Home
AudioAsylum Trader
General Asylum: REVIEW: Magnestand .5/.6qr with Magnestand Mods (Peter Gunn) Speakers by Webnick

General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

For Sale Ads

FAQ / News / Events

 

REVIEW: Magnestand .5/.6qr with Magnestand Mods (Peter Gunn) Speakers

24.136.76.15


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread:  [ Display   All   Email ] [ General Asylum ]
[ Alert Moderator ]

Model: .5/.6qr with Magnestand Mods (Peter Gunn)
Category: Speakers
Suggested Retail Price: $1,395 + Shipping for full mod
Description: Full wooden frame, stand and strut ensemble and upgraded crossover
Manufacturer URL: Magnestand
Model Picture: View

Review by Webnick on July 22, 2007 at 12:24:00
IP Address: 24.136.76.15
Add Your Review
for the .5/.6qr with Magnestand Mods (Peter Gunn)


Introduction. This review of Los Toros Pequenos de Muerte, PG’s latest mods to a pair of .5/.6qrs, is designed to follow up on DragonEars’ excellent 6/29/07 review of PG’s full frame mod of his MMGs. I have taken much from DragonEars’ review to help the reader further benefit from PG’s same type of modification to a somewhat different Maggie. Now, like DragonEars, I’ve loved the sound of Maggies for quite some time. However, when I got my first pair, these .5/.6qrs, it was not love at first listen because the soundstage was narrow vertically and horizontally, the sweet spot was narrow, and they had no bass of which to speak. They did not rock. So I did what many do in such circumstances, I went bigger. I got a pair of 2.6Rs and to a great extent solved that missing bass problem, and the smaller maggies went into storage, for a short period finding work in the home of ScottR in Vancouver. But I found the 2.6Rs had their own problems (e.g., driver integration, ‘dark’ sound). So I began to research modding the 2.6Rs and was considering a XO rebuild and Mye stands, when out of the blue came a smokin’ deal on a pair of 3.6Rs and I decided to “go bigger” again and solve the ‘problems’ of the 2.6Rs. And I must say, the 3.6Rs are fantastic – they got everything right with these guys (for an unmodded Magnepan, that is) – the drivers work well together, midrange magic, articulate bass. So the 2.6Rs went to a new home and the .5/.6qrs stayed in storage. Then along came PG and I began to consider rebuilding the .5/.6qrs for a second system or surround sound use. And at first I was just going to get PG’s stands and rebuild the XOs myself. But as PG’s work and research continued with the assistance of other MUGgers, the full frame mod came to be and when a bonus came my way I decided to turn the little guys over to PG and let him go to work on them. And so Los Toros Pequenos de Muerte were born.

Packaging. The boxes I used to send the speakers to PG were my own creation as I did not have the original boxes, but PG reported they arrived safely. Plinths and crossovers came back to me double boxed by PG and well padded, but the outer box suffered pretty good damage, ripped open in two places, when shipped by DHL. The contents do not appear to have suffered any damage though.

Instructions and Assembly. Instructions were clear, detailed and well written. Assembly was easy; only one person was required. I smiled when I saw that PG had included a multi-driver screwdriver and a wrench – the only tools necessary for assembly.

The .5/.6qrs. The drivers were well broken in when I sent them to PG. In fact, these were originally .5qrs that a previous owner had modded himself to .6qr status relevant to the XOs and had removed the framing and had improved the stands. They were ugly as sin with heavy black burlap covers that were badly frayed at the bottoms. They retained the original fuse and bi-wire capable back plate connectors. They have the same quasi ribbon tweeter as the MMGs (with a stated slightly higher frequency response of 26 MHz v. 24 MHz) but have a little bit bigger midrange/woofer driver as reflected in their stated slightly lower frequency response (45 Hz v. 50 Hz).

The Project. Like DragonEars’ modded MMGs, the.5/.6qrs got PG’s “Full Frame” modification, including finished stands and crossover boxes and full wooden frames. The drivers are turned around, pole pieces in front. The only things retained from the stock speakers here were the drivers – everything else was scrapped. No more MDF, staples, unstable stands, crappy binding posts, fuses, attenuator or cheap crossover components. The new frames are all solid oak on oak plinths with oak struts, with a light natural finish. The crossovers are built from top grade components and are in an attractive external wooden box with Edison Price binding posts. They really do look good. You can see photos of the finished product on his website and in the MUG archives.

