Thinking of .7 or 1.7i

Randy, I was curious about Magnepan myself. I pulled the trigger on a pair of LRS, which they say is a great way to see if you like the flavor of the brand. They come with a 60 day trial. Or I believe you can trade them in for 100% of what you paid within the first year to upgrade to a higher model. They really sound terrific and I think it’s a great way to get into the brand. I was shocked how close they come to my quad electrostatics. It’s really a no-brainer for around $600 or so. Your 100 W per channel amp should be more than enough to drive them and they are really a perfect size for your room. I bought mine factory direct. Just my two cents worth.

My brother went from the MMG (model before the LRS) straight to the 1.7i.

Oh boy do they sound awesome. He's playing them with my MC303 McIntosh amp and it sounds glorious.

Dammit.

agree with Joe, assuming you have room for them to 'breath', add a sub or two and you'll be in sonic heaven !

I just e-mailed Maggy to ask them about the LRS trial program, trade up program... they sound very interesting to me.

If my headphones are any indication of this technology then they will definitely be something I might be interested in. My headphones are simply beyond amazing!

Randy

The LRS are current hogs regardless of the wpc you have on hand even more so than some of the larger models. The two models in your title don't seem to be nearly as bad. Something about that particular model.

Thanks Jack,

Do you think, knowing the type of music I prefer and that I really do ever knock the walls down so to speak, do you think the T+A which always surprises me with its balls for lack of any other way to say it, will have enough for the .7 or 1.7, or even the LRS to test them for that matter.

I will wait on Maggy's response of course before making any decisions.

Randy

Just from what I have read on the two forums where the LRS is popular it is the one that seems to be the real amp killer. I think it has an even bigger low impedance dip than other Maggie's as it's panels are different. I have seen people say the LRS has shut down amps I would have never considered possible.

I have been driving the LRS with a Rogue Cronus Magnum @ 100wpc and a Naim 250 DR @ 80wpc and both amps drive them with authority and the Rogue was specifically recommended by the gentleman at Magnepan with whom I spoke.

Rob

I've read some horror stories about them but then nobody wants to admit to what volume they are playing them at or how big the room is. With the levels Randy is usually playing his T+A will probably be fine but just wanted him to know the stories were out there.

If you have the room and the power to really enjoy them I think some models are rather enjoyable. Music, blues, jazz, Dire Straits. I recently heard the LRS at our dealer, never heard them turn into hogs. .. Rather nice, the bass was supplemented with a REL T9i.

I do not have any audio dealers close to me to listen to anything. This is why I have to count on reading, reviews, and absolutely love the feedback from AS where I can get reliable opinions that do help a lot in understanding what to expect from various components.

Thank you guys... it is very helpful... please continue.

So far my take away is that the Magepan's are really solid speakers and when considering their price they are an absolute steal. They are not for everyone in that they are really not designed for head banging knocking the walls down listening, but more for accurate audiophile type listening. I know my headphones use similar technology and they are by far the most amazing transducers I have ever heard.

Is this summary pretty much what you guys would say?

joeinid said:

My brother went from the MMG (model before the LRS) straight to the 1.7i.

Oh boy do they sound awesome. He's playing them with my MC303 McIntosh amp and it sounds glorious.

Dammit.

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I thought you were looking to try a pair a little while back Joe. Did you never grab a pair? The description of these speakers sounds right up my alley. If I do get a pair I am going to have to have Cheryal make a cover for them to keep the cats away though ...

I had hoped to get my brother’s MMG and have them upgraded. He traded them before I could buy the from him. Then I was going to buy the LRS but in the mean time I ended up hearing his 1.7i and thought wow, these are awesome. I didn’t think the LRS would cut it for me at this point.

I’ve since come to realize that I’m not moving my Avantgarde around and too much extra gear in here is detrimental to my sound, I temporarily gave up the idea. I still love the magnepan sound but it’s just not practical for me right now.

Randy Myers said:

I thought you were looking to try a pair a little while back Joe. Did you never grab a pair? The description of these speakers sounds right up my alley. If I do get a pair I am going to have to have Cheryal make a cover for them to keep the cats away though ...

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I did some measuring last night. I am thinking the 1.7i might be a bit too large for my room. I am leaning towards the .7, but I might try the LSR first. I did get an e-mail from Eric at Magnepan this morning. He wants me to call him next week to discuss their program, etc.

