JUST DO IT -- If you need that little push to take a chance on something everone is saying is great but still not convinced. Let my post be the push you've needed!!!!!!!!!! "JUST DO IT".
IT WILL BE THE BEST $500 YOU EVER SPENT ON YOUR ENTERTAINMENT. It has been for me!!!!!!!!!!

Sub woofer a must.

My Review is for those that are on the edge and just haven't taken that chance.

I consider my self a sound lover.... call it jazz, rock, Classical, R&b and yes Rap. To best discribe me.... nothing better then to be able to come home and put a CD on and hear sounds, voices, and separtion in your music you have never heard before "what a personal joy". But what has made the Maggies surpass my expectactions 10fold...has been the fact that my family and friend have taken note with out me saying "did you hear that string or clap""I know if your a music lover you understand my last comment". I look to hear into my music these people don't....
So making it one better has been to share these sounds with friends Dancing all night long to clear crisp music and having almost everyone make some sort of positive comment. Examples of the comments I got from the party I had: "I've never seen anything like these, Sound is so clear, everything sounds big, I didn't know that it could sound so real and "HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY".

SO I GIVE THESE SPEAKERS A 10.
The choice was speakers 1st or New DTS-es reciever with more power. Glad I picked the Speakers. No need to get into what I'm running for power because it's not much. In fact I was very worried...."thanks to all the posts here". Lets just say if you have a quality product you'll be able to have a nice loud party. So don't let that the power posts scare you.... Just make sure your source of power can handle the 4ohm loads fine.

Good Luck......
One very happy customer!!!!!!!!!!

Alex

Similar Products Used:

who cares.... what was used.... they are forgotten....

Tight sound. Durability.

Fuse blows often.

I bought a pair of SMGa speakers from Magneplanar in 1986. I have not thought of any other speakers since. With the new subwoofer craze, I am contemplating adding a subwoofer. I would appreciate advice on how to proceed. What brand of subwoofers are recommended with these great speakers? Please email me: dele@ksg.harvard.edu. Cheers, and Thanks!!

transparency, good soundstage, harmonically rich, brings out the poetry in music

finicky placement, too smooth (?)
finicky placement; will not tolerate bad recordings; must have good speaker wire

If speakers were to be divided into male and female, this Maggy is the epitome of all those seductive qulities we so cherish in the more refined sex. For one thing, she will not come at you frontally, but by indirection. The context in which she is placed is everything, and inches count. The response she will reflect back to you will vary greatly, and you must be patiently attentive as you move her ever so slightly back and forth. She is more mistress than wife, and will not take kindly to being carelessly plopped into the living room subject to the demands of the rest of the family. Ensconce her, however, in her own little nest (and, contrary to some opinions, she does not require a very large space, so long as it is well-appointed according to her needs) and she will willingly yield up all her inner detail. As befits the refined lady she is, she does not respond well to crude stimuli of any sort. This means that anything you feed her needs to have delicacy, subtlety, and depth. She will not mate with upstream components below her level of refinement. Equally, she will barely tolerate the garishness of rock, the rude insistence of rap, or the shallowness of electronic pop. But offer her the sensousness of real musical instruments of wood, wind, and air, and she will transport you beyond the wearying cares of your everyday world. For those of you for whom beauty of feeling is paramount in your enjoyment of the musical experience, Maggy has no peer. Be attentive and respond to her needs, and she will reward you beyond your expectations, however immodest they be. But drive her with your own compulsions and you will forever cut yourself off from what she is capable of offering you. As always, with a female of impeccable pedigree, the choice of action is yours, but the option of response is hers. She requires maturity in a suitor. Take heed.

My context: Dedicated listening room: 13 by 15, opening out at the front wall to a bedroom of 14 by 18, irregular geometry, ceiling sloping to 12 feet, carpeted, scattered bookcases, stuffed listening love seat.

Upstream components: Jolida 302B, Philps CD player with Audio Alchemy DAC, Rega Planar 2 turntable w/Bias, Cardas speaker wire, interconnects, all into Panamax 1000, plugged into dedicated wall socket.

Critical factors: placement in room relative to boundaries and listener position; speaker wire MUST be at least 16 gauge.



