|
Planar Speaker Asylum Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences. |
|
|
|
Planar Speaker Asylum Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences. |
|
In Reply to: Well, who am I to say that you are not being accurate in reporting what you heard . . . posted by Alan G. on April 13, 2006 at 05:41:53:
Alan you have to realize that I don't say the Maggie is a bad speaker, in fact if it were the only planar on the planet I would own them and not a box speaker, even though I have heard a few that I like very much. However, there are better ones...However, my main problem with Maggies is that they in fact lack the transparency of a good electrostatic or even better planars that I own/owned in the past. To me they simply sound more colored than other good planar designs. Add to that they really don't come alive at lower volume levels and this is important to me because I don't generally listen very loud (peaks in the upper 80s db range but I set my average listening level with pink noise to about 75db at the listening position).
In addition, the integration between the drivers is not as good as I would expect. Of course Acoustats are totally coherent being full-range single driver speakers. But all makes of Apogee pull off integration and coherence better and I think it is because the crossover to the ribbon happens at a much lower frequency where human hearing is less sensitive (like 500 Hz).
I am hard on Maggies because they should sound better than they do. A good friend of mine has had the 2.5r (not good at all) the 1.5qr(not bad), and the 1.6qr (pretty good). He has had literally about a dozen different amps on them, big SS and tube alike. You know what? The sound was always sort of bloomy and ill defined. Bass was not particularly tight or well differentiated and imaging was always a bit fuzzy and not clean. Low level information on music I know well was also obscured and while audible not clear nor realistic. I heard this character to some extent on all the Maggies he had, regardless of the amp.
This tells me that what I was hearing was a Maggie house sound of sorts and that is coloration. I get MUCH more differentiation between electronics with either my Apogees or Acoustats. Sometimes its startling how different gear can sound or recordings and I never got this feeling with Maggies. Now he sold the 1.6qr and I think he is cured of trying to make them work. He had some of the better amps in the world on them but it still couldn't bring them to the level he heard at my place (he even bought the same amps as me to attempt it).
The time period where you chose the MG1B was also a time period where amplification was less than stellar for the most part. IMO, the Acoustat was way ahead of its time because the amps weren't good enough to show what it could really do. The MG1b was probably easier on those bad sounding transistor amps. If the sound was hard or analytical it was likely because that was exactly the character of the amp. The speaker reveals so much about the electronics that it makes it ideal as a reviewers tool. When the electronics are right though you know because it simply sounds wonderful. Many reviewers had them in their day as well as Apogees.
Just for information, I never had the Infinity RS-1B I had the IRS Beta. It was colored somewhat but it imaged and soundstaged very well...even in my too small room. It was also pretty transparent but not the equal in this regard to my Audiostatic, Acoustat, or Apogee speakers. It did do "big" orchestral music rather impressively and Jazz was a blast too. Ultimately, I sold it because it simply overpowered the room, however, in a really big room this might very well be one of the best systems ever built. One other negative thing about the system was that it too didn't "wake up" so well at low levels, and as I stated above I don't listen that loud. Apogees and Acoustats are much better in this regard.
I think if you look at the majority of speakers I have owned you would not say that I value power and loudness over finesse, in fact quite the opposite. Even the IRS Betas were capable of quite a bit of finesse (they did use good planar drivers afterall). From what I have read here on this forum I would say that most Maggie owners are the ones on a quest for loudness and more power from their amps to get louder. Can you please tell me why it is that a Maggie seemingly needs several hundred watts of power to sound right?
I recently heard a pair of Maggie 1.6qrs sound very good with a pair of 18 watt parallel SET amps up to quite reasonable listening levels. There are even guys on this forum pushing cheap but very powerful pro amps...as if these actually can sound worth a damn. I am in fact an advocate for using the best quality amp you can get and not to worry so much about the specified power. I have gotten great sound (and more than loud enough) from an 18 watt 300b amp on both my Acoustats and Apogees and the Aps did just fine with a 20 watt Cary SET.
Other than the Betas, the other speakers I have owned recently have all been about finesse and low coloration. I hate coloration in speakers. The other thing I hate is poor low level resolution. A speaker needs to have real dynamic life as well...especially at low levels, otherwise soft passages in music suffer. I am extremely critical of sound quality, more than most.
As to "IMHO", I see no point because it is simply a web political correctness because stating what one believes to be correct is always viewed as arrogance regardless of one's knowledge and experience. Besides no one who uses IMHO is really humble anyway. You will simply have to take my comments as they are.
Speakers I have owned (in chronological order):
Paradigm 5seMkII
Klipsch La Scalla (did some things incomparably well)
Infinity Modulus sat/sub system (great in a bedroom!)
Dynaudio Kit (neutral but lifeless)
DIY floorstanding two-way (neutral and less lifeless, good first attempt)
Dynaudio Contour 1.8MkII (very neutral but lifeless, poor low level resolution)
Audiostatic ES100 (Amazing transparency, low level res, and dynamics, but bass is a bit uncontrolled...I still miss them but I sold them for the Betas). If you want finesse Audiostatic is a top choice.
Infinity IRS Beta (impressive but too much in my modest room)
STAX ELS F81 (Best transparency I ever heard but almost no bass)
Apogee Caliper Signature (currently own, good transparency, very low coloration, great bass and dynamics, neutral)
DIY fully active ribbon hybrid speaker (currently own, potentially the best system I have...potentially)
Acoustat 1+1 with medallion transformer and upgraded passive parts (currently own, great transparency, neutral, low coloration, amazingly good bass in my room, great dynamics and low level res. my current favorite speaker)
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- Re: Well, who am I to say that you are not being accurate in reporting what you heard . . . - morricab 13:23:18 04/14/06 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
