Magnapan Lrs + Gotta luv um, Hate em a Bit!

[Kptn Howdie]

So Maggie’s; picked up a pair, first the wow stuff. Full detailed rampant sound stage, bright detailed and forgiving for certain not well recorded tracks. They never ever subside leaving you wanting more with absolutely very limited listening fatigue if any at all. The look sexy, light weight, easily moved to accommodate room acoustics and about at ten others positives that don’t come to mind at this moment. Now for the big Butt; they are thirsty for juice and may task certain amps. Paired with my advance Paris MC 250, the amp starts to heat but not enough to go into protection. With my Galion Discovery mono blasters, they are made for each other running crispy cool and sound pretty close to the Paris. The other main biggie is the sound is very “bullet” directional. You leave the sweet spot, and you miss its action. The sound almost flops down when you move away, very weird compared to box speakers. They are pulled quite far away from the wall and spaced about 7ft apart so I’m kinda perplexed about this; not sweating or swearing over it just scratching my skull a bit.

Any others experience this?

 

[SaturationPt]

My son described my Acoustats as “the best pair of headphones you’ll ever hear”, his way of describing planar speakers’ very narrow sweet spot. I’ve had Acoustat, Magnepan, and Quad planar speakers and although they can fill a room with music, only the single listener in the sweet spot gets all of the imaging and magic.

As far as power, yes the LRS are hungry.

I’ve recalled Wendel’s demo of the LRS to us where the center (of three) seats was significantly better than the outer two, and after the demo with a “prototype high-current 300WPC amplifier” he admitted that the amplifier was clipping, … they need more power.

 

[bhunter]

My son described my Acoustats as “the best pair of headphones you’ll ever hear”, his way of describing planar speakers’ very narrow sweet spot. I’ve had Acoustat, Magnepan, and Quad planar speakers and although they can fill a room with music, only the single listener in the sweet spot gets all of the imaging and magic.

As far as power, yes the LRS are hungry.

I’ve recalled Wendel’s demo of the LRS to us where the center (of three) seats was significantly better than the outer two, and after the demo with a “prototype high-current 300WPC amplifier” he admitted that the amplifier was clipping, … they need more power.

I concur. I love planars and have for over 4 decades, that said, they are not group listening speakers. I've had cones, domes and horns for that. I think planars are the perfect condo/apartment speaker. Hell, they still catch me off guard occasionally—like where did that sound come from. BTW, My Magnepans have been more robust than my Quad ESLs.

 

[Chad Michael]

Having heard Martin Logans and Magnepans...

They do something magical in the sweet spot, but yes... they are laser beams. Still, an interesting transducer technology in planar magnetic and electrostatic design.

 

[Kptn Howdie]

Thanks for the reply’s. They are definitely a speaker that requires commitment. Having done a short demo a few years back, I realized that I wasn’t ready musically and sonically for a steady relationship with this species. Although they do generically well with multiple genres, strong instrumentals with accompanying vocals is where the magic begins. Today was Iron Maiden album 1 test day and knowing well of its full bodied recording, Phantom of the Opera and Transylvania played Metallically with a small punch of added richness; a very pleasant surprise. Zepplelin 2 displayed similar characteristics ( zep 2 full of embedded gremlins), but Adel 21 was the climax to which her vocals pleasantly raped my ear drums. Yep I’m now in ladies and germs, line of fire sound area or not these girls perform. Just consider they are current hungry vampires needing steady sustenance and you will be A ok.

 

[RVT1K]

I have always wanted to listen to Maggies but have never encountered them.

Everything I have ever heard about them mentions their sensitivity to room placement and narrow sweet-spot. That has always kept me away from taking the gamble and buying a pair.

 

[jazzmans]

I have always wanted to listen to Maggies but have never encountered them.

Everything I have ever heard about them mentions their sensitivity to room placement and narrow sweet-spot. That has always kept me away from taking the gamble and buying a pair.

yes, they are very sensitive to placement, and yes the magic spot is narrow.

BUT!!! they still sound fabulous off axis, which is how I listen to mine 60-80% of the time.

I have the tweeters on the outside.


YMMV

 

[Kptn Howdie]

I have always wanted to listen to Maggies but have never encountered them.

Everything I have ever heard about them mentions their sensitivity to room placement and narrow sweet-spot. That has always kept me away from taking the gamble and buying a pair.

The rewards of Maggie may not outweigh her caveats, an equal balance that needs commitment of ownership. Box speakers tend to be the safer alternative with the comprehensive understanding of what they offer; a vast array of choices covering the listening needs for majority’s. But if you want to experience a truly unique experience of sound, she is available. Just remember, Maggie is not an everyday speaker for the everyday listener especially for the novice audiophile. IMO, one must transition over time to appreciate its offering; learn to walk before you run may be the descriptive analogy.

 

[SaturationPt]

Magnepans, and any dipole speaker are not how you would play music if you want absolute accuracy. Although the first-arrival sound is very good amazing actually, all of the reflected sound is part of the magic and what makes the music surround you in such a captivating way.

Kind of like butter on a lobster tail, if you really just wanted to taste the lobster you’d leave it off, but who does that?

 

[RVT1K]

yes, they are very sensitive to placement, and yes the magic spot is narrow.

BUT!!! they still sound fabulous off axis, which is how I listen to mine 60-80% of the time.

I have the tweeters on the outside.