Critical factors:

Similar Products Used:

Martin Logan Aerius, Carver Amazing

I picked up a pair of MMGs just a week ago, and have come to the conclusion that they are an excellent pair of speakers; however, I wasn't quite as "blown away" as I expected to be. The vocals seemed ever so slightly muddied; I was thinking this was my positioning, but I couldn't seem to clear it up. Finally, I suspended them from the ceiling; this seemed to help a bit, in addition to looking Extremely cool. (Using two strands of 30 pound transparent test.. they appear to be floating!) One thing I noticed is that they seem to be PLENTY loud. I can't take them over 2/3 volume on My NAD-C430, and comfortable listening level is about 40%. Unless you enjoy permanent hearing damage, these babies should be loud enough to float your boat.
Very nice middle and high reproduction; bass is solid, but very light.
Definitely need a subwoofer with these guys if you listen to anything with stuff below 60hz.
My system:(for reference)
NAD C340 amp
ONKYO C340 CD player
AUDIOSOURCE Sw-15 subwoofer
MUSICAL FIDELITY X-10D CD enhancer
Audioquest F-16 / turquoise / cables
music: alternative / 60's rock/folk / classical (Chopin, Mahler)

I, too, Horatio, have entered the mellifluous world of planar dipoles. I've owned/loved/reviled lotsa boxes: Kef Reference's, Accoustat's, Spica Tc-50's and 60's, JRM Infinite Slope's, Dahlquist's, Mission's, Ohm Walsh's, MB Quart's, Celestion's, and even, though it pains me to admit, the odd Bose and Klipsh job, these, and particularly for the pittance they will cost you, blow them all away! Although I'm sure they could use more volts, I'm driving them with my venerable and recently re-tubed (Svetlana EL-34's) Dynaco Stereo 70--producing a mere 35 watts into 4 ohms, and I'm getting fairly realistic levels. The preamp is an ancient Dynaco PAS-3 with all Telefunkens (I hope these last until my final glidepath!). Front end is all digital: A JVC XL-Z1050TN as a transport feeding a Meridian 203 DAC. No esoteric cable (thank God I'm off that infernal merry--go-round!), just some Radio Shack Video Gold interconnects, speaker cable, and an'umble Shack 75 ohm video cable betwixt the JVC and the DAC; all this stuff is connected to an Adcom line conditioner going into a dedicated AC outlet. Don't mean to be so pedantic/exhaustive, just wanted to show how a pretty nifty system can be had on the cheap; all this stuff, save for the Maggies, was bought used at anywhere from 25 to 50% of the MSRP.All speakers represent a well-nigh Mephistophelean trade-off; the Maggies, while not hyper-detailed, certainly are quite revealing of both source and software. The midrange is rich, plummy, chocolate-y--you choose the oenophile swiped metaphors--it just sounds damn fine. Vocals (ah, Sir Francis and Callas, well, sing...)and small combo jazz featuring tenor sax, are particularly well served. They image fine and dandy, if not of the pedigree of, for instance, the Spica's of varios stripes, which, in my opinion, are the absolute holographic champeens--they do come awfully close... I could, as you may have noticed, go on, but, suffice it to say, the MMG's are my current, audiophile, Sugar Ray Robinson cost-to-performance-ratio avatar! Later...

I ordered a pair of MMgs after reading the other reviews in this thread. I've had a pair of Snell E IIIs for five years, and saw no need to replace them. But I've always liked Magnepans, and the return policy meant I'd only be out the return shipping if my wife didn't like these speakers.
They arrived when I was out of town, of course. As soon as I pulled into the driveway Sunday night my wife was out the door, dragging me inside and insisting I listen to these speakers. She queued Roger Water's "Give 'Em Some Rope" and watched for my reaction. Frankly, I was amazed. I expected these speaker to reveal more detail in midrange and treble than the Snells, but they also image better. The barking dog on this track sounded like it was in the neighbor's back yard. The train came from our garage and passed through the living room wall and on down the street. Sweet.

After giving me time to unload the car, my wife helped me move the Snells out of the way so we could position the MMGs in a better spot. She then told me her only disappointment with these speakers: they failed the John Hiatt test. The opening of "Perfectly Good Guitar" is one of our standard tests of any audio gear. The MMGs reproduced the feedback much better than the E IIIs, but fell flat when the rest of the band kicked in. There just isn't enough bass extension to reproduce the drum whack and bass guitar on this track. So my wife told me to buy a subwoofer.

