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First Trip outside of Best Buy, a real newbie.

I am a commoner; I have never been to a real stereo store until this weekend. The big box of Best Buy was all I ever knew.

I went out with my wife, Music Librarian with a Phd in Music who has been happy with her 1980’s Denon but the CD recently player broke on our system. I talked to a friend who loves audio and wanted something I have never heard of called. . . Magnaplaners?

Me I love beauty and things that last, I brought my Claudio Arrau Beethoven Emperor movement 3 DDD disk to test some stuff with and Clara Nunes a great Brazilian singer.

First we hit a place that had some “Maggies” to see and hear for the first time. We walked in, I told them I have a big bonus check and I want to hear the Magnaplaners against the best other speakers you got. The lined up these huge 6 foot panels against some giant B&W box type speaker and plugged these Mark Levinson power blocks. I stuffed in the Beethoven into a Classes CD player that would probably kill my whole bonus.

The Maggies took up this awesome Piano piece and the speakers just disappeared. It was an airy and transparent sound that was not really powerful but beautiful. We compared the B&W and it sounded boxy in immediate comparison. We played a bunch of stuff, but at the first place I was impressed by the Magnaplaners.

Then we went to another shop that had Kef and Spendor. My wife immediately liked the Spendor S9. It was pretty nice, It had a punchy quality but did not have the clarity of the maggies, but good all around power. Then we heard some Kef 207 / 2. The owner cranked up the volume so I am not sure it was fair, but Beethoven was totally epic with some soaring highs. I told the Kef guy that I also listened to the Maggies. He said the Maggies were too specialized and would not work as an all around solution.

I am going to spend another 2-4 weeks working this out and then spend my bonus on a new system. I think I want a good 2 channel system that I can use with my TV. From the thread it sounds like 5 of 7 channel is not worth it.

So what to get? Where to go from here? What will fit in my space well?

My home is open, modern with lots of glass, but small. Where I will put the new system will be in a long thin room. About 12 feet wide and 30 feet long. It is open to other areas of the house and is both a living room and dining room.

I want something beautiful that will last a long time. I loved the Maggies for being invisible, but I also loved the Spendor and Kefs for being powerful.

My house is small and I plan to use the new system as a stereo and 2 channel home theatre.

Thanks for whatever advice you want to give me,
Scott
128x128scottlanterman
jj2468
280 posts
 
"The owner cranked up the volume so I am not sure it was fair, but Beethoven was totally epic with some soaring highs. I told the Kef guy that I also listened to the Maggies. He said the Maggies were too specialized and would not work as an all around solution."

Sounds like a slick salesman to me - putting power before fidelity.

FWIW, I did not say that the ultimate test of a speaker is its ability to play low. I did say and I do believe that a "system" should be able to sound good at speaking volume.

I have heard many, many systems and I've never heard one where at speaking volume it sucked and when loud it sounded great. Not once. If power is your thing, then you might feel differently about it.

I've heard many "systems" that sucked when played loud that sounded much better at speaking level.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,198 posts
 
Poorly driven speakers that sound good loud most likely will not "suck" at lower volumes, but bass levels may suffer resulting in a less satisfying presentation at lower volumes.

I went from a 360/W channel relatively low current amp to my current 120w/ch amp with my larger OHMs for this reason.

The 120w/ch amp delivers cleaner, more satisfying bass with the OHMs and Dynaudios at most reasonable levels that I listen to normally.

The previous 360w/ch amp did fine at all volumes with the Magneplanar 1.3c's that I owned for years, as did an 80w/ch tandberg receiver that I used with the Maggies as well.

I also owned B&W P6s that I had to crank to sound right using that high power but low current 360w/ch amp.
scottlanterman's avatar
scottlanterman OP
24 posts
 
Well I did it.

I got the Spendor S8e here at Audiogon. My wife and I really liked these at our local high end audio palace, the Maggies did not make it. Maybe down the road.

So thinking down the road. I am considering trying build something similar to mjcmt, the Old Tech and New Tech system. How simple can you do a nice digital music to old school analog tube on a mid range budget?

I would like to get the MC275 amp. I love the look, the sound reviews are high, it's a classic that has been around and improved for 60 years. I admire that being in Silicon Valley and being part of building amazing things, but things that don't last.

So I am thinking of getting a MC275 and then an integrated DAC-preamp. Would something like the DAC1 Pre be a good choice? I want to connect my TV through the DAC, MC275 out to the Spendors for everyday use. Is the MC275 stable enough and robust enough to be used like this?
programmergeek
322 posts
 
You are where I was a number of years ago. Best advice I can give you.

1) find a good dealer that can teach you what to listen to. you will use him for advice and upgrades and traid in. I buy alot off here but my dealer has been an invaluable teacher he has been over my house 3 times setting up speakers and stuff. If the dealer will not come install or doesn't ask abouthte room they are going in find someone else.

2) learn to listen don't get trapped into that wow it has good base and bright highs. This is nice but hides detail. And besides with all the glass you are discribing highs willnot be your problem.

3) Get what fits the room don't go to big or to small and put them in the room correctly 3' from every wall etc... this is where the dealer helps. I had some great speakers that I listened to at 60% of there pontential for years not realising how much the room had to do with it. For you your lucky avarage size floorstanding will work nice.

I usally avoid giving recomendations and everyone one will recomend everything. However you said transparent. You should really go listen to some Vandersteen they are some of the best value and most transparent speakers I have herd and un like the maggies that are ribben speakers are alot less "speclised". They do excel in the mid range though for vocals and once you buy them vandersteen alwas makes upgrades avaiable, they don't change from year to year and holds there value. and when you want to go 5.1 or 7.1 you can alwas buy toneally matching speakers down the line, all his speakers are voiced the same every year. Hope this helps a bit.
lokie's avatar
lokie
528 posts
 
"I want to connect my TV through the DAC, MC275 out to the Spendors for everyday use. Does this amp C275 stable enough and robust enough to be used like this?"

Maybe. How much TV are you going to watch? I might give McIntosh a call and describe your usage to get their feedback with regards to tube life. Keep in mind that tube amps need some room due to heat.

"Would something like the DAC1 Pre be a good choice?"

The Dac1 is probably as good bang for the buck as anything else at that price range. Good company with a proven product. Be aware of the digital input configuration. You are going to probably need an input for your tv's cable box, some sort of cd transport, and a music server (computer).
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