Detail, Soundstage, PRICE!

Bass Extension

Although I do not own a pair of MMG's (I decided to pony up for the Maggie MG-12s), a friend went ahead and bought them. I am convinced that they are the best bang for the buck in High End audio (especially considering the trade-up policy). At $500/pair they will bring a transparency and realism to the listening experience that you will have to pay at least double to duplicate, unless you buy MG-12s ($950/pair, nearly double). Even though I do not own them, after extensive listening to my friend's system, I am convinced that the best speaker deal in Audio would actually be MMGs and a small powered Velodyne Sub for a total of about $850. I don't think you would be able to touch them without spending at least half again as much. The subwoofer would pay double dividends because you won't need nearly as much power to run the MMGs since the bottom octave is taken care of. Are the MMGs the last word in speakers? No, but the speaker system I just described would put full range, audiophile-quality sound into non-audiophile budgets. They will just SPANK any speaker system you could buy for double the money at Circuit City. (don't tell anyone, but you can get a Velodyne CT-80 powered sub at CC, it would mate nicely with MMGs. I won't tell anyone if you won't) Just my two cents.

Similar Products Used:

Magnepan MG 12

sound great - realistic

construction a bit delicate - weak

I've had Maggies for over 15 years. After about 10-12 my MG I's dried out a bit, and never performed the same. It was a time in my life that audio didn't mean a whole lot. But I knew I wanted to expand my home theater, having picked up a denon avr-610 receiver and a pioneer cd/laserdisk player about 8 years ago. Like I said, i didn't really have ahigh priority on filling out the sounds. Lots of work... not a lot of time.

Earlier this year, the bug started to nibble at my ear again, and I started shopping around. I like the definitive techs. After having Maggies for a while, you do miss the party sound element when you're not strictly in the "zone", potatoed out. The definitives make the zone a lot larger, and deliver a good bit of clarity totally away from the direct listening area. You've been reading everyone talking about speaker placement - it's essential. But with Maggies, listener placement is what it's all about. If you've gotta be up and about, this isn't your speaker... you simply won't like them.

It doesn't mean you can't dance to them. As you've read, you can power these puppies right up there. The more the merrier. I hope you have tolerant neighbors. Better yet, if the love your sounds - cause when you start to juice these up, you won't be able to resist putting them in motion. They'll go wherever you want to take them. Once the power is in them, you will hear them everywhere in your place - you'll love the feeling - but "danger will robinson", that audiophile stuff isn't at the party, it's back on your sofa.

When you're done jumping around, and you're back in potatoville, watch out. Crisp. Clear. Essential. I would buy those definitives, or the klipsch's or any of the other great boxes out there. When I heard about these, and the test deal at $500 a pair delivered, my only problem was getting Elmer, or Calvin or whatever his name was to give me a call back so I could get them out in an the room. My MG I's persuaded me years ago. Time has done Magnapan really well. Smaller, less mony, sound even better. i couldn't believe it. They're grrreeeaaattt!

They took 3 or 4 weeks to arrive. it took 15 minutes to set up. They get better over time. Don't expect perfection in the looks, or details. Come on, how can they deliver it at the price? They can't. Get off the soap boxes, sit down, slip in your favorite little silver circles, and just enjoy the things.

The guy with the legs has the right idea. On my old- staight upright- ones, we used to slide a couple of lifts into the fron to give them some backward tilt to elevate the sound a bit. It helps position the soundscape just right. Remember, you're room is differnent. Your chair and sofa heights are different. If you're still sitting on the floor, you'll definitely need some help. So get a job, and buy a sofa that gets you at the right height. Adjust them. Move them in and out from the wall - tilt them forward a bit, or back a bit. sooner or later (probably sooner) you'll get them soooo gooood, you won't care if you can get them perfect. You'll just be listening to cd after cd, and really pissing off your neighbors, giving them the juice they need to come alive.

These are real Frankenstein's - monsters - inanimate objects that you will swear are alive. If you can't tell my real opinions, these aren't for you. I am really glad I didn't settle for some boxes this time around, although I've added a nice pinnacle widescreen center for 3 channel, and will use my old Maggies in the back mostly for decor. Since those are a bit on the bright side, I was a bit scared how it would blend. But with proper volume balancing, it's just fine, and it adds the same level of clarity to the theater experience that the MMG's add to my audio.

