I have had experience with Macintosh, BGW, retro Crown, Yamaha, Rotel along with speakers as Klipsch Kornerhorn and Klipsch Lascala, Frazier sevens, Frazier Manhattans, Polk Lsi i15 , Infininty reference standard 2000.5 tower and book shelf. And had to get my junk food through Bose Lifestyle Satellite systems along with the space echo effect Cinemate Bose sound system, not to mention the Solo series entertainment speaker that I used for a center channel. I still have a pair of 201s, 301s, 501s good god.....! And all I can say is that the Magnepan 2.5r speakers are intense.....you need alot of power to properly do these babies. I am now in the clan of Magnepan where we all our speakers "Maggies" and we treat and spoil these speakers better than our own children. Even the worst critic of these speakers has to admit the initial lust they had for these speakers. I can't help it they convinced themselves that something like the magnepan could sound so sinfully good and that they must rid themselves of their evil inner child and listen to Logan Martin or JBL.
But the fact remains of the many satisfied and happy owners of anything Magnepan. It is a testament that Magnepan won the few years back at the CES show in Las Vegas. They are as always in the reality of a new approach and refreshing sound that is unique.

The best speakers to buy for home, real sound

Euphoric Presentation!

Small sweetspot Special Everything to drive(Amps,Wires,Room etc.etc.) Always think you can improve the sound if you just add one more whatever! Lack Bass! Need a Sub Not real or true to actual event! The list never ends!

They are Euphoric speakers for those that do not know what actual instruments are meant to sound like. Yeah,they sound great ,for awhile,then after the initial WOW factor wears off and you realise that real music does not sound like they do then you start to realise that other speakers are better. They need a Sub as they lack Bass.They also need a big room.Then they are hard to drive needing special amplification. Don't try to use HK stuff with them. Then there are the wires. You even breath on them they change their signature. Then there is the sweet spot. You cannot move to far off axis and you lose the sound. If you like Euphoric presentation then look no further. If you like driving yourself nuts trying to get the most fm a set of speakers then they are for you. You'll always feel you can make them sound better if you do this or that. Good luck with the madness! I found way better in Box speakers for less. My advice,look around for better! Box Speakers are much better.They are great if you love not music ,but what you think music is or sounds like.

Similar Products Used:

B&W's(Midbass Hump) Klipsch-ok NEAR's-wModified Drivers Excellent Orig.Drivers put Maggies to shame! JBL's & Infinity-OK(Newer Versions Excellent) Genesis-Excellent WIlson-If you Have the $$ excellent Green Mt.-Excellent Value JMR-Exellent Martin Logan-Same type of sound! PSB-Good value QUAD-Rather have them anyday over Maggies There are more!

The sound!!! (What else is there?!?!)

If your significant other doesn't dig the look of 'em... you are SOL!!!

Not to repeat what other enthusiasts have already stated time & time again about the Magis in general regarding the sound as it must be heard to be believed; rather, I'd like to give my humble opinion regarding the amount of power it takes to drive them. I have a large living room and drive them with a Yami receiver. Not some HUGE amp with transformers the size of Mac trucks and capacitors big enough to store a lightening bolt. Nope... just a regular receiver, albeit a half decent one and guess what... the reciever is completely okay to drive these speakers with!!!! (I never make it past 6 on the sound level knob and that's with playing Led Zep too!) Would they shine brighter with some high-price-tag electronics??? Possibly/probably. But the point I'd like to make for those audio enthusiasts that would die to get a pair (or a few!) of Magis but don't have the big bucks to blow on electronics or obscenely priced speaker cables --- DO NOT WAIT OR HESITATE!!! GO FOR IT!!! I feel it is a case of relative/correct importance. Examples! Source material: crappy recordings, either analog or digital, are simply that... crappy! Electronics: personally, I do not buy into the absolute requirement of needing the best of the best in order to listen to Magis!!! THEY are the link in the system that put the puck in the net, NOT the big ticket mono blocks that you can cook a goose on at Thanks Giving!!! The other irritating comments that I have heard and read are the ones that give the potential buyer (and ENJOYER!!!) the impression that the only way to listen to Magis is (after weeks of farting around with the placement of the speakers) to have your head strapped into some kind of head-locking device so that you never vary from the most-cherished sweet spot! This is silly beyond silly!!!!!! THEY ARE DIPOLES, NOT DYNAMIC SPEAKERS!!! Go over the physics of them (objectively) and the lights will come on in a hurry. (I could rant some more about the "esoterica boys" and their incredible ability to turn regular Joes off from getting a descent pair of speakers, but I think it would get censored!!!) Bottom line... if you are a regular Joe and want to give Magis a go, either new or pre-owned, GIVE THEM A GO!!! I do not think you will regret it!!! And once you hear what they have to offer, THEN upgrade the rest of the show based on your budget!

