New Magnepans

[jjohnson]

I picked up a pair of old Magnepan MG1's for $10 early last week. The tweeters were toast, there was bass wire delam, and there were no stands. The cosmetics were very good. I already had the tweeter wire and have a buddy that had the proper Magenpan glue. $40 dollars to make the stands and approximately 20 hours of work and good as new. Even my wife likes them. She thinks that they look like room dividers and wants to buy all new furniture to match my $10 speakers.

 

[JoeESP9]

You must have spread some good Karma around. Those are very nice. The stands are nice too. If you brought some Tympani's home your wife would love them. Three panels per side look even more like room dividers. Purchasing MG-1's in 1976 was my introduction to panels. I haven't looked back since.

Nice setup!!!!:tresbon:

 

[djnagle]

I've always thought those looked cool. Can you discribe the sound? I've never heard them.

 

[Endspec]

A friend has a set off the 3 panel ones and is driveing them with all tubes Ar amps and pre, I have sat there with my eyes closed and could see in my mind every instrument and singer in the room. It is like haveing a live acustic jaz group in your room.I would so love a set but no room here for them.

 

[auralfixaton]

In my opinion a restored set of old magnepans is a sonic bargain,one can get very good sound for cheap,
Is that a sub between them?
If so we seem to have identical setups,that looks to be a VMPS sub!

 

[jjohnson]

I've always thought those looked cool. Can you discribe the sound? I've never heard them.

The midrange is fantastic. The soundstage and imaging are about as good as it gets. Jazz, female vocals, and chamber music sound great on these.

On the downside of Maggies, at least the quasi-ribbon models: the highs are rolled off a bit and they will only play but so deep. The bass is very good but for full-range, I think that they need a sub. Also, they really like lots and lots of power.

 

[jjohnson]

In my opinion a restored set of old magnepans is a sonic bargain,one can get very good sound for cheap,
Is that a sub between them?
If so we seem to have identical setups,that looks to be a VMPS sub!

There is no sub in the picture. That is an antique cabinet that I'm using to hold the components. Since I took the picture, I have moved my M&K sub into the room with them.

 

[ScramMan2]

I have SMG's. They run well with 38/ch of tube power. Small room, no sub needed.

 

[secretguy]

Nice score! Congrats!

 

[dspear99ca]

I have SMG's. They run well with 38/ch of tube power. Small room, no sub needed.

I've got SMG's as well. Yes, they will run with whatever power you decide to feed them. BUT... once you listen with 200W+ you will never look back. It's not about volume output, they just sound better with more power. I started out with 50wpc and was not at all unhappy with the sound, then went to 100W and believe me the difference is noticeable. I tried out a 250wpc amp a few months back (borrowed from a friend) and that sounded even better. With the sub... you don't miss something you've never had, but these speakers really have almost no output below 40Hz. I've heard, and I'm sure dokblues will chime in on this thread as he is the resident Maggie expert, that upgrading the crossovers can/does make a HUGE difference in the amount of bass they put out, but it's not cheap to do.

Oh, and by the way, nice score ya' bastard. I paid much more than that for mine but still less than a dinner out and a good bottle of wine.

Dave

 

[dokblues]

Nice pickup on the Maggies! Welcome to the club. Those are some very nice stands you made and yes they Love lots of power and a sub is a good idea. I would not trade my SMGA`s for anything. I will have a set of 3.6`s in the next year or so and will not go back to regular speakers in my Main system. Power Lots of good clean Power will open them up and make them sing! Your highs should not be rolled of too much at all. Did you re-do both tweeters or just the one? Anyway the WAF is high for Maggies as they all look like room dividers and don`t take up a lot of space except vertically. Congrats! :thmbsp:

 

[jjohnson]

I have a pair of SMGa's in my upstairs room. I absolutely love them. I had the caps updated in them and it helped both the bass and the highs.

I did replace both tweeters in the MG1's but didn't upgrade the caps. I will likely do that next. Rolled off may not be the proper description but I would consider them to be laid back vs a horn or metel dome tweeter.

 

[Tedrick]

$10 Maggies and an understanding, even accepting wife. Man, you are truly living the good life :yes:.

 

[dokblues]

I see now what you were saying about the highs. If you are comparing to horns, then yes they are less forward. I do have a schematic for a Major crossover upgrade for the SMGA`s and should work as well for the MG-1`s it makes a Huge difference however it`s not a cheap upgrade. Mainly due to the quality of the caps required and you can`t substitute or the quality suffers. But for $10 and a little work. :thmbsp:

 

[secretguy]

DOn't forget...MG 1s do not have ribbons or quasi ribbons...they are simply planar tweeters, which explains the "rolled off" hghs...although they are still quite good, IMO.

 

[Mr. Orange]

I picked up a pair of old Magnepan MG1's for $10 early last week.

WOW, now that's power bargain shopping! :yes: I still have my first pair of Maggies that I bought in 1982 which were also MG1's. They do duty in the HT set up as the rears with a pair of 1.5's as fronts with a CC3 for the center. My 2 channel has a pair fully modded MG12's. Welcome to the flat panel club. :thmbsp:

 

[Tmac83]

Nice pickup there. I have MG-1's and you can't beat the imaging and soundstaging. I love the midrange as well but the bass I think is lacking. My maggies also tell me when something hasn't been recorded well because it sure sounds like it. It sounds like you are already enjoying them very much. Enjoy!

 

[jjohnson]

Nice pickup there. I have MG-1's and you can't beat the imaging and soundstaging. I love the midrange as well but the bass I think is lacking. My maggies also tell me when something hasn't been recorded well because it sure sounds like it. It sounds like you are already enjoying them very much. Enjoy!

I am enjoying them. I borrowed a Crown Pro Audio amp from a buddy to really throw some watts at them. Sounds quite nice. I may have to purchase his or pick one up somewhere. I don't have the funds for a 300 watt "audiophile" amp at the moment.:tears: