Yeah the baby Beethoven's are brand new, I don't think that's the speaker I'll stay with or it might be? but it would be fun to take advantage of the speaker upgrades.
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At new, full retail with warranties, $9700 buys you a pair of Magneplanar 3.7i's and a pair of JL E112 powered subwoofers. The new x.7i line of Magnepans are bargain-basement speakers for life. Add the powered subs to get all the extension and slam at the bottom end. They blend well with Maggies. As long as you can place the Maggies 4-5 feet out into the room, you're golden. I got a pair of Mag 1.7s a year ago and at my budget, that's as good as it's going to get for me. I have a pair of small fast subs with them and a year later still have no urge to upgrade. Edited to add: My maggies replaced a pair of more expensive dynamic speakers engineered to quell enclosure resonances--there were no parallel surfaces and the sidewalls were a continuous curve with a constantly varying radius. When I put the Maggies in place, it was a revelation at how noisy the dynamic speakers were by comparison. With the Maggies, all you hear is the transducers with no boxy coloration or resonances. Dynamic speakers that get to this level of clarity generally have very elaborate and expensive enclosures--speakers such as Wilson, Focal, Magico, YG, and premium Sonus Faber. This is particularly an area where Magnepans exceed their dynamic competitors at the same price points. For dynamic speakers at your price point, based on what I heard from the discontinued Sonus Faber Cremona M's, I'd seriously consider the Sonus Faber Olympica II. |
"I got a pair of Mag 1.7s a year ago and at my budget, that's as good as it's going to get for me." I would say that the Magnepan is a must audition. I tried a pair of 1.7's myself and thought they were just OK. I was kind of surprised because I thought I would like them very much. Still, I think they are definitely worth an audition, given how many people really like them. |
The Maggies are somewhat demanding for room placement and proper amplification. When I demo'd them, the rep used a measuring tape to place them properly. The amplification was good, but not exotic or pricey--an NAD C375BEE 150 wpc integrated amp. They beat all comers at $2K. i got a pair home and used a tape measure for setup and got similar results. If you hear less than that at the demo, it's the setup and not the speakers. Setup is not that complicated, but it does take some diligence. Simliarly, amplification doesn't have to be expensive or exotic, but it has to be a good fit. Those 150 wpc NADs will do just fine. Me? I'm using an all-tube front end driving a 30-yr-old Perreaux PMF-150 (100wpc) power amp to great effect. |
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