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REVIEW: Magnepan Magneplanar MMG Speakers Review by Greg at Audio Asylum

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After much research and debate, I finally ordered the MMG's. They arrived just 4 days after I ordered them. First of all, the fit and finish of these babies is way above what you should expect at this price. The real wood trim looks nicer than the trim on my Maggie 2.5R's that I just sold.
Some background. I have owned the Tympani 1D, MGII, MGI, and most recently the MG 2.5R. I thought I would never leave the 2.5R's due to the large soundstage and 40-inch true ribbon. However, in my current listening room (living room) the large 2.5's blocked my windows. The WAF forced the 2.5R's to go. But if I traded the 2.5R's for the MMG's what about that huge soundstage and ultra-clean ribbon, would I miss these? Well, I am very happy to report that in my system (bi-amped with subs) I am thrilled with the MMGs even after living with the 2.5R's for years. The soundstage size is about 85%, not a major difference. There is slightly less air in the extreme top end, but this is minor. You do lose some of the highs when moving from a seated to standing position but who listens critically standing up anyway? These do not suffer the extreme beaming effect that other ribbons and electrostatics do. They do run out of resolution before my old 2.5's did but they still play plenty loud for me. The upside is that the midrange is superior to the old 2.5R's. I would guess that Magnepan has made significant improvements to the planer driver technology over the last
several years. The QR sounds pretty close the the true ribbon drivers too. Some of the reviews on this site warn that you need a really fast sub to properly integrate with these speakers. This may be true but my home-made 12-inch subs blend seamlessly because (in my opinion) they are crossed over at 65 Hz (24 db/octave). It is this low crossover point and fast slope that allows the drivers to blend well. I may put the MMGs on stands or hang from the ceiling to raise the soundstage, that might improve things further. I might also tinker with the crossover. I think I spotted some iron-core coils, and it probably uses mylar caps. Might go to air core coils and bypass the mylars with Hovland PP's. But right now I just want to listen to my favorite music. Highly recommended.


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Topic - REVIEW: Magnepan Magneplanar MMG Speakers Review by Greg at Audio Asylum - Greg 13:19:24 06/11/99 ( 1)