Randy

If you go for the LRS, I have a pair of the magna risers for better sound. I jumped the gun on the replacement feet but never ordered the speakers.

Thanks Joe, I would probably want those... just got to wait and talk with the guy at Magnepan. It is almost like how can you go wrong at that price...

Randy, I own the original MMG's and the 1.6's. They do love power but more importantly current. Your amp should be able to drive them but loud levels may clip the amp and possibly send it into protection mode. Dynamics will also suffer. But at moderate volumes you should be ok. Your amp looks to be rated at 80 wpc at 8 ohms and 110 at 4 ohms so it may get hot. It would be better if it doubled its power at 4 ohms. I shut down a 225 wpc Adcom AVR using 16g Monster wire with my MMG's years ago. The wire and amp would get hot. If you do get a pair of Maggies, make sure you are using 10g speaker wire with that amp. Also, dual sealed good quality subs are a must for the best sound.

The LRS's give you a taste of the 3.7'i's. It is different than the 0.7's and 1.7i's. The LRS has more detail but the 0.7's have a bigger sound stage and more bass.

By the way Randy, how big is your room? I have a friend that has the 1.7's in about a 10x12 room with dual Rhythmik subs in a near field configuration and his system sounds awesome.

Remember the Maggies need about 2.5 to 3' or more from the front wall and corners to sound their best.

Randy Myers said:

I have been thinking about the Magnepan .7 or 1.7 speakers, but I have some concerns.

First off I have never heard a Magnepan speaker but have read some great things about them that make me think they might be up my alley. Also my headphones are Planar Magnet which I believe is similar technology... they are beyond amazing.... simply stunning.

I normally do not listen very loud... just medium at most. I listen to everything but tend to lean towards Progressive Rock, Pink Floyd, Yes, etc., jazzy rock such as Steely Dan, Donald Fagean (I know same thing ), jazz vocals, pop, classic rock, jazz, new age, folk, .... etc., etc.

Is my T+A 100 WPC ultra wide band a/b amp enough power for the above.

Is my room big enough? My loft library is 13x14 if I remember correct... not a ton of extra room.

I assume there would be no issue still using my basic Elac sub.

Can you bi-wire these speakers.... I have heard no but wondering why they have the extra terminals on the back then.

Do they have a trial period... somewhere I saw they offered a 60-day trial and also offer a one year trade up?

Where is the best place to buy them since I have no dealers near me.

Thank you, thank you!

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My comments are not specific to the .7 or 1.7 since I have never owned them. However, I still own a set of Magnepan speakers (3.6R). I also used to own other models as well (MGIIIa, MG20.1, and MG20.7).

Magnepan makes great speakers. They excel at playing any kind of acoustic music. They are fantastic with jazz, vocals, folk. The bigger models can rock too, but regardless of size, for any kind of heavy rock you want to have a subwoofer. With jazzy vocals the big Maggies sound magical.

The big maggies need space in the rear. The little ones should also need space behind them but maybe not as much.

The maggies do love power. That said, power rating in an amp can be misleading. Years ago, I had a 220wpc amp paired with my MGIIIa. On paper, that was more than plenty, yet quite often, whenever I played my music very loud, the fuses in the speaker would burn. Granted, these were quite cheap fuses available from any Radio Schack, but it was my routine to check on the fuses sporadically specially the day after a high-volume session. I then switched amps with similar power rating but different brand and rated as a high-current amp and my fuse burning issue almost went completely away.

The easiest way for you to see if your amp is good to the task is to try them out. You can then play music at your normal listening level and tell if you have any problems.

In the big maggies, the part that is expensive to replace is the ribbon. The fuses are supposed to burn before the ribbons do, but somehow I burned quite a few ribbons even when using top amps. I do not believe that the small maggies have a true ribbon, so probably you would not have to worry about that.

The Magnepan's biggest drawbacks are, in my experience, trying to play them way too loud (burned fuses and/or ribbons) and a limited sweet spot. As far as the sweet spot, the speakers are very directional, but when you are in that sweet spot, the sound can be magical.

IMO, Magnepan offers some of the best sounding speakers for the money. You would have to go way up in price to get better sound.

Nicoff, with both my Parasound A21 400wpc 4 ohm and my Pass X250 500wpc 4 ohm I can play my 1.6's to ear bleeding levels with no problems and no blown fuses. Problems arise with underpowered amps and small gauge speaker wire. Wendel at Magnepan said they will take as much clean power as you can give them.