Best speaker in the Magnepan line regardless of price. Not quite as transparent nor as fast as electrostatic speakers but better in terms of bass intergration and overall "feeling" of naturalness. Best design, I've seen amongst all speaker designs, that holds the promise of the future. Period.

Depends on your bias.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm listening to the same speakers so many of these online reviewers are listening to. Over the past 12 years I've had OHMs, ZU Druids, Martin Logans, Final, Axioms, Polk Lsi, RBH Signature, Gallo, HSU, Ascend, ACI, and so many others I can't even remember them all. Each one claiming they can reproduce reality better than the other guys' speaker. I gave each of the these speakers more than enough time to "burn in" before I either sent them back or sold them. I don't claim to be the final authority on any speaker but I will say that a great deal of what I've read is hogwash and prospective buyers beware. All of these speakers have strengths and weaknesses. But first let's bite the bullet. No speaker is accurate. Live music is not even accurate. I've heard live music and thought it sounded terrible given the sound system used, the space in which is was played and/or the number of people listening to it. Most recorded music or movie sound tracks are EQ'd according to the engineers' or producers' hearing bias and the "box" speakers, they so vehemently hold on to, were monitored on. (Some still even prefer analoge rather than digital recordings of their sound tracks.) And even if you were in the recording studio at the time of the recording or on the set when a movie sound track is being recorded your ears would probably disagree with what the engineer/director came up with. Why? Simply personal taste. So what's the ultimate "accurate" answer? There is none. So if you are evaluating a reproductive sound or film system before purchase, you bring all your visual and auditory bias's with you. Good luck! Because, later, down the listening and visual road, you may find that what you originally chose was not really what "you had in MIND." If I've learned any thing in this "search for the holy audio grail", it's that if your background listening is with box speakers you'll probably stay with that style of delivery. If your a panel speaker guy, that will be your choice. If your a tube guy, even though most recordings today are make with transistors, you will most likely stay with tubes. Which brings me to this conclusion. If your single, go with a panel speaker. If your married, go with a box speaker and the smaller and less obtrusive the better. I'm single and have had a history with Magnepan and as much as I've tried to replace them. I cannot. The key is compromise. For my money, the MG 12QR is the best speaker I've heard regardless of price given my pre disposition for panel speakers. The key is compromise.

Customer Service

Could be better.

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Most everything.

Regarding the positive end of the speakers everything. They are amazing sound speakers. I am a musican and I listen to Theater organ and Classical organ and these speakers show of everything.

Regarding a weekness I reallly don't see anything wrong with them. They do take a little while to break in and speaker placement is quite important but that is the case with most speakers. Once again I really don't have anything to say bad about these speakers.

I purchased the Magnepan MG 12 speakers about a week ago and have been listening to them all week I love these speakers. They are just amazing.

Customer Service

I looked all over the Denver Colorado area and the only store that met my expectations was Cherry Creek Audio. They guys are helpful, Nice, They listen to you. The one place I will never go back to is LISTEN UP. They are just the opposite. RUDE, MEAN, NASTY, And they have no interest in the customer. I work with a gentlman named Chris Cali. Very nice guy once again very helpful he would make a good friend he was their for me and helped me to choose the right speaker for my needs. Thanks again for your help Chris.

Natural Sound reproduction, Midrange response to die for! Gentle, Yet defined high end frequency response. Bass Quick and accurate ( without the boom and overhang notes, wide & deep soundstage.

If any... maybe requires a bit of patience with room placement, but well worth it when you set them in the right position for your environment.

Well, its been over one year since I purchased my Magnepan MG12/QR's and placed them in my repectable working class man system. I can faithfully say that these baby's are by far the best loudspeaker purchase I have made in years, Belive you me ,I have owned several audiophile endorsed models throught my 25+ years of 2-channel home audio holy grail pursuit, including dynamic cone drivers, Electrosatics or designs that utilize both. My praise of the MG12 purely is based on the realistic musical reproduction these planar speakers bring day after day,night after night regardless of source material. Be it Jazz, Rock, Vocal works, Chamber or large scale classical performance they simply react with musical truth. Front end source components driving these Maggies are the NAD C-370 intergrated amp 125 watts rms x2 along with the NAD C541i CD player. interconnects and speaker cable by DH-Labs Silver sonic (a giant killer in cables!) I will briefly touch on Lower frequency (bass) performance. Several criteria effect any speakers ability to reproduce low frequency's. Room size, speaker placement in room, and the amount of amplication source avaliable to them. With all that said the MG12/QR offer what I believe to be realistic bass reproduction, not the coloration BOOM of which several other enclosure based speaker seem to be voiced. Now I do have a Subwoofer in the above mentioned system, However only used in conjunction with the maggies when listening to vintage 60'early 70's Rock & Pop material, this is due to the lack of low end presence on many of those era recordings. As a general rule the MG 12/QR's placed in the optimal room location and driven by repectable amplication will provide fast, articulate, and resolving bass response, not to mention the liquid and transparent midrange of which they are well known and respected for. I have found my Keeper!

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B&W,Thiel,Martin Logan, Energy,Paradigm

Fuller and clearer sound than MMGs, more bass, non-fatiguing-you can listen for hours.