Caveats. Like DragonEars, I'm not a writer for an audio magazine, “so I can't generate the glowing prose with the requisite buzzwords you'd see in TAS or Stereophile,” but I’ll do my best with the audiophile jargon with which I am familiar. Unlike DragonEars, I can’t (or won’t) even say I’m an audiophile – I’ve just been able to find myself in a position in life now where I can afford to spend the time and some bucks on audio equipment because while its always been a passion I previously didn’t have the time or money necessary to get into this ‘hobby.’ And I don’t have the scientific bent that most of you fellow MUGgers seem to employ, I don’t always understand the science involved, but I’ve listened and read and listened and read and over the years acquired some decent equipment – and thanks to all of you and this equipment, I’ve had some very good audio times in the last few years. Thank you all for your inputs! Finally, unlike DragonEars, I do not listen in a dedicated room with double isolated walls or without distractions – I listen in the room from hell. See equipment notes for gear and lack of room treatments.

The Sound. DargonEars said it well: “First of all, that wonderful Maggie sound that we love so much, is all still there, but there is now more of it, more of everything.” Much, much more of everything! In fact, the bass is striking in that it is so prevalent – what wasn’t there before is there now in spades. These speakers now rock. “PG's mods have made the midrange even more lush and real. The famous sweet vocals are even more glorious.” The detail and resolution is astounding. I hear inner detail in these speakers I never heard before in them and that I don’t hear from my 3.6Rs. Like DragonEars’ MMGs, these have the quasi ribbon tweeter. So, likewise, there is “no harshness or glare” in the treble. “The sweetspot is wider now and the image is more focused. I always ran my MMGs with the tweeters inside because I like the image focus, and the price for that was a narrower soundstage. Now the tweeters are outside and I get the best of both worlds, tight image focus, wide soundstage and wider sweetspot.” Ditto. I can now share the sweetspot with my woman or a friend. The stage is now slightly in front of the speakers. The Toros used to be small clear windows to the midrange of the music; they now project the full range of the music into my room. This is more than a substantial improvement – its night and day different than they used to be.

WAF. “I don't know about most wives, but mine ignored the stock MMGs.” Well, DragonEars’ wife is a bit kinder than mine! I won’t tell you what she said about my Toros before the mods. But she really likes the way they look and sound now.

Comparison with 3.6Rs. This is the tough part of the review. I’m mindful of a recent flurry of posts and debate as to whether PG’s modded “smaller Maggies” sounded as real as 3 series Maggies. My 3.6Rs have the excellent Mye stealth stands and the Cardas kit for unbuckling the external XO from the speakers. In sum the 3.6Rs go lower than the Toros and articulate bass better. The Toros, on the other hand, project bass better than the 3.6Rs. The Toros have better midrange detail. The 3.6Rs have that larger, fuller (3 series) sound partly (for me at least) because they’re 6 feet tall and the Toros are only chest high (so for ‘nearfield’ listening you have to sit to fully appreciate the Toros). Unlike the Toros, the soundstage is slightly behind the speakers, but like the Toros its about as wide.

In conclusion, like DragonEars said, “I don't want to gush. Nobody believes gushers.” But I can honestly say that the Toros are, simply stated, a perfectly executed modification of my .5qrs that look and sound fabulous.

Thank you,
Webnick


Product Weakness: None compared to the stock product.
Product Strengths: Wider and deeper soundstage. More focused image. Wider sweetspot. Deeper, punchier bass. Greater resolution and detail in the mids and highs. Very beautiful wood and finish. A great improvement over the stock product.


Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Odyssey Stratos Mono Extremes
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Audio Research Reference 1 w/ NOS tubes
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Pair of Sony carousels glass toslinked to pair of Adcom GDA-700 DACs
Speakers: Magnestand .5/.6qrs
Cables/Interconnects: Glass Toslinks, ZSquared interconnect, copper zip cord speaker wires
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Classic Rock, Blues
Room Size (LxWxH): 16` x 18` x 8`
Room Comments/Treatments: Hopeless
Time Period/Length of Audition: 21 days
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Monarchy Classic DIP for redbook CDs
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.  



Topic - REVIEW: Magnestand .5/.6qr with Magnestand Mods (Peter Gunn) Speakers - Webnick 12:24:00 07/22/07 ( 1)