1Inventor

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $550.00 from Magnepan Direct

Summary:
I have been an avid Audio nut since my younger years. I have an Audio Engineer for roughly more than 12 and have sampled both Live Sound Gear ( Meyer Sound, EAW's etc.) and Pro-Studio gear.

I have not really delved into Commercial Speakers after having sampled Studio Monitors, I never went back.

I had an opportuniy to audition the MMG's back in 1999 and was absolutely amazed at ther overall sound- coherent, accurate and seductive.

10 years later, I recalled my experience with them and finally ordered a pair. Initial listening was harsh and a bit strident but gradually mellowed out after a good break-in period. They were set up 3 feet from the back wall and 7 feet apart. They sounded good but not good enough. They was a heaviness/chestiness that I was not fond of. I decided to modify the crossovers, upgraded the 1st order design and replaced the coils with Jantzens film coils and upgraded the capacitors as well. Additional application of vinyl dampening on the rear of the panel to minimize vibration came next. Binding posts were upgraded to gold plated banana. Minor wiring upgrade internallly. After the mods, a good break in period once again, not just for the speakers but for the caps as well. After mods, chestiness disappeared, there was a better transition with the new crossover( 12db vs. 6db). Transparency was very evident. The soundstage bloomed and widened and transients became better than stock.

I have more than enough power to drive these MMG's with my current amplifier(s). I used 10 gauge cable(10 ft pair) and compared to conventional smaller gauge cables (14-16), it is significantly more authoritative especially on the low end.

One side note, amplifier power(high current) is a necessity. My ES HT amplifier never strained driving the 4 ohm load but certainly could not produce the vividness that my Carvers (modified) could...more oommph.

I listen primarily to Jazz, Acoustic, Big band, and Pop music. Listening to Allison Kraus's vocal along with her micro-vibrato, there was a seductive detail there that was veiled with otherspeakers I have listened to. Diana Krall with every whisper and lip smack, every nuance of her piano come through with full and clear.

I am sold on these Maggies, they do not possess the dynamic capabilities of traditional coned drivers, nor the boxy resonace either. But whatever they lack, they make up for in inner detail, fast transients, coherence and overall presentation. I would highly recommend them.

Strengths:
- Transparency
- Excellent Micro/Inner detail
- Speed of transients
- Aural presentation/ soundstage
- Spooky realism of source being played.

Weaknesses:
- Does need a good subwoofer, preferably sealed, to supplement the very bottom end.
- Needs a high current amplifier to fully blossom.

lmck2

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 7.00 votes

Price Paid:  $550.00 from magnepan direct

Summary:
just received the mmg's and driving with an hk avr 635 amp. sure they're underpowered for now, (amp is on the way) but they were just what i was looking for. i had a set of vienna accoustics hayden grands that didn't do it for me. these aren't even broken in and they sound wonderful. my wife, who thinks these are expensive speakers, (she doesn't know what the haydens cost), complained that it didn't sound like there was any music coming from the speakers. to me, this was the ultimate compliment. she couldn't tell the difference between the the vienna's and the maggies. or for that matter, the vienna's and a pair of mirage omnisat v2 fs. that i had up front.
I don't think it takes "trained" ears to hear the difference but even to untrained ears, it sounded like the speakers weren't there; just music. That's what jumps out at you from the first listen. the music. she knows nothing about sweet spots or sound stages or imaging or transparency, detail or many of the other hyperbolic adjectives found in every bloviating issue of most professional magazine reviewers.
My son said it sounded like we were at yoshi's (a jazz club). Not quite that good but definitely more enjoyable than anything i've ever heard in a home setting at any price. the fact that these speakers are 550 a pair is what makes it truly unbelievable! if you're sitting on the fence about going with the maggies or anything else, you'll have to spend a great deal of money to get sound this good.

Strengths:
Sound better than any other speakers that i've heard. from martin logans to vienna accoustics to sonus faber. it don't matter, the maggies win any sound comparison and at this price there is no serious competition. if someone finds a better value, i'd looooooove to hear it!

Weaknesses:
Not a single one.

Similar Products Used:
mg 12

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edorr

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.80 of 5, 10.00 votes

Price Paid:  $550.00 from online

Summary:
This is an update to my previous post. After having listened to these speakers for some time, tweaking the listening position, moving my sub around, and listening to a large variety of rock music of various recording quality I came to some conclusions. The biggest issue was with old 60's, 70's era recordings that were not recorded particularly well. I had a lot of trouble getting my sub adjusted right to get the kind of base blending that was needed for the music to be reproduced the way I would expect it to be. This was especially noticeable with Beatles music from the later 60's of which I am very familiar with and enjoy very much.

