Directionality, narrow sweetspot. They are a one-listener speaker.
Require lots of power to sound dynamic.
Require lots of power to sound dynamic.
What are some of the downsides of owning a Magneplanar .7 or 1.7i ?
Thinking of moving up speaker wise, and so am considering the fabled Magneplanar speakers, that is, either the the .7, or supposedly new 1.7i. (BTW, I am not sure the Maggie .7 is necessarily an upgrade, and has less bass than my current box speakers...see below)
Besides "Maggies" having outdated speaker terminals that might be a struggle with banana plugs,, and they are generally power hungry, I am curious if anyone can honestly tell me of any other downsides of this design. For the last 30 years, I have owned several traditional box design speakers.
I currently have a pair of Golden Ear Technology model 7's....which I like and generally sound good However, I would like to confirm what a planar design brings to the table in sound quality. I have read many times about the box-less sound provided by this design, and its wide sound staging and low distortion.
I think I have enough power with BAT VK-200 amp (100RMS) to drive the .7, but not sure that is enough to drive the MG1.7i. to higher volumes The pre-amp is a Conrad Johnson PV-14SE.
The listening room area 12 X15ft, but opens into kitchen/dining area divided by a medium size couch. The rest of the space is approximately 12X18ft behind the sofa with a stupid counter island ( so I cannot move the sofa back any further.. The ceiling is 8 to 9 ft feet high ( not a cathedral ceiling, praise the Lord) . It is a bit of haul to the dealer I bought the Golden Ear T's from who also carries Magneplanar line. All advice welcomed. Thanks, SJ
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I bought a pair of Magneplanar 1.7 speakers. The bass is weak in my opinion. I put a Velodyne SPL-R1200 (12") one kilowatt sub with it and that was better. But, my Berning EA-230 tube power amp only puts out 30 watts per channel (I did not like the sound from my other amps as much). To get it to play louder I bought a a second pair of 1.7i Magneplanar speakers (the super-tweeter did not have a huge effect compared with the 1.7) and hooked these up in series with the original pair. Now it went louder with eight ohms being seen by the amp. I also added another SPL-R1200 Velodyne I got from a friend. So there is a separate sub for each of the two channels. The system now plays loudly enough for me and sounds similar to a piano in the same room on piano music. The room is about 21'x27', so it requires a fair amount of power. In another system I have a REL S5 that may be better (that is, faster) than the Velodynes, but it is in a small 10'x12' room. I have a big system in another location that plays much louder than the Magneplanars, but it does not sound as real, even though the dynamics are amazing. It seems each kind of system has certain things it does well. It is fun to have more than one system if you have enough room. The speakers made by Sandy Gross sound very nice as you know, since you have a pair. The XXL subs they make might have a big effect on your sound if you like bass. Best regards |
Here's a very thoughtul review of the Magnepan .7s by Julie Mullins from a couple of years ago at The Absolute Sound. Her observations and perspective echo much of my experience with my 1.7s, including her observations with a pair of subwoofers. I also have a pair of subs with my 1.7s, and I can play pretty much any type of music successfully. Not only do they do classic rock well, they also do big band and large scale orchestral works very well. Brass sounds astonishingly real with the 1.7s, and I also have some recordings that sound best w/o subs (e.g., small jazz ensembles) but a lot more that sound great with them. Speaking of small jazz ensembles, Ray Brown and Charlie Haden great through 1.7s without help from subs. They really flesh out the sound of plucked upright acoustic bass. To SunnyJim: read both pages of the review; it may help expand your perspective on the virtues and challenges of the .7. I figure the 1.7 is similar but able to sound bigger (because it is bigger). Speaking of ... one thing that Maggie reviewers consistently call out is how well Maggies do piano. This makes perfect sense to me because the radiating area of a Maggie (esp. the 3.7 and 20.7) nominally approaches the vibrating area of a piano soundboard, certainly more than you get from a 6" mid/woofer and 1" dome tweeter. |
Johnnyb53 wrote: "Here’s a very thoughtful review of the Magnepan .7s by Julie Mullins from a couple of years ago at The Absolute Sound. Her observations and perspective echo much of my experience with my 1.7s, including her observations with a pair of subwoofers." From my perspective, this is a great suggestion. I read Ms. Mullin’s fine review twice and it helped me make the decision to purchase a pair of .7’s - the speakers are a delight. IMO, Mullin’s review is quite accurate. I’ve often thought that a lot of negative comments regarding Magnepan, in general, are hyperbolic. Yes, they do need to be away from the front and side walls, but so do my Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor M’s. Yes, you’ll need more than a SET amp to power them. In my small, dedicated listening space, the speakers are from 3’ to 4’ from the front wall, and about 20"s from the side walls, with tweeters on the outside. Toe-in depends on my frame of mind on a given day. :) . The speakers sound plenty full at volumes lower than 80db. Finally, I do not think the .7s are especially fussy to place properly, unless compared to say OHMS. For my listening habits and musical preferences, I cannot think of any "downsides" to the .7's. I do enjoy the luxury of being able to change them out for the SF's monitors when the mood strikes. If I had to choose one over the other, I'd be hard-pressed. |
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