comments on-Magnepan Magneplanar MMG

[rupy]

Hi,
I read raving reviews on these speakers on audioreview,and the beauty is the price quoted at $600.There were over 294 reviews and the rating averaged 4.72 out of five.Can anyone put me wise on these speakers and whether the price quoted is correct.I have not seen these around.
Thanks.

 

[sidvee]

@rupy - I used to own a pair 7 years ago. I bought them direct from Magneplanar for $499, delivered to my home when I lived in the US. Driven with a Monarchy audio sm100 monoblock amp. these were hands down the best $500 pair of speakers I ever heard. So yes the quoted price is correct for US delivery, I believe they are sold direct from factory - not sure if retailers have this model or not(i think the price has gone up now), but for India you should consider a large markup if available at all.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Sid

 

[panditji]

These are the entry level speakers sold factory direct by Magnepan and are not stocked by any dealers. These are very nice speakers and they are used by Magnepan to tempt people to buy their MG12s or MG 1.6 as you will get hooked to the sound. Excellent speakers but bass will be an issue with them although MG12 is much fuller and 1.6 even better.

 

[abhijitnath]

I have one- they're fantastic, especially in small rooms like most of us in India have. The MG12 are pretty much identical, with a dealer margin built. The 1.7 on the other hand are definitely a step above! If you're in Bombay, you're welcome to come over and have a listen.

 

[gobble]

Excellent speakers but bass will be an issue with them although MG12 is much fuller and 1.6 even better.

From the website:

That 696" of speaker surface area is the equivalent of what you'd get with seventy-two 1" dome tweeters and nine 8" woofers! If you get a chance to hear these Maggies, you just might be convinced that they deliver all of the extraordinary detail that one would expect from a collection of tweeters and woofers like that.

So with the equivalent of 9 8" woofers bass is still lacking?
Whats am I missing here?

--G0bble

 

[panditji]

They may be equivalent of 9 woofers but how low do those woofers actually go down to ???? That is not something they specified...

It is like my Quad 11Ls are supposed to go down to 45 Hz and the Harbeth Compact 7 go down to 50Hz ..... but the Quads are nowhere when it comes to the actual sound(bass) coming from the Harbeths...

So the specs really do not give you much idea until you hear the speakers...speakers with better specs are not necessarily better when it comes to the actual sound...

 

[abhijitnath]

From the website:


So with the equivalent of 9 8" woofers bass is still lacking?
Whats am I missing here?

--G0bble

The size may be equivalent, but the excursion of each driver definitely isn't! It's a flat piece of aluminium that's moving- it can't move too far outside the field, unlike a dynamic 12" driver that moves a lot more air.

 

[GeorgeO]

I believe Maggies need a fair bit of juice to perform well. Sidvee, any comments?

 

[sidvee]

I believe Maggies need a fair bit of juice to perform well. Sidvee, any comments?

Gist of the conversation between me and the lady at Magneplanar who was taking my order for the MMG's. I remember this conversation vividly, because it was the first time I experienced such candid admission of requirements from a mfr's. product:

Her: What amplifier are you planning to use with the MMG
Me: Monarchy audio
Her: Are they rated into 4 ohms and output at-least 100watts
Me: Yes, but why do you ask
Her: We have had customer complaints from people using some AV receivers that speakers sound distorted, rcvr. damaged etc.

So yes, amps. that are stable at 4 ohms pumping min. 100 watts are needed to enjoy these and any maggies - right from the manufacturer.

Cheers,
Sid

 

[madbullram]

@Sidvee: I hear Maggies need a fair bit of space. I was considering getting them last time when I was in US (till I get my B&W 805 M). But people chased me away saying it will be awful in my 11 X 11 bedroom where I cannot afford a 2 ft space between the wall the speakers.

Is that your observation also? The reason I ask is these days they are advertising that you do not need huge amount of space for them and in particular the MMG fit the small room well.

 

[sidvee]

@Sidvee: I hear Maggies need a fair bit of space. I was considering getting them last time when I was in US (till I get my B&W 805 M). But people chased me away saying it will be awful in my 11 X 11 bedroom where I cannot afford a 2 ft space between the wall the speakers.

Is that your observation also? The reason I ask is these days they are advertising that you do not need huge amount of space for them and in particular the MMG fit the small room well.

Yes absolutely Madbullram - They need minimum 2 feet at best and I remember in my setup they sounded best at 3.5 feet from the rear wall and about 2 feet from the sides. If you push them up against the rear with less than 2 feet, then the imaging suffers significantly IMO and the presentation sounds chaotic and disjointed. One more thing their low bass reproduction is almost non-existant, I think it rapidly falls off (-6db) at 60 or 70hz. So that is another limitation as well. Beyond those it is a superb performer that no speaker under US$1k can touch IMO.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[gobble]

Are you chaps talking about 2ft from front baffle to rear wall or the distance from rear end of the speakers to rear wall?

Edit: forgot these are thin panel speakers. But in general whats the measure?

--G0bble

 

[sidvee]

@Gobble - For all box type speakers, measurements are usually done from the front baffle and I follow that practice as well.
Cheers
Sid

 

[abhijitnath]

I don't think you can successfully run these 2 feet from the back wall. I have them almost 4 feet from the back wall, but only a foot from the sides. They do need juice; however I used to run them off an old Sansui receiver that was rated at 40W, and my wife used to complain about the volume even then. I also get in room bass down to about 50 Hz, but thats fairly room dependent. I would recommend a Rythmik sub to augment these- you get panel slap on infrasonics otherwise, especially on movies.