This thread has grown from other rec's and questions that I have. The frequency response and lower registar capabilities of these products are often a liability. These designs often thrive on very high power input, but is current the absolute way to run them?
I would like to get some input from owners and listeners.
i would love to try to answer your question as i have just purchased a set of used maggies but i unfortunately dont have them yet. they are being repaired my maggie right now. i can put some input once i have them.
Nuck - You will have to eb more specific than "planar speakers". Ribbons, electrostatics and planar magentics are all considered to be "planar" in that they repersent something other than a conventional dynamic cone or dome driver. Each of the three above technologies have different needs and none specifically require high current.
I think you'll find many listeners who prize their panels would not agree about your assessment of the lowest registers. Most importantly they would suggest that box resonances in the sort of speakers you might prefer are the greatest liability to hearing good sound.
The MMG is a four Ohm load and does make life difficult for some amps that would normally be used with speakers in its price range. The impedance doesn't drop drastically below four Ohms so that isn't a concern. And you are driving what amounts to a fairly benign load when it comes to capacitance which is the biggest problem with electrostats. Inductance is the most important aspect of the planar magnetic designs. Inductive loading is going to be happy with an amplifier that balances voltage and current delivery. You'll need plenty of "watts".
As to the bass response, the MMG can get down to about 45Hz in room. What's really beneath that in the music you listen to? You are looking at the smallest speaker in the Magnepan line, so consider what you are buying when considering how much "bass" you can get from the speaker. Larger panels develop more bass and deeper bass. There are few downsides to the larger Magnepans other than cost. The ribbon tweeters get larger and the overall effect of the Magnepan sound is better. You first have to decide whether you like the Magnepan sound.
All Magnepans like an amplifier than can control the panel. Most often that is found in a transistor amp but most Magnepans sound their best with good tubes. Simply McIntosh as using MMG's last time she was on the forum. Drop her a message to ask what she thinks.
i bought a pair of used MG-1Cs on audiogon. I am not 100% sure what went wrong with them but the seller told me as he was changing the socks he noticed some of the wires on the diaphram were loose. I am waiting for Maggie to get them so they can give me a quote. I would use the h/k but i decided to get a nice set of components for the new speakers. I got a Carver CT-23, Rotel 960BX, a marantz equalizer and a def tech pro 60 sub. i have been on a bit of a shopping spree. will drop in once i get the equipment all in and setup. I am really intersted in how it is going to sound.
Chris,you might want to listen to the Maggies on their own without a sub,they are extremely fast and its hard for budget subs such as the Def Tech pro 60 to keep up with them.The MMGs have sufficient bass,the question is how much bass do you want,and the room always plays a large factor under 200 htz.
Try some MMG's (not MMG-W's they don't go low enough) with a warm amp like a NAD 352 or 272 or older 370/270 or whatever you can find. The BEE amp will drive them just but better with more power/current as I've found and they'll show up improvements with better electronics. I don't feel bass is really an issue unless you're a bass head anyway you can tweak better bass from your source if need be or add a sub like a used REL ST3 series. I like my maggies alot and they're vintage ones they're great with acoustic, folk, jazz and I'd imagine classical. The sound is so clear compared to price comparable box speakers. I'd have some MMG's myself but shipping to Europe takes them over my budget....for now anyway.
Well its gonna be a couple weeks before i get the maggies. they found that one of the drivers was torn so i need new drivers. you think any of the supercubes or the ML dynamo would be better? i can get them for a good price. i think im getting rid of the carver cause i have no remote, manual, nothing. and im not all that impressed. got me a marantz preamp. my dad recently got a pair of ML Clarity speakers. WOW. they are sublime. its amazing how clean the sound is and the imaging in amazing. best speakers i have heard to date.
Chris, I agree with the clarity. I personally think that price/performance wise, they are one of my favorite speakers, and one of MLs best speakers to date as far as driver intergration.
However, I will state that if you want to mate MMG's with a sub, try to look at the ML Dynamo or Grotto, there are some users at the maggie forum that use these subs with success.
cool, thanks gavin. i thought u were not coming back here? well welcome back. im gonna get the dynamo when i have the money together. a little but poor after all my purchasing.