PS: George Goldberg a AudioPhile

Well George you call yourself an audiophile, i know no other speaker that will give you so much for $600.00, what do you expect for that kind of money ????? the orchestra in your living room come on be serious, $600.00 will get you a few reasonable power cords, you are expecting WAY to much for $600.00, today good speakers below 5k are very rare. Mr.A

First of all I would like to make this review to all the people in the audio world looking for a perfect floor stander in a budget. I mean a budget coz in this audio world we have speakers pricing to endless thousands of dollar. I've heard Foacl Jm labs, Paradigm, Wharfedales, B&W, Energy (BTW they are also good and musical), revel, yamaha, harbeths (these are really perfect speakers but out of range budget). I've heard all these brands from entry level to thier flagship.Specially the paradigms and the B&W. A friend of mine recommended it to me qouting that nothing in the CES show in vegas way years ago can surpass what he has heardfrom the MG 1.6. I happened to went to Manila 1 day and went to a store that deals Maggies. The model they have was a MG12. powered with electrocompaniets. I cant believe what I've heard. Norah Jones was really in front of me. Full and perfect sound. Lifelike images. With no hesitation I ordered thier entry level MMG directly from Minnesota. I had it shipped to LA to a shipper that ships to the Phillipines. Cant wait for my baby to arrive, until it arrived. My problem is the amplification, tried my brother in laws marants sr8000 av receiver, it sounds thin, then my friend let me borrowed his audiolabs, still lacks power, we tried it with an accuphase classic integrated it was perfect. But the accuphase was for sale at a higher price knowing it wasnt in perfect condition, then i decide to test out the ADCOMS GFA 555 mk2 with a preamp GFP 535, the MMGs are now signing. My source BTW is a pioneer eleite DVD player and with a muse DAC connected via toslink cable. I'm looking forward to upgrade in the amplification wanting to improve the synergy of my MMG with a higher end of amplification. I'm planning to have the krell s300i hopefully. Dont know it will sound with these wonderfull speakers. But for the moment i'm enjoying so much with the ADCOM and maggie match. These are the words that i can describe teh MMG, soundstage 5 stars, detail 4 stars(they are not that detailed compared to higher priced speakers like the harbeths), musicality 5 stars(they make my feet tapp like a VU meter of an amp), tonality 5 stars(piano are piano, guitars are guitars, drums are drums), balance and very coherent 5 stars (one piece sound, no gap in the entire audio bandwidth as per my hearing is concerned, maybe it goes up to 50 hertz), as for me i'm not more of a boom box audio guy considering i came from car audio enthusiasts. Conclusion if you have a room 4x 6 meters in size and looking for a very coherent musical speaker, get the MMGs. Trust me. If your starting to have that sickness we called audiophile, its your key to this audio nirvana. The MMgs will be staying lifetime, i might upgrade to higher end like the MG 1.7 someday. But for the moment i'm more focused with the Krells. Happy spending. Caution: use amplification that separates the boys from the Men. Happy spending, a word of advice to the audiophiles out there, try not to overspend coz this hobby can make you poor.

Stupid,Stupid,Stupid,That is what I was ,When I let My MMG's go.I have owned so many different speakers,The MMG is best I have owned,and that is from about every name you know.PSB's,Paradigm,Vandersteen 2ce's,Klipsch ,on and on.I have owned them all.So now I am saving up to get another pair of Magnepan MMG's

The best speaker I've had in my life. And still working perfectly since 2000. Since I have these speakers, I've never been able to hear speakers box anymore.

The reviews of this speaker, and the thousands of posting by its passionate fan base, all agree: you simply can’t come close to this level of sound production anywhere near this price with any other speaker. They rave on about its clarity, its resolution, the way it brings the musicians into the room with you, and contrast it with those awful box speakers, you know, the ones encased in wood or, even worse, today encased in MDF and vinyl – yuck. So, for $600 you can be in audio heaven. Surely the best speaker $600 or even $1,000 can buy.

So I bought a pair and was underwhelmed. Yes there was clarity, and resolution, but the impact of a full symphony orchestra was just not there, and a strong high voice, like Luciano Pavarotti’s or Joan Sutherland’s, was painfully shrill. Worse, on even the best recordings of small groups, where the MMGs excelled, you had to put your head in a vise to get the best results – move an inch to the left or the right and the sound changed markedly; a speaker for one person sitting dead center and never moving. I did not keep them.

And yet the hymns of praise continue. Then I noticed something really strange. The very people who sing the MMG’s praises most loudly, and insist they are the bargain of the century, then say you have to send the MMGs to a guy named Peter Gunn (not his real name, which he says is unpronounceable, but the name he works under) and pay him $2,000 or more to fix everything that’s wrong with the MMGs. Indeed, if you order a really nice wood for the frame, and his upgraded crossover, you’re pushing $2,400 – that is, those MMG bargains just hit $3,000! Of course that puts you in an entirely different cost-zone with many respected speakers you should be comparing the MMGs with, including Magnepan’s larger models, but if you did the fans would be charging you with comparing apples and oranges. Very strange indeed.

Anyway, are the MMGs a valid choice at $600? I think they are, but I was not comparing them with $600 speakers but with my Paradigm Monitor 11s from 2003 which then cost $1,050 – there was no comparison. (The new iteration of that Paradigm speaker, I have been told, has been severely de-contented; but I wouldn’t know, as Paradigm speakers are no longer sold in Tucson, Arizona, where I live, and if you buy them from a distant retailer, online or by telephone, Paradigm warns you there will be no warranty. Of course there are many other speakers – Salk, Zu, Ohm, Gallo, Wharfedale, Tannoy, Harbeth – and what do they all have in common? You can’t hear any of them in Tucson, an MSA of a million people. The audio industry is committing commercial suicide, but that’s a different subject.)