This experience motivated me to play around with the crossovers and wiring. I first bypassed the fuse and attenuator bar. That was a no brainer, took me about 10 minutes and improved the highs somewhat. Then I replaced the inductor. From what I was reading, the iron core inductor that magnepan uses is old kind of funky technology for inductors that is not used in high end audio anymore. Iron core inductors have very low DCR resistance and are good for that aspect, but have hysteresis types of distortion. I replace the 2.2 mH coil with a foil Alpha air coil 12g .75mH. This made a huge difference in the bass and midrange. The .75mH crossed the bass panel over higher than the 2.2mH and gave the panel nice base punch and great mids. Now the attention went to the caps. That was a harder one to research. Caps can get pricey and I didnt want to make a mistake. I ended up with Jantzen z-superior 15uF caps. Reasonable cost and well rated. Finding the right speaker cap in the higher uF values can be challenging due to the fact that magnepan has now switched to a 1st order crossover design due to simplicity. High end caps get more expensive as the uF gets higher. The good side to a 1st order crossover is that you only have to replace one cap per speaker. No series or parallel considerations to deal with. It was suggested by one cap company to bypass the cap that is in the speaker with a .1uF but I wasnt comfortable with spending a chunk of money on a bypass and have it not make much of a difference because the cheap cap is still in the signal path.

Anyway -- how does the tweak sound? These good sounding speakers are now really first class. Much more really good sound. I dont feel the need to be in that total sweet spot anymore. There is a much LARGER sound coming from the speakers. It even fills the room and the house. I found before the tweak that I really didn't like listening to the speakers much unless I was in the focal sweet spot. They now sound great anywhere in the house! Amazing really! This was a well worth wile investment of only about $75 per speaker to really bring out the capabilities of these great speakers. It makes them an even better bargain now. The next tweak will be to replace the wires with silver wires. That will come in time. Something to note is that these crossover parts are MUCH bigger than the parts that came with speaker. The inductor is outside of the speaker but I managed to stuff the cap in the area that used to house the old cap and inductor. It sticks out a bit but not a biggie.

Don't spend one dime changing anything else in your system until you change these crossover items! It was by far the best $150 I have spent on audio in years!

Cheers!

Strengths:
great speakers!

Weaknesses:
needs tweaks!

magic_ears

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.60 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $600.00

Summary:
For the money, nothing else can touch it. The best purchase I made in a long time.

There are many reviews about the mmg and they’re all fairly accurate; buy them! This review is more about the psychological aspects of owning mmgs. Mr. Winey is the drug dealer of the audio business. I bought these cheap mmg three months ago and now I am hooked. I am lying, cheating and stealing trying to get the money to buy the 1.6 or 3.6R. I fear for Mr. Winey’s soul, on behalf of all the people he lead into temptation. Another aspect of owning these speakers is the development of new neurosis. I just got them set up perfectly for a CD that I was listening, I find myself slouching in the chair, then sitting up, then leaning to the left/right to notice the differences in the sound. Also, when I put in another CD the sound stage is different and I get up again to move the speakers, a inch here an inch there, 2 degree rotation here and there. All I need now is a tube amp, so that I can wiggle the vacuum tubes while I move the mmg’s around. Now I developed a symphony of neurotic twitches wiggling and moving everything around. These are some of the perils of owning magnepans that aren’t advertised and are part of the mmg experience. BEWARE!!!!!!!

Strengths:
resolution
huge sound stage
detailed sound
Tingling up your back

Weaknesses:
low volume output
thin sound, base is weak
Placement critical

Similar Products Used:
infinity rs6000
paradigm phantoms

Jim McGregor

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.71 of 5, 7.00 votes

Price Paid:  $550.00 from Direct

Summary:
I'm what you call a "realistic audiophile with a budget" I work for a living and have other bills to pay. That's why I don't have 20k or more to spend on audio gear-oh yea I'm married. With that said I do love music and I am always searching for the ultimate sound-within my budget.
After reading many reviews on Maggies I opted to start at the begining-the MMGs. In a nut shell-for 550 bucks-you can't buy a better pair of speakers, I've tried and I've built, but not even close.
These mini maggies are a fantastic buy for the budget or for a small listening room. In my 16X12X8 room these puppies fill it up with pure pleasure.

Strengths:
From around 100hz and up, these are "close your eyes-you ARE there" image, detail, it's all there. From the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd and Dire Straights to James Taylor and acoustic Tuna an instrument sounds like it does live-without the room interference and typical closed box coloration.

Weaknesses:
Power consumption and Bass. You need at least 100watts of high current clean power and help below 100hz. AND you need an amp stable in the four ohm range. Using an Outlaw power amp (7125) and a pair of custom built subs from Creative Sound Solutions, I have rounded the stage.

Similar Products Used:
JBL, custom built.

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