncleMeat 18:40:25 12/09/23 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans posted by TitaniumTroy on December 09, 2023 at 16:52:32
        
        That's strange, I've always found Magnepans to have a large stage beyond the walls, seemingly, with the precise imaging/detail.
        
        I'm getting sweeping motion of drum kits across the room and even some sense of vertical location of cymbals higher than drums, etc with the right recording on these T-IV's. I wonder if it's because all the panels are nearly full height of the panel except for the mids which are on the upper 48" of it's panel.
RE: The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans - 6bq5 11:54:22 11/09/23 (1)
An interesting perspective-
Not a lot of new information, as said above/below
But he also sells Magnepans, and Martin Logan...
along with a lot of others-

I have owned Maggies,
and have Quad '57s
along with dynamic speakers -
I'll keep the quads, and my ProAcs for as long as possible...

Happy Listening
- RE: The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans - TitaniumTroy 18:28:05 11/09/23 (0)
  I heard my first Quad 57, at AXPONA 2019. Incredible transparency, clarity and soundstage imaging.
RE: The unvarnished truth(s) about Magnepans - VidPro 05:44:32 10/31/23 (3)
Just watched it. Some good info, but some of the bad points were a bit weird like standing up and not getting the best sound to your ears.
- It's all true....nt. - ABliss 17:42:08 10/31/23 (2)
  Nt.
  - RE: It's all true....nt. - vandendungenmuziek@kpnplanet.nl 23:51:03 10/31/23 (1)
    I agree in general.
    - RE: It's all true....nt. - TitaniumTroy 18:35:29 11/06/23 (0)
      I've watched some of Thomas's other reviews with the other two gentleman, I liked this one much better. As it went at much faster pace, plus sometimes when you have dissenting points of view. It can quickly turn into a confusing food fight.
      
      I thought it was pretty good summary of Maggie's the Good, Bad and Ugly

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