I perused this site for subwoofer recommendations, called ACI and ordered a Quake, which arrived yesterday. Now the MMGs pass the John Hiatt test. And the "1812 Overture" test. And the "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" test. And every other test I tried last night. About 10:30 p.m. my wife came downstairs and insisted I turn down the volume so she and my son could sleep.

I finally have the stereo I've always wanted. The MMGs are an incredible bargain. Combine them with the ACI Quake and you'll have a $1,000 speaker system that will blow away almost anything at three times the price.

The down side is the MMGs are a difficult load to drive. Don't bother hooking them up to your cheap receiver. I have an Adcom GFA 5400 (125 wpc) and would not want anything less powerful with these speakers. My room is fairly large, though: 16x21 with an 18-foot ceiling. The Snell E IIIs are a much easier load to drive, and much more efficient. Ah, but the MMgs sound much, much better. The Snells are now at a friend's house (they almost paid for the sub).

Associated Equipment:
Adcom GFA 5400 amp
Adcom GFP 565 preamp
Marantz CD 63 MK II
Silver Sonic T-14 Speaker Cable
Silver Sonic BL-1 interconnects

The first time I hooked up my new Maggies and dropped in Dave Brubeck, in dropped Dave Brubeck! My jaw literally dropped. The imaging, sense of space, and detail of these speakers astonished me. Vocals, strings, reeds, percussion are all delivered with accuracy and realism. You have not heard a snare drum until you have heard it on a Magneplanar! Their detail and transient response make them an ace at accurately reproducing the timbre and texture of acoustic instruments. Contrary to some of the previous posts, I have had no problem with the low efficiency of the MMG's. In my small (10'x12') and bright listening room, my Rotel amp, at a measly 60 wpc/8ohms has no problem pushing the Maggies to uncomfortably loud listening levels. To those contemplating buying these speakers, don't let the fear of having to buy thousands of dollars of high powered amp drive you away! On the other hand, if you are interested in hearing the lower octave (20-40Hz), then think again, homey. The bass that MMG's does reproduce is strong, accurate and realistic (much more so than most mid-fi subwoofers), it just isn't going to scratch that infrasonic itch that you may have. My advice would be to purchase a nice, tight, sealed (please!!) subwoofer and cross it over as low as you can to take advantage of the quality bass that the Maggie does have. On the other end of the spectrum, I found the treble to be overly bright in my listening room (hard wood floors- no good!). After some experimentation with placement, with limited success, I installed a 2 ohm resistor (supplied) in each speaker, and this toned down the high end nicely.
The MMG's that I bought were black with the "oak" trim. This is actually a somewhat cheesy looking putty colored paint that is applied to the trim. From across the room this looks just fine, but up close... best not to dwell on it. Another gripe is with the feet of the speakers. There is a D-ring sort thing on the end of the foot that can be flipped over to aim the speaker a little lower. This system is just barely functional on my wood floors, as the D-ring slips easily and dumps the speaker back to its standard position with a thump. Blecch.

Finally, it must never be forgotten that these speakers cost only 500 dollars.(!!) Now I am a cheap SOB and I squeeze every nickel until it bleeds, but I would not have griped (well, not alot) if I had had to pay 800-1000 bucks for the MiniMaG. It just sounds so nice! In my very humble opinion, you simply cannot buy a speaker this accurate or transparent for any where near the money. In their price range, I give them seven stars. Price independent, I give them four, and if Magnepan could squeeze another 10-12 Hz out of the low end, I would give them an enthusiastic five stars. Top Notch.

Awesome sound stage, Extremely clear highs and mids. 360 degree sound. Impressive detail

weak in the lower freq, must use a sub, Power hungry, unable to handle serious power, very small sweet spot.

These speakers are amazing, Placement is critical in a large room because of there small size. very small sweet spot for seriuos listening, Very hungry for power. Sound stage is awesome reproduction unbeleivable, Once they broke in (about six week later) they came to life. After listening to them for 3 months I had to take a trip to my local hi-end shop(The Digital Ear) to hear the next step up. I was impressed. Come tax time next year I will be purchasing a set of MG 1.6 QR for my main speakers then I will move the MMG's to the rear. My major complaint is that I can only get about 90 dbs out of the speakers before I blow the fuse's for the tweeters. 90 dbs are not enough for me, I want my neighbors 2 blocks down to complain, I hope the 1.6's can give me a little more volume.


