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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
scottlanterman
mapman's avatar
mapman
15,679 posts
 
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.
scottlanterman's avatar
scottlanterman OP
24 posts
 
At the moment I am seriously considering getting the Peachtree Nova. The Decco had great reviews, and the new Nova takes it to 80 watts per channel. This should play the digital collection, and if I can learn to tell the difference I can go with un-compressed digital through the Nova, which is supposed to have a good DAC.

I am not sure about the speakers that would go with this really simple set up. I am looking to do quality 2 channel, and forget about home theatre 5 or 7 channel. Too much hassle with little benefit. I am not into bomb blasting type movies anyway and good two channel will be more enjoyable for everyday. My wife the Musician grew up in classical and helps run Stanford's music program, but she likes rock and likes to dance around the house. I like doing that too, but most of the time I have been listening to quiet classical piano pieces to mellow out after work.

Speakers.

I am interested in Maggie 1.6. My wife is not.

I am interested in the Spendor S8 or S9. It is pricey. My wife likes these, and they look good. She thought the Spendor sounded great.

I will have to check out the Paradigm. My budget is about 2-3k for speakers. Maybe they are out of league.

I wonder if the 80 watt Nova could work with the Maggie 1.6? Does a sub-woofer really help the Maggies? Which one should I look at? This would be an uphill battle which I will probably lose, but what I do know is that we both are tired and losing interest in music just listening to an iPod in a weak set up that sounds muddy.
mapman's avatar
mapman
15,679 posts
 
I think the Nova would certainly work well with the Maggies.
unsound
6,115 posts
 
I strongly suggest you decide on your speakers first!
jj2468
280 posts
 
"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."

Sounds like a slick salesman to me - putting power before fidelity.

FWIW, I did not say that the ultimate test of a speaker is its ability to play low. I did say and I do believe that a "system" should be able to sound good at speaking volume.

I have heard many, many systems and I've never heard one where at speaking volume it sucked and when loud it sounded great. Not once. If power is your thing, then you might feel differently about it.

I've heard many "systems" that sucked when played loud that sounded much better at speaking level.
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