I have had these speakers new after having traded in my old MG 1 during the late 80s and have been providing me with endless hours of music and great sound. My room is not small nor large and the bass response is amazing. Bass sounds huge and tuneful and articulate. Soundstage is awesome and vocalists seem to fill the room with the rest of the band. The same can be said with all types of music. It reproduces amazing realism.

I listen to jazz,pop,orchestral, classical, rock from Diana Krall, Ella, Louis Armstrong, Sade, Whitney Houston,G Benson,Yellowjackets,Bob James, Earl Klugh, Pink Floyd,Keb Mo,Art Pepper,Miles Davis,Bebu Silvetti,The Eagles, and many more.

These speakers are driven by Classe 30 preamp and Classe 70 amp which is rated at 75 watts per channel with ease. This amp/preamp combination sounds powerful and brings out the best in these speakers and create a huge soundstage with lots of detail and musicality especially via vinyl playback such as my Linn LP12 Ittok Lingo. Also sounds very good with good cd recordings. The sounds emanating from these speakers are so good that it becomes addictive that one can listen for hours on end.

I visited a local hi-end audio shop that I'm familiar with, with the intention of auditioning a pair of 1.7QRs to replace a pair of B&W 705s that will be moving on to home theater duty.

When I got there, the speakers were already set up and I settled into a comfy chair to run through several high quality music recordings. They sounded fantastic!

I got up and left the room to browse through the consignment sales area at the back of the store, like I always do. That's when I spy a pair of Magnepan speakers leaning against the back wall. I inquired if they were used and if they were on consignment, and the owner of the store confirmed that they were. I asked, just out of curiosity, if he could set them up in place of the 1.7QRs that I had just finished listening to. Five minutes later, the 1.7s were moved off to the side and these older, used ones (MG 1.4s) were now occupying the space.

I ran through the same songs I listened to not minutes before and I was shocked! I was expecting the difference to be night and day, given the reviews I had seen on the 1.7s and the difference in age between the two, and the technology that had developed since the 80s when they were designed and built. I won't lie and say I didn't hear any difference, because I did. The thing is, the difference was far, far less than I would have expected. The sound stage was still huge, the details were there and vocals were sweet. I would say the bass was even better in the 1.4s than the 1.7s, but I guess that could be attributed to the fact that the diaphragm had been stretched in the old ones from years of use and they were still tight in the new ones.

Given the large price difference between the two, and the narrow difference in sound quality, my decision to purchase was a no brainer.

I brought them home, set them up and they sounded amazing. Then I started reading up on older Magnepans. I found out that many of them experience problems with the wires lifting up and need to be re-glued. My heart sank!!!! I thought I made a huge mistake, and even though they still sounded fantastic, I still thought that I had thrown my money away.

I couldn't just let it go, so I decided to pull off the coverings to check things out. It turned out that they were in perfect condition! I just got new "socks" from Magnepan sent to me and I put them on to replace the ones I had taken off and they look great. I even changed the color from the old white fabric to a newer modern white version!

The only negative thing I can say about these speakers is that I'm kicking myself for not having listening to them and owning a pair much sooner! I'd been missing out on the "Maggie" experience for so long and now know why their owners gush over them so much.

detail, micro infomation, soundstage, good stereo, natural sound, easy with good amplifier
very good with any style of music

osition

they are very very good loudspeaker, very to detail, very fluid, very good soundstage, if it are well to place. the users manual is necessary:).
the legend that these loudspeaker is difficult with amplifier is false.
it functions as well on mark levinson as with small amplifier of good quality.

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apogee,martin logan,quad,jm labfocal,pierre etienne leon, triangle,jm reynaud,klipsh,b&w,vandersteen.........

No-speaker sound, spectacular stereo imaging, Dig deep into the record/digital disc. Sheer musicality. Like being at your own concert. Converts the skeptics who think surround sound is somehow new....The pair, actually lighter combined, than one of my old Mission 770's alone and easier to move.

A fusspot's delight!. Ruthless with failings in one's system. Power junkies(current-wise: never mind watts. Be prepared for upgrading if any system weak links.

Have hankered after Maggies since hearing a pair of SMGa's in an Audio store. These came up, and although the room I use them in is a bit small and the wrong shape, I was able to manoeuvre them to sound WONDERFUL! My anti-audiophile girlfriend was AMAZED! They just aren't there soundwise and although are best suited to classical orchestral works, are VERY respectable with progressive Rock; plus EXTREMELY articulate in the Bass and midrange. But my ST"210"(140mkII) is definitely pushed power wise. But The B&K and Maggies feel synergistic and utterly beguiling on practically everything, such that said girlfriend's "romantic slush" 45rpm records from the 50's & 60's are getting almost as much play as MY MUSIC! Now that's what I call a DOWNSIDE! Trade-n time - girfriend I mean - NOT the Maggies! If you can find a pair and you've got good quality/powerful equipment/amplification, buy em! I did and am DEELIGHTED!

Customer Service

from hearsay, excellent.

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None. Box speakers only.

Soundstage, upper bass. mids. and highs(with a tube amp). Awesome for the money.

