Magnepan Magneplanar MG 1 - good value? good speaker?

pglbook

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There is a nice looking pair of Magnepan Magneplanar MG 1 speakers close to me for $250. I do not know anything about Magnepan speakers but do know that this model is an older model (year?).

Is $250 a good price if all in nice condition?
How do these speakers sound?

I currently have a pair of Polk 10s and a pair of Dahlquist DQ 10s but have always been intrigued by Magnepan speakers.

Thanks.
 
If they have been recently rebuilt, they may perform for you. You'll need power to get them going. You can call Magnepan to determine when they were made.

You might want to Google "magnepan rebuild" to learn about the effort involved. If the wires have delaminated, they'll need rebuilding. You can do it at home as you can see but you'll need to buy the carcasses at the right point to make it worth your while.

I've done them.....

Cheers,

David
 
I've done them as well, took about two straight days of work. With some research, its not as bad as some people make it out to be. That being said, $250 if they need to rebuild is a lot. If they haven't been rebuilt the tweeter section is guaranteed to be bad and the md/bass panels may be. The rebuild kits add up.
 
I replaced my Magnepan MG1s with a pair of DQ-10s and found the DQ-10s did what the Maggies did only with a broader sweet spot. Actually throughout the whole room.

The maggies are VERY nice speakers and at 250 an OK deal.

Try them. They are nice in the sweet spot and you might find you prefer them.

Try to get them for $200 so if you aren't completely sold you can recoup your outlay.

Good luck and report back.

Eric
 
I've done them as well, took about two straight days of work. With some research, its not as bad as some people make it out to be. That being said, $250 if they need to rebuild is a lot. If they haven't been rebuilt the tweeter section is guaranteed to be bad and the md/bass panels may be. The rebuild kits add up.

agreed. but i thought of them to be real hassle and not worth my time. maybe i'm getting old. if they're in top shape, they're great speakers for sure. also agree about the dq-10's.
 
There is a nice looking pair of Magnepan Magneplanar MG 1 speakers close to me for $250. I do not know anything about Magnepan speakers but do know that this model is an older model (year?).

Is $250 a good price if all in nice condition?
How do these speakers sound?

I currently have a pair of Polk 10s and a pair of Dahlquist DQ 10s but have always been intrigued by Magnepan speakers.

Thanks.

Not even a fair speaker, very over rated! Price is high too.
 
There is a nice looking pair of Magnepan Magneplanar MG 1 speakers close to me for $250. I do not know anything about Magnepan speakers but do know that this model is an older model (year?).

Is $250 a good price if all in nice condition?
How do these speakers sound?

I currently have a pair of Polk 10s and a pair of Dahlquist DQ 10s but have always been intrigued by Magnepan speakers.

Thanks.

I owned a pair for 3 years. Weak bass, poor highs, magnificent mids and all of the efficiency of a cinder block with wires attached. Not to mention the traditional dipolar problem of placement within a fraction on an inch.

Try for some later ones that had better highs.

IMO your Polk 10's will beat that particular Maggie senseless.
 
I replaced my Polk Monitor 10s with a pair of Wharfedale W70Cs... and then replaced the Wharfedales with a pair of Magneplanar MG-Is.... I haven't taken the socks off mine to inspect them for "delamination", but to my amateurish ears, they sound just fine. I did get mine off craigslist for $125 with about 200 albums thrown in for good measure. Good luck with them, personally i think the bass and mids on them are great, and i listen to mostly classic jazz and accoustic music, but when i do delve back into my classic rock, R&B, and Blues the bass is just fine, uncolored and not the least bit boomy or strained.

cheers,
Wayne
 
i have a pair of MGII's that need the tweeter sections rebuilt. one works, kinda disappointing sound wise, DQ-10's are way better IMHO.
 
I've rebuilt two pair of them and it's not hard. It just requires patience and time. If you get them I would buy the tweeter wire from Magnepan and the glue from a hardware store and buy the latex based glue instead of the Miloxane which Magnapan wont ship in the Winter anyway. They need a lot of power and like has been said placement is absolutely critical. If you like Jazz and Classical these will do it for you. Magnapan will probably send you a copy of the speaker placement instructions if you ask them. They are nice folks to deal with. Good luck if you get them.
 
Buddy got a pair of MG1C for $250... not bad. The socks were tattered but the rest seemed quite good. Soundwise, they are totally worth the $250 he paid, assuming that you use some low end support, and have the wattage to power them properly. I would definitely check them out for that price.
 
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So I did end up restoring these fully. I went a light as possible on all adhesives on the tweeter, as little as I could possibly get away with. So little its almost completly visually transparent. This resulted in higher rolloff at about 19k. Barely noticable at this point. Not extended, but very "balanced" all around. You can't go wrong with any Magnepan.

I own and have owned many amazing speakers, Infinity RSII, ESS AMTs, OHM Walsh CLS driver, but these MG1s deffinitly hold their own, and I love the sound.

I have also owned Dq-10s, I sold last year. Not a speaker ide compare too Magnepan even if from the same era. if anything ide compare Ohm Walsh, which delivers a coherent sound with incredible imaging and swing dynamics. Top to Buttom, with the benefits of far heavier Dynamics, and better highs.

The Magepans with linesource Ribbons assist with the highs immensely, but the diffrence in uppermids, midrange, and bass in minimal at best, even to the newer models. Deffinitly bugs they worked out, but Magnepans all sound like Magepans.

Very thin foils are now used as is minimizes, and increases surface area. That increases efficiency. I have been expermenting and have been building my own Ribbons, and Panels. Fullrange, and mid/tweets.

But to get the best sound from older Maggie's, you can replace all the Brown Meloxone which acts as damping. The mids can sound a bit "dry" if your panels adhesives are super dried out. Not a huge diffrence, but noticeable on my panels. Tightened up midrange detail.

I have seen panels that are preserved, I have several pairs, 1 of which, the meloxone was perfectly fine, and rubbery, but didn't break down into green goop. I live in a lucky location I guess for magnepan preserving in normal/low humidity.

When you tap on the mylar with your finger, it sounds more damped, and less hollow sounding aswell. Less "ringing" so to speak.

They are great speakers, all Maggie's are really. But don't expect any Magnepan to "Rock the House" because their not going to do that. Its inherent to their technology. Everything is a compromise. You can work around inherent limitations, but you're never going to completley solve them.
 
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