YMMV

I've been posting for a while now and lurking even longer and I often see your praising and love for your Maggies.
A very long time ago, I did hear a pair of some sort of planar speakers at a high-end store with an audiophile friend -don't know if they were Maggies or electrostatics- and it was amazing, we were both blown away.

My listening room is the living room and I have very limited options for placement of the speakers and seating position. The big-ass TV is bolted to the wall and isn't going anywhere nor are the door and windows. It would be taking a big risk hoping that they would work well where they would have to be. Re-selling anything like them here would require either finding a unicorn or giving them away. But they are certainly on my "post Power-Ball-winning stereo" list among many other things.

 

[SaturationPt]

IMO, no audio journey is complete without spending time with good planar speakers.

 

[kermit z]

I have been running some Martin Logan Aerius electrostatic speakers for 5 yreas now in my listen room. The room is not very big, but those speakers with a very narrow sweet spot are perfect. Great soundstage for sure. I have heard Magnapan s and have really enjoyed those as well. I used to rotate thru several speakers in that room. Boston Accoustic A400's and JBL L100Ts, and the Aerius have not moved.

 

[Kptn Howdie]

Magnapan the delicate flower. I’ve had some time with mags and enjoy their dynamic soundstage. I decided to take them to higher plain of power, I increased the treble settings on my dmp A6 as I enjoy highs piercing my lobes. In a higher than moderate crank session, the pierce that I enjoy immensely ceased, WTF. Well after some thought, I remember the small fuse living behind the speaker, after careful examination, yep she popped on the right side. Really, seriously?
So now another caveat; to much treble to much loud and pop goes the Wiesel. What a PITA, me thinks Maggie’s might get a mothball if they prove to be regularly problematic. Seems these flatties might need spoon feedings and that sucks huge
Maggie bo baggie might get the bootie

 

[geiman]

What's powering them is important.
Tubes are my choice with my Maggies!

 

[RVT1K]

So now another caveat; to much treble to much loud and pop goes the Wiesel.

This is not limited to Magnepan or any other speakers. I would rather not discus how I know....

But seriously, boosting the treble is going to strain any tweeter and all the more so when things get loud.

I'm curious to know the value of the fuse.

 

[Tromatic]

Magnapan the delicate flower. I’ve had some time with mags and enjoy their dynamic soundstage. I decided to take them to higher plain of power, I increased the treble settings on my dmp A6 as I enjoy highs piercing my lobes. In a higher than moderate crank session, the pierce that I enjoy immensely ceased, WTF. Well after some thought, I remember the small fuse living behind the speaker, after careful examination, yep she popped on the right side. Really, seriously?
So now another caveat; to much treble to much loud and pop goes the Wiesel. What a PITA, me thinks Maggie’s might get a mothball if they prove to be regularly problematic. Seems these flatties might need spoon feedings and that sucks huge
Maggie bo baggie might get the bootie

I feel sorry for your ears.

 

[BmWr75]

Maggies have never struck me as high SPL rock n roll speakers. I have a pair of LRS and they sound refined to me, but not my choice for blasting any genre of music.

 

[Kptn Howdie]

Maggies have never struck me as high SPL rock n roll speakers. I have a pair of LRS and they sound refined to me, but not my choice for blasting any genre of music.

Magnapan’s paradox: need high current to drive them, but they can’t take high current.
Going into this relationship, me figured that SPL will not be well received by these units. I threw an above average amount of power into them since they do become even sweeter at those levels but I didn’t realize they are delicate. Now my bad for extending the treble to a sharpened sound slicer range which prolly led to the fuse pop. It’s a learning curve with these, maybe a little to much curve but live and learn i suppose.

 

[drabina]

I haven't noticed a big sound degradation when you move from the optimal listening position. A little yes, but not enough to list it as a con (or maybe I just sit in one spot and enjoy the music without moving too much). Had MMGs first and now the 1.6QRs. They do like power though. While my Rotel amp was able to move the MMGs, it struggles with the 1.6QRs. I need a subwoofer in the system too. Even all that, doesn't make me want to go back to a box speakers in my main listening room. Something about the sound they produce. Even my digital age kids (read: phone, Spotify, small ear buds) said that they can hear the difference in music presentation with the Magnepans vs all the other speakers I have.

 

[jazzmans]

Magnapan’s paradox: need high current to drive them, but they can’t take high current.
Going into this relationship, me figured that SPL will not be well received by these units. I threw an above average amount of power into them since they do become even sweeter at those levels but I didn’t realize they are delicate. Now my bad for extending the treble to a sharpened sound slicer range which prolly led to the fuse pop. It’s a learning curve with these, maybe a little to much curve but live and learn i suppose.

untrue.

my 3.7i have taken and eaten 600 wpc without breaking a sweat.

you are simply asking more then your speakers/amplifier can produce.


maggies have a point where they don't really get any louder no matter how much power you throw at them.
The fuse is there to protect your speakers. IIRC mine are 1.5 or 2 amp. Eventually you're going to experience the maggie 'slap' (you'll know it when you hear it) the LRS says it's a 2.5 amp fuse. Some have gone bigger (3 amp) but know that you are endangering the tweeters.

LRS being much smaller then any of my maggies (2.5r, 1.6QR, 3.7i) I'd expect that db level is lower then with any of mine.

If you're lookin to get silly, you probably should look at horn based louder speakers.