Source dependent, will expose poor quality input. Wiring can make a huge difference. although this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Simply amazing for what little i paid for these. I've had these for about 2 years now and have yet to find a reason to replace or upgrade them. This particular pair had been recently refurbed by Magnepan about a year before i purchased them, installing new driver panels, so essentially they were only one year old. So based on that i cannot really comment on the durability. What i can say about these is that they produce a great soundstage with the proper input. I have read that they are rather power hungry. I have found that they respond well to tube amps. I am currently running mine with a 60wpc Jolida amp, which mates well with the maggies. What I have discovered over the past years in expirementing is that they are quite sensitive, in terms of exposing poor inputs and cables. A clean signal is a must. As for bass response, these work pretty well down to their limit, about 40hz. Yet this is rather room dependent, i currently have them in a 18x16 room and they sound fantastic. At one point i had them in a room about twice that size and the bass response reduced dramatically, and my amp could not keep up. In comparison to the 1.6QR (which i had borrowed from a friend), these actually seem a bit better with respect to bass response. Only in the upper end of the frequency range did i notice much of a difference. Overall these are great speakers for what i paid for them, or even double that. I have yet to experience another speaker near their price range to compete.(outside of the magnepan line) Soon I will test them in a home theatre application and see how they perform, and how efficient they are with my Marantz SR-19 Current system: Jolida 502b, mullard tubes Pioneer DV-09(great transport) Signal Cable: Speaker wire, rca's and power cable. Monster HT3500 power conditioner(want a better one)

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Rich full sound that allows space between the notes

They are a presence in any room. Base could be a bit fuller

I bought my Magnapans new around 1990. More then I could afford at the time but when I heard I was taken in. Even my wife who is as practical as they come said, We have to have these!" They have been an excellent reliable speaker. Several years ago I tried to replace them with something a bit less 2001 A Space Odyssey (they are the black versions), and hopefully even more musical. I was greatly disappointed with all the box speakers I heard. Miles Davis wasn’t in my living room anymore he was in my garage with the door closed. I listened to speakers costing $3000 a pair and they did not have the clear presence, animation and “air” the Mags have. Yes they are finicky about placement, all rear firing base speakers are. Yes they are a light on the head bashing bass but I gave up my AC/DC days a long time ago. When I listen to a jazz quartette I want to hear all the instruments in balance. When I listen to great musical rock bands, U2, Floyd, The Doors, I want to hear it all and all the breaths in-between. Magnepans provide a sound I have only heard in $10,000 a pair speakers. I’m going to hang onto them for a while. I might change the fabric color. I think our three-year old is being controlled by the one on the right. She has been making tools out of sticks and rocks. Maybe I'll look into some new Mags for a surround sound system.

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Imaging, clarity, detail, natural sound.

Harsh highs. Require a good amp with a rated output of at least 100 wpc at 8 ohms. Placement and room treatment are critical.

I bought these when my MG IIA's bit the dust. They are smaller than the IIA's, but have better frequency response (top and bottom), and a clearer midrange than the IIA's, even though they use the wire tweeter, rather than the quasi-ribbon of the 1.5 and 1.6. They are indeed fairly power-hungry; my Sony GX808-ES receiver was having trouble with transient dynamic bursts, so I invested in a B&K ST-1400, which provides more power, and the difference is incredible! Improved bass, smoother highs, more realistic image. No clipping on those transients either. These speakers sound very natural and real. Vocals are like live (almost eerie). Fantastic for classical music as well -- like 6th row, center (depending on the recording). Some say they don't rock. Although they don't have punch-in-the-chest bass, these speakers reproduce well-recorded rock music very well. Led Zeppelin like you've never heard them. Country, jazz and bluegrass sound fabulous. These speakers, when positioned properly in a properly treated room, provide fantastic 3-dimensional imaging. In small rooms, bass is a problem due to reflections and the resulting destructive interference. They produce a surprising amount of bass down to 40HZ, but I experience a dip at 60 HZ due to my small room size and listening position. I can listen to these for hours on end. I used custom stands to make the speakers vertical -- the stock stands tip back a few degrees to help with vertical dispersion, since the speakers are only 5' tall. Making the speakers vertical helped a great deal with the image, but the highs are overemphasized now, and a bit harsh. Some diffusing material behind the speakers helped with this, but it's still noticable. These speakers really require a well-treated room. Too many reflective surfaces can muddy the sound and hurt bass response.

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MG IIA, MG 2.5

3 dimensionality, realistic, easy listening

bass flabby and lacks punch, soft high frequencies

These speakers are very musical and do not give you any impression that you are listening to speakers at all. They are, however, very picky on placement and room dimensions. They also require a high power/current amp to keep the bass in control. But finally, when all things are set up right, they sound beautiful.

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huge sound field

placement, DEEP bass, not biwireable

bought this pre-owned, i have the oak w/ offwhite cloth
an excellent buy..forces you to relisten to all your CDs
not as power hungry as ppl say..check my setup

Mains: Mag 2.5r
Rears: Mag 1.4
Center: MGCC1
Receiver: Nakamichi AV-10 (100w/ch)
Sub: HSU Research VTF-2

Note: The TWEETER ATTENUATOR is NOT for bi-wiring!!!

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Extremely flat frequency response, excellent clarity and dynamics. Distictave looks.

Average bass respose, large size, need a lot of power to run, and placement is crucial .

The 1.4's are great for music because of their rear reflection of sound which creates a huge sound field. The perfect fr. response also makes the sound reproduction incredible.
In home theater the speakers have their advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that on certain sound tracks the 360 degree sound dispersion can create an unbelievable sound enviroment, but sometimes this positive characteristic can interfear with this pinpoint seperation that dolby digital and dts create.
If you want a great musical speaker and a good home theater setup all in one this is the perfect chose, just make sure you have seperate sub.