2. speakers
  3. 129773-1644

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Besides "Maggies" having outdated speaker terminals that might be a struggle with banana plugs,, and they are generally power hungry, I am curious if anyone can honestly tell me of any other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   

sunnyjim
prof
1,741 posts
 
clearthink,

What you are saying about getting mono sound from Maggies in the middle of the room isn't making sense to me.  First, it doesn't seem to make theoretical sense.  Second, in practice, I used to have Quad 63s (diopoles) in essentially the middle of my room and they produced stupendous stereo sound and imaging.  (I tend to like closer to nearfield listening, so most of my speakers end up closer to the middle of the room).

I've never, ever heard a speaker of any type, dipole or otherwise, sound mono by being placed well out into a room.  And placing a speaker into the room tends to minimize room issues.
Post removed 
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
The Master Handbook of Acoustics has good information on speaker placement.

Real information, not alt. facts or creation "science" or witchdoctor woo-woo

The subject can be a bit complicated, but the exact center of the room is usually not the best.
ps
411 posts
 
OP, Sunny Jim- are you out there?
simonmoon's avatar
simonmoon
11 posts
 
I have a vintage pair of MG IIIa's that I upgraded the x-overs with much better caps, reinforced the frames and added DIY stands (similar to MYE stands), and they are definitely not lacking dynamics.  

I listen to plenty of demanding symphonic classical music, mostly 20th century and contemporary, and they have no problems with it at all. I often run into problems adjusting volume for pp and having them playing too loud when passages reach ff.
More to discover