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Dynamic speakers auditioned at the time of purchase in the $5,000 to $10,000 CND range... and they all sounded like AM radios in comparison!!!!!

Soundstage width/depth, clarity,pitch and bass definition,Naturalness

Can't bang out thumping bass like a dynamic speakers.I will pass on the one note bass thou.

It's been a while since the last review on these speakers. I will give my take. First off this is my second pair of Maggies. I really enjoy these speakers but when I first got them I couldn't stand to listen to them. The highs from those ribbons will cut you in half. They sounded hifi to me and the ribbon tweeters really glared. The resolution was terrible ..there was so much information missing in the midrange.I know these speakers can sound better than this. So the first thing I did was to bypass the steel clip tweeter attenuator completely.Also removed the capacitor and original 2 ohm resistor that was inline with the tweeter and midrange driver on the back of the binding post panel.Next step was to remove the fuse from the circuit completely.Before I removed the capacitor from the speakers I hooked them up to get a feel of the sound. Instantly the resolution came in and the background to the music showed itself. But there was something wrong. The singers all sounded far away making me feel like I was sitting on the very back row of the performance. So I went back in and removed the capacitor from the plate behind the binding post.Inserted a newer 2 ohm /10 watt resistor between the tweeter/midrange wire and binding post. WoW now we are cooking. Highs became more realistic and the voices and instruments appear in the soundstage where I am used to hearing them. Bass has improved two fold! Not concerned with burning up the ribbon driver since I use a low wattage all digital reciever on them and don't listen at rock concert levels. If I were using a transformer based amplifier the fuse would go back in with reluctance! I understand the need for the fuse but it kills the background information in the music.And to compensate for the crappy attenuator pin you have all these unneeded passive devices in the path of the beautiful midrange and highs this speaker can produce.The metal pin adds a metallic sound to the highs I can do without! You haven't heard a Magnepan until you bypass the fuse.I did some comparisons with them to my Green Mountain Audio Europas. The Europas have surperb resolution and naturalness. So it seem only fair to see how far along the old Maggies had come. The Maggies resolution is now on par with that of the Europa.Only there's more depth with the Maggies. The soundstage on some recordings is amazing. While listening to a Chesky test cd my wife noticed before I did two pianos playing in the background instead of one. I didn't hear this on my Europas. It takes some patients to set up the Maggies and it can be frustrating at times. But when things are right. Your soundstage on good recordings seems limitless ! The speed of the Tweetwer/Midrange ribbon is startling fast with detail and clarity but totally nonfatiguing. Watched the movie Open Range with Kevin Costner. The rain drops in some scenes sounded like they were in the room with us.Also turned off the center channel to see how well they image ...had a hard time telling that the center wasn't on with these speakers.They image like champs and better than they did before my minor upgrade but the Europas do have a slight edge in this area. It doesn't take super expensive gear to make them sound great ..just a decent source and amplifier that passes a clean signal.There are many box speakers well above the cost of these that will never give you the resolution and depth of a Magnepan 2.5R or any other Maggie. Even with some overly priced electronics hooked to them.Thats the excuse you get from people who buy a pair of underwhelming overpriced speakers looking for an excuse why the speaker doesn't perform up to their standards. These aren't rocker speakers... for that I would buy a pair of Paradigms or something along the line. The speakers were designed before the advances in digital technology. I feel their setup and hyped up treble is due to this. Now with better technology the added hype isn't needed. Haven't replaced any croosover parts..pretty happy with the sound I get now. Sooner or later I will tinker with it but satisfied at the moment.I have read complaints on the midrange having a suckout ..now I know why.Remove these unneeded passive components and listen to the speakers open up. Magnepans are truly a great value and hard to beat for the audiophile or music lover.They are even a better value, when you buy them at a used price!