No chest-thumping bass. Placement is important but is well worth the effort.

I was really loving my MMGs and they were sounding better and better with every upgrade, especially when I switched to a Bottlehead Foreplay tube preamp. Then I saw some MG12s on Audiogon and I had no choice but to buy them. I had auditioned the MG12 and MG1.6 at my local dealer and thought the 12s were better for my room. At first, I struggled with placement-while the 12s are not all that much bigger than the MMGs they definitely take up more space and need a little bit more room to breathe. The MG12s sound great with classical, jazz, female vocals and the like (as everyone knows) and are MUCH better for rock music than the MMGs; the bass is greatly improved. Used for home theater, dialogue and atmosphere when watching movies are amazing, subtle yet intoxicating. I would definitely recommend these speakers to MMG owners, especially if you can find a good deal; you won't be disappointed. For everyone else, if you have the room and enough amp, these speakers will amaze you. Associated equipment: Aragon 2004 Mk II Bottlehead Foreplay 2 Rega Planet Rega Radio Home Depot speaker cable

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Magnepan MMG Wharfedale Pi-20 Wharfedale Diamond 8.4

All

None

Just bought the speakers a few days ago and I'm already giddy to write a review. There's really not much else to say as most reviewers have covered pretty much everything and every word describing how wonderful these speakers are and what they are capable of. If I come up with another phenomenal way of describing it then I'll let you know but for now I just have to say "Way to go Mr. Jim Winey and Thank you!". I can't stop smiling. :)

Strong bass, smooth sound, large soundstage. Price vs performance.

Little critical on placement, like all Magnepan speakers.

I traded my set of Magnepan 10s for a set of these. I loved the sound of the 10s but with my room acoustics and high crossover point on my REL Strata III it sounded boomy though my room naturally is lively. I experimented with the REL and figured out that about 50Hz was the maximum crossover point before things got too strong in the bass section. My solution was to get another set of Magnepans that could play lower and meet the low end room requirements so that I could use my REL and be happy. I couldn't be happier with my choice of speaker. My father owns a set of 1.6s and they sound excellent. These speakers sound identical with a little less low end punch and not quite the height in soundstage. But for $700 less the differences are more luxury than essential. This speaker has recieved little to no publicity but is one of the best sounding speakers I have heard. For the money it can't be beat and it certainly can outperform other speakers costing well over $2000. The only things it can't beat or just a bigger set of Magnepans but they cost more. This one wins of quality and bang for buck factor. These speakers have a great level of clarity and strong bass. One of the first things I questioned was the bass response compared to the Magnepan MMG and was it worth the extra $600. I previously owned a set of MMGs and I can say the difference is signifigant between MG12s and the MMGs and far better sound quality in all realms of tone, soundstage, and bass response for just being a few inches taller and wider than MMGs. If anyone out there is looking for a good set of $1100 full range loudspeakers I would highly recommend these speakers. If the lowend bass isn't enough for you try pairing it with a REL Strata III and you won't be disapointed.

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Magnepan MMG, 1.6, 10, Martin Logan Aerius.

Clarity and soundstaging.

Getting the best sound is very dependent on set up. Still they were good out of the box.

Using a setup of four QR12s and a CC3 for home theater and multichannel music. I'm driving them with a Conrad-Johnson MF5600. The sound is clean and remarkably detailed. Great soundstaging with good, though not great bass. An outstanding value.

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Soundstage, detail, realism, non-fatiguing nature.

Need to be positioned well out into one's listening room. Requires careful component selection.

Best "bang for the buck" on the market, especially if you're tired of the sound of box speakers. In the right room, the MG12 will give you 90% (or more) of the magic of the 1.6 for 65% of the price. Not enough slam for you rockers? Add an ACI sub and don't ever look back. Just make sure your other components are up to the task.

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Martin Logan, ACI, Maggie 1.5's

Most musical speaker I have owned.

Not the 1.6 (barely). Other than that none

Incredible. The step up from the MMG's is absolute. As another reviewer stated earlier the MG12 is far more like the 1.6 than the MMG. From the moment I set them up and they played their first note I knew that they were special. A full bodied sound rich and warm with just the right amount of detail to remain musical and not clinical. I'm looking forward to the sound that these magnificent speakers make when they break in. If you don't have the dough or the space for the 1.6's do not hesitate these speakers are the best I have ever owned, and I have owned many. Equipment used: Rotel RC972 Pre amp (modified) Rotel RB981 Power amp Rotel RCD971 CD player (modified) Rotel RLC900 line conditioner All interconnects and speaker cables are NWAL custom

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Listened to the entire Magnepan line sans the 20.1. Owned SMGa's, MMG's, Paradigm Reference Series(Studio 20's, 40's, and 60's),JBL's, Boston Acoustics, NHT's and many more.

Open, full, clear sound.

Monolith look.

I also was not sure about upgrading to the MG12's from the MMG's. When I did, I found the 12's to be fuller sounding with much better bass response. Though only slightly larger than the MMG's, the 12's perform better over a wider range of music and flawlessly as the left and right front speakers in my home theater system. The MG12's are worth their price and deserve the praise and loyalty of this satisfied Magnepan owner.

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Magnepan MMG, Mission speakers.