The soundfield with a well recorded source is just incredible. Everything else sounds "small." Coherence across the frequency spectrum. Shear value. Makes great use of tube gear.

A bit bass shy of course, unless it is used with monster amplification...other than that, just a bit of Q.C., but not much.

After living with my Mag 1.4's for a year now, I am very pleased with the upgrade in my listening environment over my trusty Vandersteen 2C's. I choose to buy on the used market because it is fun and rewarding to seek out those great products that just won't die, and keep giving hours of pleasure. The Magnepans are easily in this category.

The Maggies were easy to set up. They came out of the box and were up in ten minutes. Immediately they sounded much greater than anything I had before. Although they are not the last word in workmanship or appearance, they are quite attractive in their own way, and exotic enough to warrant comments from all who visit. They are big, and have to be accepted into your environment. That said, the listening is what makes them worth seeking out.
My musical tastes range from classic rock (Floyd, Yes, Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac) to classical (Pachelbel, Mozart) to jazz (George Benson, Weather Report, Return to Forever, Pat Metheney, Diana Krall) to plenty of good FM advant garde and live classical..whew... my overall impression of the 1.4's is of ease and grandeur no matter what the program material, like listening to rock as an artistic form instead of head banging bizarro. Like listening to water instead of listening to someone banging a water bucket.
They were the logical extension of the electronics I chose (ARC SP8, D70Mk2). This combination works well, even though they would sound more dynamic with solid state amplification. I also use a very wonderful ARC SP6B with Telefunken ECC83's, and the Maggies reveal the subtle but real differences in the presentations of these two classic tube preamps. Contrary to common belief, well designed lower power amps work fine, and a subwoofer mated to it is ideal. I therefore included my Vandersteen 2W with its built in 300W amp, crossed over at a low 33Hz, and it fills in any base inadequacies with authority, and transforms a good system into a great one. More bass does add pace, foundation and rhythm, if it's done right. No boom, please.
My interconnects are DH Labs. They are adequate but will probably be the next upgrade, along with the aging and not too graceful Monster speaker cables (I know, I know). I'm planning an upgrade to 8TC.
In short, the 1.4's are fast, articulate, smooth, magnificent, and most of all...musical.
Let me see, about getting that ARC VT100..hmmm

My sys as of now:
Oracle Delphi/Grado
Ah! Tjoeb 4000
ARC SP6B (telefunkens)
ARC SP8 II Rev7
ARC D70 Mk II
Vandersteen 2W

Similar Products Used:

Vandy 2C. Low fi Cerwin Vega (a long time ago).

I have listened to many speakers and have owned many speakers but none have made me feel as involved in the music as these maggies. They are currently available used for less than $500.00. I own speakers 4x that cost that are much less realistic. The only serious drawback is that they are power hungry. My Bryston 3B-ST provided only marginal loudness and has been supplanted by an early model Proton D1200. The Proton makes these maggies whisper, sing & rock!
I should add that I use a Sunfire MKII subwoofer to pick up at about 55 Mhz where the Maggies roll off. I sincerely believe that at used market value these are truly awesome devices!

Bass that doen't frazzle,or hang around waiting for the next
note. Midrange as sweet as I've heard.

doesn't have ability to play hard rock .

Came across these Mag.s in the USA while on vacation and
was just looking around for a new turntable.wanted to
upgrade my Rega 3 . The sound that was coming out of these
speakers was unreal. They were newly uncrated and simply
set in the large sales room not set-up at all and the
sales man wouldn't let me buy them. Can you believe that!
It was the first set in the store. I lived about 400 miles
away and I wasn't leaving without them (a great thing
that credit card ) .Anyways many audiophiles have heard
my mag.s and leave the house rather disappointed about
their own systems and are left wondering where did they
go wrong. Oh woe is me ! Though luck boys , read-em and
weep.
Powered with a pair of 150 watt rather ancient Crown amps
and a lovely Accuphase CL-210, it is the best!!!!

Similar Products Used:

KEf reference,Martin Logan , Infinity Reference

Very musical and natural sound, great soundstage

no bass at all below 40 Hz, needs time to break in (weeks to months), needs good setup, needs amplifier which delivers a lot of current (not just pure power)

I own these Maggies now since 1991 and I don't believe I will ever go back to a 'box' type speaker. I stumbled upon these while looking for a cable and bought them (more or less) on the spot.

They are a bit fuzzy to setup although the manual gives very good hints how to do this. I disagree in one point though: I placed the tweeters outside.

If the Maggies are setup perfectly then the missing ultra low bass is usually not noticed as the bass is very detailed and clear. In a very big room an (parametric) equalizer may be necessary to boost the bass around 60-70 Hz but this depends on the position of the listener.

Due to the relatively low impedance and the very high quality of the speakers a really good amplifier is needed which must be able to deliver a lot of current. This dopes not mean that a lot of power is necessary. I drove them very successfully with an old Amber S70 (2x100W/4Ohm, modified with a stronger power supply) and now even better with a pair of Denon POA6600 (2x500W/4Ohm). Using small amplifiers like a Kenwood KA80 or a Rotel RA935BX2 was a disappointment.

Okay, when everything is set and done the Maggies just play music, not audio. There were times where I seemed to notice a flaw, e.g. missing details in the highs, but all these 'flaws' were always cured by replacing a source or an amplifier, so it was not the speaker which caused the flaw.

One last point to the manufacturing quality: In one speaker the glue between coil and foil lost its stickiness so the speaker started to make strange sounds when playing bass at higher levels. I contacted the German importer and a very friendly technician told me that some of the 1.4s developped this problem and that he would fix it for a symbolic price (about DM 100) which more or less just covers the handling. He also told me that I could fix it myself and which glue I should use and how to do it. I decided to give it a try. It was very messy and I needed two tries but in the end it worked and did cost me just a few bucks for the glue, and a few hours work of course.

Fantastic only with very good amplifiers

Problems with deep bass,very high price because you need on of the best amplifiers .

The 1.4 is one of greatest sounding speakers I ever heard.
But the big problem is the amplifier .
First I drove it with a McIntosh 2505- 2 x 50 Watts,it
sounded like soso,then I bought a McIntosh MC 2150 and it
sounds much better but now I tried a McIntosh MC 500 with
500 Watts per channel - this is absolut fantastic -in my
90 square meter ( germany) livingroom,its absolutely great.
For the deep bass I spent them a activ Sub from MBL Audio
( german brand ) .
Preamp,Tuner,CD-Player - all from McIntosh - and when I wanna hear ,,loud'' music,I use my Klipsches and my old
McIntosh amplifiers in my office .

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch LaScala , Klipsch Heresy