I'm writing for ordinary folks like me dumb enough not to understand all the language audiophiles sipt out and love music to death. Having retired recently and listening to music is a significant daily task, I just couldn't stand the distorted sound of my cheap Sony stereo and speakers. Money is a big objection for the pensioners with fixed income. MMG was the final compromising resolution to improve my toy after surfing all the web sites.

It took quite a while to find the right combination to satisfy my ears. Mid and high was very clear and impressive but the ansence of bass obvious. Got another identical amp and did vertical bi-amped with mono bridged mode. Now enough power to fire the bass but I could feel still something missing. Couldn't figure that out, so tried seperating the bass with actual crossover connecting through additional amp to old PO$hit Sony speakers. It took more than four days playing around all the knobs and control, and cutting all the wires except the bass driver of Sony. With multiple combination of A/B switches to compare the different sounds for each set-up, I caught the beautiful sound all of sudden in one click. Clarity and distortion was not every thing for the beauty of the sound. It is the balance of mix and match of every single sound. Exuberating joy. MMG itself is flat with no colour of the music even though the quality is excellent.

I was comparing the play of Mahler's 'Resurrection' SACD with the local philharmonis performance last night, wow the CD play was better than the live performance. I'm impressed with my MMG with cheap equipment from ebay. Sorry to the conductor.

The only flaw I still hear is the distortion on extreme high end. From the chorus and Beethoven's full blast sound when every instruments go fortissimo I still hear the discomforting distortion for which I like to bi-amp the MMG horizontally also but I decided to wait until the warranty expires. It is bearable though.

For the expense of 640 bucks I'm very satisfied with the outcome. I believe the speaker is the most critical monster for the audio system.

I got my pair of MMG about 1.5 yrs ago (or may be a little more). It is hooked up to a NAD 325BEE integrated amp with an old Sony DVD/CD player that I had for over 10 years. In another words, my system is not the most fancy type but it does it job. In addition to the MMGs, I have a Definitive Technology ProSub 60 hooked up to the NAD using speaker wires from the speaker post of the NAD to the high input to the sub. The sub crossover is set to a frequency little less than 50Hz. This setting is absolutely 'sweet'. The sound stage is clear, high, mid, and low responses are wonderful. If you are in the market to get a L/R floor standing speakers, take a serious look at the MMG itself. Happy Listening...

I have listened to many a box speakers and I am still baffeled why the MMG panel sounds so very good with the 2 way Quasi ribbon system. I use a Raysonic cd 128 on a wall mount with 4 Gold lion 6922 tubes in the back section. I have a Cardas Golden reference power cord between the Raysonic and my Blue Circle MR-1200 power conditioner. I have another Golden reference power cord between the conditioner and the wall socket. I have a AQ1001DT intregated tube amp at 50 watts per channel. I gutted the tube amp and replaced with many parts including Audio Note wiring and capacitors. The remote is non exisdent as I bipassed the volume control. I use a Cardas Cross power cord between the amp and the conditioner. I run Golden Cross Cardas speaker cables to the MMGs. Let me tell you folks, For 600 dollars I have not listened to a better speaker. These speakers drop out of site in the bottom end with the right components. Don't go stingy on the power cords to your components. All before is so much more important than the speakers themself. The MMGs are the best speaker in the world in their price range if you give them a good window of components. They have the ability to take places I have never been in musicality. Thank you so much for reading my review, Andy.

I can say that we must have the following ideas in order to acquire a pair of Magnepan MMG I wanted for more than 20 years after listening to Lyrique in Paris.
At the time the Magnepan panels require a real power plant with huge terminal for more power and could not reach the low frequencies.
I had to wait for my trip to the United States in August 2010 to arrange vacation during my stay, to find a dealer in NJ to acquire the object of my desire. I pass on details of the negotiations at the counter of Air France and Delta with the anti-terrorism measures in order to bring these speakers in the French Antilles.
This is certainly the best speakers in the world for a room of less than 25m ². The secret of these speakers is the ability to analyze the amplification that is provided.
Being a music lover and president of a club listening to high end, I want to say I was not disappointed by my efforts to get the MMG. The sound is well distributed spatially with a wide range of medium without aggression, the high is correct with a ribbon-house like the ribbon tweeters on the speaker columns. The stereo image is superb and against all odds we do not need a subwoofer.
This even listen to Rap or R & B after a major break of 200 hours.
We can therefore obtain a hi-fi more than $ 20K for less than $ 1,000 provided to associate it with a good amp as Prima Luna Prologue KT88, AudioInnovations Mk2 500 (EL34), Proton AA2080 or Nad 326BEE knowing that these speakers isodynamic panels surpass my Dynaudio Audience 50, B & W or Jamo.
Now I'll give you my secret for more than $ 20K systems, just buy the best preamp in the world for less than $ 100, the Gemini PA7000 with two XLR outputs amp bridged to two Populse T150 Mk2 based on the chip TriPath TA2022 less than $ 300 unit. Class D amplifiers have made so much progress they now exceed the tubes.
Finally, I recommend Furetech power cables, XLR cables interconnections W & M Audio (German) or Audioquest and the choice of speaker cable Tara Labs (gender neutral Omni Prism) or Audiotechnica.
For the reading section a platinum CD 5300 Marantz or Philips CD723 for fans of vinyl, you can choose the Pro-Ject RPM 9.1.

Light weight speaker, light weight sound, somewhat thin. Dislike staring at black monoliths. Expected larger image from panel , this is definitely not a line array. Used with Jolida 202a and tube cd player. Record static is very strange and random through this speaker. Overrated.