I have never found that my Maggies are so sensitive to positioning as suggested by many users. Perhaps it is because I have three (not two), the room is very asymetrical, and full of randomly placed furniture unlike the dedicated "listening room". I pull them out a few feet from the wall when I am listening seriously, and that's about it.
However, I just moved them about six inches, and it made a big difference. The secret is that I moved them straight up...off the floor. I have known for decades that Maggies sound best when suspended from a high ceiling, but that option is not available. What I did is put 1X6 oak boards, on edge, under the metal Maggie feet. This raises the speaker about six inches, and provides open space under them. I am not sure why the improvement happens but here are a few ideas. 1. The open space under the speakers. 2. The speaker is more equally spaced to the ceiling and the floor. 3. The speakers being higher, furniture obstucts less.
I am curious about your comment re suspending Maggies from the ceiling.
I have used Magneplanars for less than 3 decades, but the only time I have ever heard of them being hung from the ceiling is usually for a beat up old pair on ebay, being sold by what appears to be an online pawn shop, where the stands are missing.
So I have never heard about, and had no idea, that they might even sound good in this configuration.
My guess is that they would sound leaner in the bass as they rise off the floor, and also that they might move slightly when hanging, certainly enough the "smear" the signal.
My guessing here would also be consistent with the excellent results I have had with MYE stands for my Tympanis:
more bass, more control, more clarity bt anchoring them to the floor, not suspending them from above
But maybe I dont know as much about these speakers as I thought I did?
Cwlondon...I think that it results from being well away from all boundries, walls, floor and ceiling. The best setup I heard involved a huge room (barn really) where the Maggies were hung about 40 percent of the way into the room. (Near the center).
Suspended speakers, Maggies and others, do not move due to playing music. The idea that they do is a myth. Theoretical analysis will show this, but if you still don't believe try suspending a speaker (as I have) and actually observe what happens when you play music. (Nothing).
Suspended speakers can swing as a result of being bumped or blown by wind. For any reasonable length of suspension rope such motion will be at a frequency lower than 1 Hz, and will not interfere with musical frequencies. Compare with the movement of musical instruments which occurs as the performers play them.
Tympanis would be more difficult to hang than most speakers.
Depending on your ceiling height moving this tall speaker upward,bringing the top closer to the ceiling more in balance, will result in near equal coupling at floor and ceiling.Less chance of cancellation. A speaker that is not direct coupled to the supporting surface will have phase errors at multiple frequencys. Easy to hear.Can you see your tweeters move at 3k..Photos have shown that a speaker cabinet's movement while being played is greater than the excursion of the tweeter in that same speaker cabinet. Of course this speaker is at ease on carpet not hanging in thinner air certainly not direct coupled to a surface allowing for proper phase launch.Tom
Theaudiotweak...The 3000Hz tweeter to which you refer has a voice coil that pushes one way on its dome and the other way on a speaker enclosure. You ask us to believe that it moves the 40 pound enclosure more than the half-ounce dome. Obviously you have never heard of Isaac Newton.
Perhaps you are thinking of the woofer moving the enclosure that the tweeter is mounted in. Although the woofer cone is heavier than the tweeter dome, the mass of the enclosure still dominates.
If you want to worry about HF being corrupted by LF vibration think about how HF (say 1500 Hz) is generated by a mid/woofer cone that is simultaneously vibrating with large amplitude at 150 Hz. I believe this is called "Dopler distortion".
The walls of some speaker enclosures do vibrate, but primarily as a result of internal pressure from the woofer. The vibration amplitude is much less than the cone excursion, but there is a lot more area of the enclosure, and significant spurious sound can result. Heavy enclosure walls, internal bracing, and, best of all, curved walls will stiffen the enclosure walls and solve this problem.
The ratio of moving mass to total mass, in Eldartford's spkrs is very low... so there's little fear of energy loss in his case (were loss of a case).
On topic, raising the spkrs has reduced floor bounce and probably helped "clear" lower mids -- and thereby, this effect daisy-chained upward. Good to know!
I use to own Tympani 3a's and worked for a Maggie dealer sometime back. They always sounded better when properly coupled to the floor. The result was superior image much better focus less image wander. Can see the results as well as hear the results.Tom
Aball...Tilting them back, which is usual practice, does not open up space below them. If you had occasion to lift a MG1.6 your concern about a "frail frame" would disappear!
Albertporter...Your comment suggests an amusing game. What form of execution is appropriate for different speakers? Hanging is indeed appropriate for Maggies...speakers for the common man. Bose should be strangled. Your Megalines, so patrician, should drink hemlock.
Theaudiotweak...Tympani 3a's would be hard to hang. Sometime when you have the appropriate speakers and listening space (a barn would be good) try hanging them.
If Maggies couldn't possibly move while playing music then why does nearly everyone claim big improvements when using stands, such as Sound Anchors, that lessen the movement of the speaker?
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Hanging the maggie will make it easier for the reaction to move the speaker because it's just hanging there! Think about how easy it is to push something that is hanging... it takes virtually no force at all. I don't have either Maggies or a physics degree so take this with a grain of salt.
Albert...I have listened extensively to suspended speakers. How many people who criticize the approach can say this? By the way, have you?
Incidentally, a three-chain suspension would provide the same "coupling" to the ceiling as happens with cones to the floor. In some houses the ceiling may be more stable than the floor, especially when people walk around.
The word "Hang" here in Texas is too common in cowboy movies to pass up the opportunity. I have no doubt that hanging the Maggies would work, just sounds like a Clint Eastwood thing.
Theaudiotweak...Not with Maggies, but I used to play that game with boxes.
Ketchup...I can only guess why people think that. You are correct that a small force, applied for some time will move a hanging object. But we are not moving it but moving it back and forth at audio frequency. Not the same thing. By the way, if I push my MG1.6 and then let go it rocks at a natural frequency of about 2 Hz. If a Maggie could respond at 2 Hz you might be able to get it going. But they don't.
This Maggie is damped by its own moving diaphragm and controlled by the amp, the chassis is only along for the ride.Are these speakers self leveling and self balancing at various dynamic levels? Tom
I realize I'm chiming in on an ancient thread here. I hung a pair of Tympani 1C with a "center mono tweeter" (left over after I replaced both when one blew) from the ceiling in an old warehouse space. 15' heavy wooden beamed ceilings. Hanging bass panels in the corner about 4' from side walls so the center channel tweeter was aprox' 10'-12'out and 5' from ceiling. They were angled down slightly to the listening area. I love the life like qualities of the Tympani and this set up created a very concert like experience. I removed the jumpers and hard wired all connection including speaker wire by passing the crossovers with the largest Monster cable available in the early 1980's. Powered up by SP3A, EC3A, D90B, D350,
I believe moving them definitely changed the sound. After reading Jim Smiths book I moved my 3.7 4" more from the wall brought them 2 " closer together on each side and placed wood shims under the rear to angle slightly forward and preceive a big change for the better in sound. Maybe the moves we are making are centering the tweeter at ear level hence the improvwmemts
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