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First Trip outside of Best Buy, a real newbie.

I am a commoner; I have never been to a real stereo store until this weekend. The big box of Best Buy was all I ever knew.

I went out with my wife, Music Librarian with a Phd in Music who has been happy with her 1980’s Denon but the CD recently player broke on our system. I talked to a friend who loves audio and wanted something I have never heard of called. . . Magnaplaners?

Me I love beauty and things that last, I brought my Claudio Arrau Beethoven Emperor movement 3 DDD disk to test some stuff with and Clara Nunes a great Brazilian singer.

First we hit a place that had some “Maggies” to see and hear for the first time. We walked in, I told them I have a big bonus check and I want to hear the Magnaplaners against the best other speakers you got. The lined up these huge 6 foot panels against some giant B&W box type speaker and plugged these Mark Levinson power blocks. I stuffed in the Beethoven into a Classes CD player that would probably kill my whole bonus.

The Maggies took up this awesome Piano piece and the speakers just disappeared. It was an airy and transparent sound that was not really powerful but beautiful. We compared the B&W and it sounded boxy in immediate comparison. We played a bunch of stuff, but at the first place I was impressed by the Magnaplaners.

Then we went to another shop that had Kef and Spendor. My wife immediately liked the Spendor S9. It was pretty nice, It had a punchy quality but did not have the clarity of the maggies, but good all around power. Then we heard some Kef 207 / 2. The owner cranked up the volume so I am not sure it was fair, but Beethoven was totally epic with some soaring highs. I told the Kef guy that I also listened to the Maggies. He said the Maggies were too specialized and would not work as an all around solution.

I am going to spend another 2-4 weeks working this out and then spend my bonus on a new system. I think I want a good 2 channel system that I can use with my TV. From the thread it sounds like 5 of 7 channel is not worth it.

So what to get? Where to go from here? What will fit in my space well?

My home is open, modern with lots of glass, but small. Where I will put the new system will be in a long thin room. About 12 feet wide and 30 feet long. It is open to other areas of the house and is both a living room and dining room.

I want something beautiful that will last a long time. I loved the Maggies for being invisible, but I also loved the Spendor and Kefs for being powerful.

My house is small and I plan to use the new system as a stereo and 2 channel home theatre.

Thanks for whatever advice you want to give me,
Scott
128x128scottlanterman

Showing 7 responses by mapman

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mapman
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Poorly driven speakers that sound good loud most likely will not "suck" at lower volumes, but bass levels may suffer resulting in a less satisfying presentation at lower volumes.

I went from a 360/W channel relatively low current amp to my current 120w/ch amp with my larger OHMs for this reason.

The 120w/ch amp delivers cleaner, more satisfying bass with the OHMs and Dynaudios at most reasonable levels that I listen to normally.

The previous 360w/ch amp did fine at all volumes with the Magneplanar 1.3c's that I owned for years, as did an 80w/ch tandberg receiver that I used with the Maggies as well.

I also owned B&W P6s that I had to crank to sound right using that high power but low current 360w/ch amp.
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Don't go by % spent on parts.

Synergy overall (sources to room acoustics) is key. You don't have to spend a lot to get great results in most rooms.

Triangle Titus 202s are small monitor speakers that can match and in some ways even outperform much bigger Maggies in most rooms and they cost only a couple hundred used. Almost any amp will drive them.

Place them on good solid stands with any decent integrated amp and digital or analog source in most any room and you are golden. They are small and front ported so they even sound good close to walls.

I use a vintage Yamaha cr-420 receiver that cost me less than $100 on ebay, a $350 6 year old Marantz DVD player and an old Dual 1264 table with GOldring cartridge with them in my second 2-channel A/V system, and the results are hard to beat.

Add a sub later to fill in low end if needed and you are competing with some of the best sounding systems out there.

If it were me buying new, I would consider a Peachtree audio Decco or Nova (www.peachtreeaudio.com) as an integrated amp to drive a pair of Triangle Titus 202s.

These are sold direct or via some dealers and are designed to provide excellent sound from most any source out of the box. They use a tubed pre-amp section that helps deliver that tube sound many cherish at an affordable price.

I haven;t heard the Peachtree units yet, but from other's accounts and from what I have read, it is a very well thought out device at a value price. I think you will see more and more devices like it over the next few years as well.
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mapman
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Tubes have a limited lifespan and require more maintenance, like a phono cartridge, compared to SS. If that bothers you, start with just one or two strategically placed tubes to keep troubleshooting easy if needed and go from there as desired.

Be careful buying old tube gear....make sure what you are getting is in good shape, including life left on all tubes.

Its brand new and more contemporary but check out the Peachtree Decco DAC (digital to analog converter)/tube pre-amp/amp. You can even add a module to receive your digital sources wirelessly so your computer as a digital source does not have to be attached by a wire. And the price is right to get your feet wet with the latest digital source technology along with a smattering of tubes (just one) for starts. Plus I've read that it sounds very good!
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I think the Nova would certainly work well with the Maggies.
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mapman
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I am a big Magneplanar fan and owned a pair for years.

They are hard to beat for the $$$ in regards to good sound and being "easy on the ear", meaning little or no fatigue factor. They tend to sound better the longer you listen. make sure this is the case with any other speaks you consider as well.

Larger maggies will do better in larger rooms in regards to authority in the low end (bass). They are also very sensitive to proper placement within the room to sound best. Make sure that this will not be a problem.

The only knock on Maggies is that they are a planar design that does not move large volume of air. They are not the nth degree in terms of dynamic impact but provide a very desirable mix of the best attributes speakers can deliver for very reasonable cost.

Also make sure your amp has the power and current needed to drive them to best effect.

A good sub can be added later if needed if you feel you are missing anything on the low end compared to other high end speaks.

Whatever you get, make sure the speakers fit nicely into your room with room to "breathe", ie that they do not overpower the rom from where you listen.

I replaced my Maggies with OHM Walsh design speakers (www.ohmspeakers.com) in my current residence mainly because I was not able to place them optimally without being in the way.

OHM Acoustics is a well established manufacturer that has been providing outstanding high value speakers and customer service for over 30 years. Their speakers are only sold direct from the factory in Brooklyn, NY, but they have a very buyer friendly in-home audition program for their speakers that virtually eliminates risk of getting stuck with speakers that you may not like much after a while.

Good luck!
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mapman
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"Best speakers for my small space with this system?"

I'm eyeballing the Peachtree for use with my Triangle Titus 202s when the need arises as I described above.

"best" is always a subjective determination since no two speaks sound the same, but the Triangle Titus 202s with sub combo is hard to beat.
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mapman
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Ironically, some speakers require more efficient amps that deliver more current to sound right at lower volumes. If the amp can do that and can deliver enough current (not same as watts), and the speakers can also handle high volumes without break-up or distortion, then the system can go loud as well.

Get the amp AND speaks right to play at low and high volumes and you are golden.

Amps that double power or at least come close to doubling from 8 to 4 and then from 4 to 2 ohms will in general be able to drive more speakers well at lower volumes.

Examples of affordable amps that can do this are various models from Musical Fidelity over the years and many newer Class D amps.

Examples of speakers that will not sound as good at low volumes without proper amplification (lots of current) are Dynaudio, Totem B&W and OHM.

Triangles and Magnepans do well at low volumes with most any amp in my experience. Maggies are less efficient though and also require lots of power to go loud and clean.

Triangles sound great at low volume with most any good amp and are more efficient and can go loud as well with less power, which makes them them the most versatile I have owned in terms of sounding great all the time, in most any room, with almost any amp.
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