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Soliloquy,GMA,Deftec,Infinity,Meadowlark, Martin Logan,Paradigm ,Vienna Acoustics ,Sonus Faber and others

Sound field is big, extremly clear, Much better than any Martin Logans that I've heard

The are big, but they look very good in my living room

Awsome! I'm not going to give you all the specs about frequency response. I went to hear a pair of 8K Martin Logans and a few other speakers around the same price range. They did not come close to how great my maggies sound. The were much sharper the the ML's with the same type of sound field. The ML's sounded muddy compared to the 2.5's. Don't believe the hype about lack of bass, simply not true. If you're listening to music as you should be, ( In front of your speakers)there is more than ample bass, even at very low frequencies. If you want room shaking bass, you'll find them with this speaker. If you want house shaking bass, get yourself a BOX type speaker. I find myself spending hours listening to CD's that I've forgotten that I've had. I'm using an Harman Kardon 25_llk, this reciever puts out 100w @ 4ohms, it doesn't seem to break a sweat. I've read alot about how much power it would take to push these maggies, guess I won't know how they truly sound until my Mcintosh 2205 arrives, that will be another review. Simply put, if you're thinking about getting a pair, do so very quickly. You not be able to buy a better pair of speaker for under 5K

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Never used magneplanar speakers before. Energy,Infinity, Pinnacle, B&W's

Natural, full, undistorted sound - without artificial mellowness or color; good bass, great highs without harshness; large sound stage.

They are tall panels requiring careful placement away from the walls to sound best -- their appearance and placement requirements are a source of conflict with wife.

These are superb speakers that I have used and enjoyed now for over 12 years. Bought them new in 1989 -- and chose them at the time for their accuracy and airiness. They were very enjoyable with the Luxman electronics and no-name cables I bought at that time. Since I upgraded my system to the Krell 300 i integrated amp,Krell 250cd player, Audioquest Granite speaker cable and Audiquest Viper balanced interconnects -- I have discovered a tonal depth and richness and an open natural staging to complement the accuracy and airiness that first attracted me to them. I find them quite realistic and natural with a wide variety of music -- from rock and jazz to chamber and complex choral/orchestral music. As for power requirements, I never find it necessary to crank my Krell 300i to more than half power with these speakers.

This speaker is awesome at creating a great soundstage and realistic images with space and depth. Realistic and breathtaking sound. Magnepan is my favorite speaker. I used to trade up speakers every six months. I have had these for over 10 years. And in spite of what you may have heard, they kick ass on hardrock if the recording was good. Metallica, Sister Hazel, Ac/Dc. These speakers do reveal the differences in cd players, amps, etc so be sure to experiment.

These speakers have a low efficiency and are power hungry. I am now using a Krell KSA250 to drive these bad boys, however my former ADCOM GFA 5800 did a good job for the price. They are finicky about setup and do require an average to large size room. The speakers need to be away from the back of the wall and side walls to come alive.

Magnepan has been my speaker manufacturer of choice for the past 10 years. These speakers sound awesome at creating a close to life effect. However, the speakers have an efficiency of about 85db/1m and are powerhungry. The maggies need a good amp and good front-end electronics to bring out what their best. It's time to trade up again and I will be searching for some 3.6s'. Any music sounds better to me with magnepans as long as the recording is good and the front-end electronics are good. I used to only enjoy a handful of cds and zero albums with these speakers until I upgraded my equipment. Now that I have a Krell amp and a vpi turntable everything sounds good. You can get these speakers and other equipment used. That is what I did and paid less than half the retail value. People that are into this stuff are always upgrading and take great care of their equipment. Happy listening!!

Similar Products Used:

Apogee, Martin Logans, Emminent Tech, use similiar approach but the maggies ruled for price and overall sound.

true ribbon, 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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bg radia 420dx

Simply the best for the buck. Sound staging, openess, and those highs! This speaker when set up properly (not an easy task) has few peer in it's (or above it's) price range.

I've owned these since new in '90 and I continue to find them an excellent speaker. There is music trapped on your CDs that you will never hear properly with out this sort of speaker.

I have the TV/DVD/VCR connected into the pre-amp, and all my friends marvel at the fantastic home theatre sound I have. They can't get over the sound staging. Then I tell them they are listening to a quality, well set up, two channel system. They don't believe me. Can't wait to add the MGCC1 and the MGMC1!

Once you've had Maggies, you'll never go back....

Very fussy on rooms and set up. Also they are not power shy, the more the better. Forget the max W rating, give lot's of nice clean power and they are happy. The bass is not too deep, but that is partly because you are not listening to cabinet resonances. A good quality, well matched sub will nicely fill in the bottom end, especially if you are using them in a dual purpose (audio/home theatre) set up.

If you see it, buy it. You will not go wrong with this one. They are rugged and you cannot kill them under most normal use (unless they are shipped incorrectly). These babies are keepers.

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N/A No speaker I have previously owned come close.