PHX CL: MG-IIB Magneplanars- $100

[wizargoz]

Not mine- and I've always wanted to try Maggies. But too far to drive and these may need work:

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/ele/2955299586.html

If only these were closer...:scratch2:

 

[Mystery]

How does a 2" deep speaker make good sound?
:scratch2:

 

[hjames]

How does a 2" deep speaker make good sound?
:scratch2:

The Maggie site will tell you more - http://www.magnepan.com/ but its an interesting listen.I had a pair of Magnepan MG-IIBs for a bit over a year.

It's an older model, lacking in the sizzle of the very high freqs and the low bass I get with big JBLs - but they give a presence to acoustic and jazz music that is amazing. The newer ones do play higher and lower notes than that old model did.

Just for grins - find someone who has a pair and have a listening party ...
its eye opening stuff.

Lots of Planar and semi-planar panel-type speakers out there ...

 

[eddantes]

How does a 2" deep speaker make good sound?
:scratch2:

To make sound you need to move air. You can move an amount air with a 12" cone or you can move the same amount of air with a large sheet of mylar. The same note is made, but because of the distance traveled by the cone vs the distance traveled by the sheet to achieve that note there are subtle differences. Speed/Acceleration is something planars do very well... a nicely radiating wave... not so much. I find the sweet spot to be very tiny and this is why people have tried all kinds of things to fix that - from slightly curved or stacked panels like B&W DM70s or Accoustats to a diffusion panel like Beveridge. Still - the things that planars do well - they do VERY well. There's a reason why Magnepan quite clearly and boldly states on their website "We don't care if you upgrade your old Maggies; business is good" and why ESL 57s are still going for thousands...

 

[Mystery]

So the speaker itself is the large sheet?
There is no magnet, speaker cone etc...?
That is good for small rooms as it is very thin.

 

[js1138]

So the speaker itself is the large sheet?
There is no magnet, speaker cone etc...?
That is good for small rooms as it is very thin.

There are magnets, The voice coil is printed on large flat sheet of Mylar and stretched over a frame having lots of small magnets in rows.

The whole sheets moves.

Electrostatic speakers also use large flat sheets, but operate more like the way a charged balloon is attracted to a wool sweater. Electrostatic attraction and repulsion.

Two different technologies that have produced speakers that look the same on the outside.

 

[eddantes]

So the speaker itself is the large sheet?
There is no magnet, speaker cone etc...?
That is good for small rooms as it is very thin.

Not so good for small rooms at all.

Due to being dipolar (sound comes out both front and back) they need breathing room and need to be placed about 3 feet into a room. The problem with magnepans, is that you now have two "doors" standing in the middle of the room - not very practical, unless you have a large room where it won't matter.

 

[hank520]

Voice Coils are glued to mylar

The voice coils are glued to the mylar and that presents problems as they age: the glue lets go and the coil starts to separate (my little SMGa's are starting to do that!). They really disappear when you close your eyes (hard to pinpoint where the sound comes from) and the imaging can be amazing (and I am referring to their bottom of the line model from 1988). Sometimes hard to explain to significant other why they need to be pulled away from the back wall (they don't have a cabinet so they need to be out in the room). Magnepan has some sort of upgrade/returns program on their speakers. Shame they aren't at the audiophile stores like they used to be (not that there are a lot of audiophile stores left anyway). Probably not the best for heavy metal or rap, but on jazz, classical and more acoustic music (rock included) they are impressive.

 

[hank520]

$100???

If they haven't been abused and they are in good shape that doesn't sound too bad. Of course you need a decent sized room and amp to really enjoy them. I don't think any Maggies ever had a built in amp, however?!

 

[Mystery]

Of course you need a decent sized room and amp to really enjoy them.

Okay, then none of the Maggies will work in my small living room.

 

[Dudly]

I drove out there and bought those yesterday.

Have them in the garage cleaning and testing and so far no problems with them at all, no buzz no rattles and have tried to look at them with a light thru the socks and it looks as if they have been redone at one point in time.

 

[eddantes]

Congrats and enjoy!

 

[Dudly]

I hope too enjoy them as soon as I get them cleaned up and move the Dahlquist's out to the garage. Just not enough room for all those big speakers, not only that I am going to use the Soundcraftmen amp to drive them.

 

[baw333]

how do they sound? look really neat

 

[Todd MacDona]

How does a 2" deep speaker make good sound?
:scratch2:

Pixies and magic dust.
Everybody knows that good music comes from speakers that are 4" deep, like my Acoustech X.:thmbsp:
This style of speaker really has me puzzled. No matter how many articles I read on them, I still don't fully understand them. I am impressed though.

 

[MrGlobe]

$100... for maggies... and he ends the listing with "but price is negotiable"... someone is gonna get a steal

 

[Dudly]

I am trying to evaluate them right now and to me they sound alot like my Dahlquist 10s maybe not as loud at the same volume.
They have enough base for me but for others I am sure there isn't enough.
The lower volume I am sure is because they are front and back radiated sound.
They could use some new socks but for now dirty ones don't hurt the sound.

 

[Trek]

i have owned magnepans, electrostats, monster pa systems, etc.
i have not owned the speakers that cost 50k or anything like that.
but the Magnepans seemed so live and able to bring the music to me.
I recently thought that a pair of the 6 footers with ess heil air motion
and electrostats would be a great set up. Maybe I will keep my ess tweets and only off
some of the other items I am selling. I loved my Magnepans, my problem is that I sell
everything, it's like an obsession.
I may be a reverse horder. lol

Dave

 

[automojo]

I would be amazed if the tweeters where still functioning if they haven't been rebuilt. Sometimes you get lucky.
A rebuild isn't really difficult, just tedious-especially with those larger panels. I would remove the socks-check for tweeter wire white spots, bass wires lifting and hopefully the glue is a red sheen, instead of green.
A great buy @ $100, and worth the effort and expense (fairly small) to rebuild. A tweeter kit is less then $100, plus you will need a can of Acetone, a large pack of cotton pads and swabs, plus a lot of patience, and a good back! Using DAP is a more permanent solution for attaching the wires over the Maxoline and Super 77 spray.
They do need power and a large room for sure.

 

[Dudly]

As best I can tell the tweeters are working as they should. I removed the fuses from them and they stopped working, I am thinking that they have been redone at some point in time.
I would like to order some new socks for them and if I do and I remove the old ones it should give me alot better hint of what is going on inside. So far so good as far as sound.