Ake, please don't take this the wrong way, but I can't help but notice all your posts about warranties and durabilty. The Maggies are fine products but perhaps more delicate than others. Perhaps you would be better off with Bryston electonics with (the best warranty in the business?) a 20 year transferable warranty and speakers like Thiel or some other manufacturer that has been around a long time and is known for durabilty and customer support. This is not a knock on Magnaplanar, a very fine and reputable manufacturer. There have been a few threads about manufacturers and customer support. I suggest you look through them and then check out the manufacturers site, where you can investigate the parts, service and warranty policies. I am concerned that no matter how good a product sounds that your neurosis (please no harm intended) or concern about budget preventing appropriate maintance (I can certainly relate) will suck the joy right out of your investment in pleasure. Best wishes! |
The reason I keep asking these line of quesions is that (as I stated before) I will move to Thailand by the end of the year and will live there pretty much for the rest of my life where the service may be problematic. My situation is much differnt from people who live in the US where service is pretty easy and practical. If I would leave here, I would just shut up and go buy equipment instead of keep asking. I just don't want a few thousands worth equipment become an expensive brick when something goes wrong.
I love Maggies. I just auditioned them yesterday and I was sold. Personally I even like them more than Audio Physic Virgo especially when the price mattersbut that's another story. So for me I wanna get Maggies (at least for now.
I have to say that I have no experience with this type of speaker before and I am a bit concern, but not chiken out.
That's why I ask many question about Maggies to get as much as infomation I could before geting them. There website provide nothing I want to know. So AG seems to be the best resources for me.
I have spent almost the entire last week reading pretty much every thred on AG (may miss a few, of course)but still didn't quite get the answer or feel confident about it.I also check manufacture web site if they have a sevice in Thailand or not, just to make sure that I can get a service if I need one. Just just for a piece of mind.
Sorry if I have bugged many of us here, still, I haven't get quite straight answers that I really want yet.
Hopefully this would be my last question about the reliability of the equipment. I am pretty much fed up with it too, believe me.
Ake |
Ake, your no bother at all, Just trying to help. Have you contacted Magnaplanar about your circumstances, you might be surprised at how cooperative they might (?) be. Good luck with your quest and your move. |
I would be willing to bet that among all speaker brands, Magneplanar is probably one of the frontrunners when it comes to older models still being used regularly out in the field. No voice coils to burn out, no surrounds to dry up and disintegrate, no fancy cabinetry to get banged up. There is really very little to damage or go wrong in a Maggie, and they aren't highly expensive, so you're not risking too much - not to mention that nothing else sounds like 'em. If this is your dream speaker, I don't see how you could go way wrong with a pair of these. |
I used a set of Maggie MGa's for 12 years absolutely trouble free, then upgraded to the 1.6. Like a previous poster stated, no voice coils to blow, no foam or rubber surrounds to dry out, no cabinetry to chip & crack. Yes, some have reported a delamination of the mylar membrane/wire bond, but this can be repaired. Besides, not too many speakers offer the unique virtues of the 1.6 for such a relatively low price. |
I have a pair of original SMGa's that are celebrating their 11th year of service in perfect condition. I have never seen or heard a complaint about Maggie reliability. |
As someone who buys and sells a lot of used gear, I would not hesitate to tell my best freind moving to Antartica to buy a pair of Maggies, tremendous loudspeaker for the money, and incredibly reliable. That and if you do have a problem , its one of the more helpful, go out of their way, do anything they can to help you manufactorers out there. That and you like them. I am a firm believer you have less problems out of gear you like than gear you kinda like. |
I've seen one pair that was kept in a humid, un-air conditioned home for years. The grill cloth rotted and glue joint in one corner of one frame came apart but they still sounded great. A dab of glue fixed the joint but I don't know what he ever did about the cloth.
will |
I loved my MG111A's, but I have to admit that they went bad after 9 years of med. to heavy use. By heavy use, I don't mean high power, just lots of playing time. They don't have voice coils to go bad or surrounds to rot, but, what they all will eventually have is a problem with the voice coil de- laminating from the mylar panel. So, the wire grid is being moved by the signal/magnets, but it is not moving the diaphragm itself. I could hear the wire grid drumming away on the panel during play. When I disassembled mine to repair them, I found the top and bottom 8 inches of voice coil wire was no longer attached to the panel. For this reason, I would never buy a used pair. I still like Maggies though and would even buy a new pair some day if I was willing to give up the space to get the most from them. I never had any trouble with the "delicate" true ribbon tweeter and I would expect the newer Quasi- ribbons to be even more durable. |
I mentioned in an earlier posting about a glue failure with the early Maggie model that I bought in the 1970's. According to the company, that is no longer an issue. However, much as I like their current speakers, I can't help but think that sending them back to the US for repairs (or taking them with you to Thailand when you move) will be a problem in the box that they come in from the factory. |
I purchased a pair of Magnepan MG-1 Improved speakers sixteen years ago. They have never needed a repair, still sound nice (at least to my ear) and cosmetically have retained a "like-new" look. Needless to say, I have been extremely pleased with the purchase. When the time comes to retire them, I will probably replace them with Magnepan 1.6 QR's like you are considering. Magnepan has always been very good regarding parts availability, should they ever be needed. I can still obtain cloth socks (grill covers) and mylar panels for the MG-1 Improved speakers. The only part not obtainable for me is the original black base. The bases were finally sold out a few years ago. Newer models should have parts available for many years. |
Hey Jvia - About that last sentence in your post - is that because you'd be less prone to haul off and kick something if you liked it?! :-) |
believe it true. I have always thought that people who don't buy what they really want and settle for a compromise tend to have more problems, real or imagined, with that piece of gear than if they bought what they wanted in the 1st place. I also think they don't take care of it as well as they might have. Not carved in stone, but I think it holds true. Not just audio , but cars, houses, and relationships(not a "buy" thing, but you get my gist) as well. |
I bought (I'm the second owner) a pair of MG 1.5's as a second rig/backup pair. They were manufactured in 1994 and delivered it seems about mid-year of that year.
They sound and operate perfect without any problems whatsoever.
I personally do not think they are a delicate speaker at all if you know how to drive them and only ship them in their original packaging.
I can turn anything into a smoldering pile of embers if I wanted to. The trick is using the equipment properly.
Best of luck. Maggies will last a long, long time. |
I am not nor have I ever been a Maggie owner. I almost did buy a new pair of 3A's a long time ago. I have admired all of the 3 series. Not that it was the reason I didn't purchase Magnaplanars, but I have heard that the ribbon tweeters while easy and inexpensive to replace were known to be easily over driven and to have a short life. Is this true? |
My brother has a pair of MGIIA's that did have a glue problem. He bought them in 1981 and got them repaired in 1988 and they are working just fine. They seem to have aged very well, considering they are 21 years old, and sound marvelous. I would say this is pretty damn good for a speaker that is played almost every day for 2 hours minimum and on weekends he has them on 6-8 hours per day. |
My magnapan 3.1s still sound great at 30+ years! After 25 years some of the wires separated from the Mylar. Glue deteriorated but also my bad as I was playing home theater thru them loudly “Ford vs. Ferrari”. Don’t do that! Anyway although I only live 4 hrs from White Bear I did the repair myself due to Covid concerns and shipping cost. Removing the old glue and re-glueing the wires was a bit tedious and took some care but otherwise not very challenging. Xylene to remove old glue and the new glue cost <$20. Magnapan offered to “fully refurbish” (new wires and maybe new caps?) for ~ $1500 if I would ship or bring the speakers to them. |