A word of caution to those interested in buying a set of Maggies: Once you own a set of Planar speakers you will never go back to box.


My set up:
Yamaha RXV793 Receiver
Yamaha M-85 Main Amp
Magnepan MMG Main Speakers
Yamaha MX-630 Rear Amp
Generic rear speakers

lovely airy electrostat sound

VERY inconvenient compared to "normal" speakers -- see details in review

I have a love-hate relationship with my MMG's.

On the love side is the beautiful, airy, unfatiguing sound.

On the hate side are so many other variables. Here are just some of them (!)

-- their (relatively) imposing and...strange...appearance.
-- the cheap-looking and easily torn full-body "socks" they're permanently wrapped in.
-- The pitifully inadequate factory-supplied stands ("feet") which wobble and tip easily.
-- the substandard magnepan customer service (my friend experienced a 6 week wait for a really *trivial* service job, a ridiculously slow authorization process - conducted by snail mail ! -- and an obligatory $40 high charge for a completely new pair of "socks" which she didn't ask for, plus a surly customer service manager....) combined with...
-- EXTREME fragility of the ribbons during shipping plus, IMHO, not enough factory packaging to expect a ribbon to withstand the abuses of UPS.
-- very finicky placement requirements (as others have noted).
-- EXTREMELY low efficiency and difficult impedance load, making them inappropriate for use as L/R speakers in an entry-level hometheater system (basically, they need preamp outputs + separate power amp)
-- Particularly sensitive to the acoustic properties of the rear wall surfaces (as would be any bipolar/omnipolar design)

Please don't get me wrong -- I LOVE these speakers... when they're mechanically healthy and living in a system/room that is dedicated to audio only, has acoustically treated surfaces, and a high-current amp. They might make the perfect pieces to build a separate audio-only listening room around. But, most entry-level audio hounds will find them a very frustrating experience in their modestyl sized living rooms w/ untreated walls. Those folks should seriously consider buying a couple of easily-moveable, easily-driveable, highly regarded near-field mini's & subwoofer (like the Dana Audio 1's + Sub 1, or Paradigms etc.) for the same price.

My personal impressions only; your mileage will vary and I qyuite possibly could be wrong in some detail...and gladly will be corrected if so! :)

Similar Products Used:

A wide range of "conventional" loudspeakers in the same price range

Sonically, none, but my only complain about the MMGs is its manufacturer's questionable quality control.

I did not experience any difficulty finding a nice position for these speakers. My bedroom is 11' by 13' with a 10' ceiling. My speakers are position about 1'6" from the back wall, about 1'6" from the side walls, about 6' apart from each other, and slightly angled inward towards the back wall. The resulting sound is quite enjoyable. They produce lows when there were lows to produce, and thumps when there were thumps to produce. No booming or sharp edgy reproduction. That's what I expect from any pair of quality sounding speakers.

Overall, I find these speakers quite enjoyable to listen to for many hours. They sound neutral, tall, open, light and airy. As for its imaging and depth, I think it depends on how well the performance was recorded. For example, Spaeniye sodelal on track 3 of Postcards: The Turtle Creek Chorale recorded by Reference Recordings. I think the MMGs reproduced the height, the depth, and the imaging so well because it was an excellent recording. The MMG’s clarity was demonstrated by the same track (other tracks too). I can hear the performers inhale in unison after each phrase. I could easily imagine the singers doing a special performance for me in my room.

I've also added a Boston Acoustics subwoofer to the system. It seems to be a fairly nice match with its volume control positioned between 9 and 8 o'clock. At this setting it seldom kicks in, but when the source calls for it, this subwoofer delivers clear and tight sounding lows. I think it complements my MMG speakers quite nicely.

My only complain about the MMGs is its manufacturer's questionable quality control. For example, I received my MMGs in an easy-to-damage box. There was very little safety barrier between the speakers' important parts and the package handler. Also, one speaker came without screws to mount its unconvincing legs, and there were no holes for the screws.

I think this purchase was quite a fair deal. I would have given it more stars if MMGs manufacturer showed more attention to details. I think this is a very good product because it reproduces the source quite convincingly and beautifully.

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MY SETUP
A used Mark Levinson ML-7 preamplifier
Rotel RCD-951
Rotel RB-981
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Similar Products Used:

none with similar technolgy.