I don't see how you can lose. But then, I'm not you, and it's been a while since I saw all the greats live and in concert. This is the closest way I can get a few of those moments back. You might think the're just string cheese.

Similar Products Used:

MG I

Transparent, very detailed and accurate

Small Sweet Spot, Weak Bass

I got my MMG 3 month ago. I wanted to replace my PSB Image 4T, which were only a month old then. The PSB was great in detail and very dynamics, but after reading all the rave review here I wanted to try them myself (I can return them can't I?!).

Doing an A B comparison was quite tough because the PSB are very efficient while the Maggis are not, at the same volume the PSB ware loud while Maggis was almost dead, so I had to change the volume each time I switched between them which make it quite difficult to compare. This by itself will tell you that you need a little more power to drive the Maggis then a regular dynamics speakers.

The thing I notice is that the MMG were very transparent, they are almost weren't there, the lows were very detailed but not very low, the mid was very smooth, vocal sound very real, moving about however change the sound quite a bit, especially the high frequency. The PSB still sounded good almost wherever you were, sitting or standing. I used the clips on the legs to lift upward and kept it ever since (I can't understand why they make it lean back so much).

I try to lift the speakers up on top of an upside down drawers, and straighten them to simulate the legs that David post in his review (great idea). The up/straight position improve the sound while sitting, but standing up wasnÕt (I sit while listening so it was no problem for me). IÕm considering building a pair myself, thanks to DavidÕs specifications. You can get the specs at http://maggislegs.bizland.com/ .

Magneplanner are very revealing, if you have a bright gear it will sound bright. Bad recording will be a pain to listen. I have a collection of tapes that I made from my collection LPs, when I was tired of cleaning, flipping etc. I canÕt listen to those any more on the Maggis.

So, what I did? Well, IÕm keeping them both; for casual listening and for dynamic recording including home theatre application I use the PSB, they are so narrow that they disappear next to my entertainment center. The MMG are next to them as the B speakers. I use them when I sit down in one place and want to enjoy the music, and when I want to hear every detail as been-their feeling.

IÕm highly recommend those speakers for serious listening. I will not recommend it for dancing or loud party as they donÕt play loud and they are very directional (small sweet spot).

5 Stars for Value
4.5 Stars Overall

Similar Products Used:

Non

Clarity,accurate look realy cool

low on bass

I love my mmg's they sound great!Note:you have to have a sub woffer. I have my mmg's set up with a infinty sub in a sub sat configuration . They sound every bit as good as the martin logan 4 footers (with the sub)for $1,300 less. I think they are the best speaker out there for the money. Great entry level speaker, souround speaker or secondary home system. I have an old pair of 6' MG2'S with a klipch powered sub in the other room (LOVE THEM )like to have 4 6' footers and the cash I mean power to drive them.
Personaly I wouldn't listen to anything else. When you get tired of screaching tweeters and boomy boxes go get a pair of mags. any mags and a sub.I recomend a power amp or a reciver with the abbilty to drive a 4 ohm load however I found the mmgs to be very easy to drive with a conventinal reciver in the 100 watt area.Overall the mmg's are a bargin.Don't fall prey to salesman at some store selling you a box speaker without checking these babys out first.

Similar Products Used:

MG1 MG2

Price, great sound, able to tweak,

size, positioning, lo-sensitivity/efficiency,wait on ordering

I will start by saying "I love these speakers". I have listened to many over the years, I must admit I have never givin planer speakers a good listen, until now. I have to admit the price and Magnepan trial policy was a factor in purchasing this pair, because the closest dealer is 50 miles away, but the MMG's are not available through the dealers. I was using a pair of powered towers which actually were pretty good sounding in their own right. My problem is my room shape is not condusive to good sound.The problem I was having form my towers is that they were to directional. Dynamic speakers can be great when all the other variables are right ( as with planers also).I found myself unhappy with the way the music sound was coming from the boxes. I don't paticularily have a problem with box sound, just the way it sounde in my room. I decided to give the MMG's a try, It was difficult to do an A/B comparison since the MMG's are a four ohm load. But, the difference in these speakers if so great that my wife who is tone deaf could tell the difference. My son could tell the difference. The wife actually prefered the dynamics of the
boxes. But she will agree that the MMG's are much easier to listen to. I am using a powered sub with the MMG's to pick up the lower frequencies, but mainly for use in Home Theater. I am using the HK PA5800 to power( 80wpc x5). No problem as I usually do not exceed 90db. I have not got into tweaking the pair yet, but I read that the sound can be inproved upon by altering the wiring, posts, stands and crossovers. Maybe when I get time. They sound so great now that I am happy with them the eay they are. I think they are weakest thih rock music. Great however with just about any other type especially acoustic and orcestral. I do admit that you need a fair amount of free space to find the right spot and seating positioning is crucial, but when you find the spot, I have heard nothing to compare. I will not go on forever here as many have stated the benifits and the sound of these speakers. I will say that the thing I love most about the MMG's is that they do not shout at you, when you turn the volume up you get pure music and singing not noise and shouting, I call this high fidelity. Music without the noise. this enables me to listen to music for hours without becoming fatiged. Try them, it's almost free.

Value

service

I have to say as far as sound goes, these speaker have litte wrong with them for the money. Great value as sound goes, If you have enough power, and can set them up correctly in a room. I cannot see why anyone would ever want anything else shy of thousands of dollars more.
The sad thing though is reliabilty and service! My first pair did not make it through the 60 days. I had to send them back, one of the panel's stop working. They send me a new pair, now 2 years later another panel has quit working.
I called Magnepan to get them serviced, and they told me they could not take them. To try in another month maybe they could take them for service then. ( MAYBE!) Not a good way to do business.
I figure that they are fixing a lot of speakers not working.
I wanted to buy the new 1.6 's, but what if I have a problem. Sounds like good luck getting them fixed.
I will try something else instead.

Similar Products Used:

none

Everything

Nothing

I don't want to waste time and repeat the
previous 100+ reviews. In short, these speakers
are an excellent value. They match well with
both Velodyne and REL subs. I use the speakers
in a stereo music/HT bedroom setup and they sound
awesome. I've listened to eveything from Mozart to
Eminen and watched movies ranging from Heat to 9 1/2
Weeks and these speakers, along with a sub, more than
handled their own. FYI, I ordered them on a Tuesday and
received them on Friday of the same week--not bad!!
IMHO you can't go wrong of you've got $500 burning
a hole in your pocket.

Similar Products Used:

None

imageing, clear details, looks

none, but ist costs much more expensive here in Italy for me (but well worth)!

I am not goeng to repeats what great things others have said about the MMG. What stands out quickly is the supereor imageing and the transparent nature of the speakers. In addition the big soundstageing is most impresive!! Maybe the bass is not as low as the huge box speakers such as B&W or Vandersteen, but it is more accurate and real to me, and 55Hz is pretty low. Even wihtout the subwoofers, the sound is vast and glorious! With subwoofers, you think you will died and gone to the heavens!!!! An audio masterpice!!!!!! Fantastic job Magnepan! Please sell these in Europe one day!!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

norh, mission, dynaudio, B&W, vandersteen

sound, looks

placement, sweetspot

After break in period, I found these speakers to be very detailed, revealing things in my CD's that I never heard before. Bass is good. I don't need a sub, even listening to pop music. Timbre is the best I have ever heard. I enjoy listening to these speakers.
Downside: Placement is a very crucial issue for these speakers for example, placed 3 ft away from a smooth plastered wall the MMG's sound simply awful to me. IF there is a curtain hanging in front of the wall they sound great! I probably have to do something about the acoustics of my living room which can be a problem. However My biggest problem is the small sweet spot. If I can't move around I may as well use headphone!
For USD 500,- these are very good speakers, I would advice anyone to give them a try. You can send 'em back, after all? But to me they are not a "dream come true". I'm not sure if I will keep them or spend more on other speakers with bigger sweetspot and less finicky placement or not. But like I said, I enjoy listening to these speakers, and for USD 500,- (A very low amount for speakers), they are an excellent value.

Similar Products Used:

Vifa, Accoustat

very nice sound and great imaging

setup, space required from walls, small sweet spot (too bad they don't sound as good when you are in different places in your room)

I did weld up some Maggies Legs and they do make the speakers sound much better since they raise them and position them upright instead of leaning back. Looking to get Electronic Tonalities Foreplay w/ all the upgrades. Equipment used: NAD, Nakamichi, Rega.

Similar Products Used:

Magnepan MG-1 Improved