magnepan 1.6 needs help in the bass


i'm begiinning to believe that the amgnepan 1.6 needs some assistance in the bass, i.e., more extension.

i am concerned that mating a cone, especially ported or sealed box is a problem as far as maintaining overall coherency.

also, it may be necessary to have stereo rather than mono sub, which can get expensive.

i have thought about rel, hsu and kharma ?

i also thought about the best way to configure the sub, namely blending. i would run the 1.6s full range and then add bass up to say 60 hz.

any thoughts ?
mrtennis

Showing 1 response by akozar

Hi

I own both 3.6s and 1.6s - I would first maximize the inherent bass and then add 1-2 subs. I have both Velodyne DD15 and Rel Stadium III (in seperate setups). I considrered the ML also. All will work well. But definately run the 1.6s full and find the optimum in your room between 35-45hz. My favorite is the rel. For the 1.6s - the Storm III would be my choice. WHat do you listen too ?? this will make a difference. I listen to 95% acoustic Jazz and Rel is great. For Rock and HT I use Velodyne more. I use to have a used HSG15 and it was great too. In 2 channel listening I do not use the subs - only in my MC set ups and HT.

Thease speakers require 3 things to maximize thier inherent bass:

1) STANDS - Mye stands are excellent and the stealth version gets them out of the way - but any equivalent will help. The stands get then up a little and make them rock solid - somehing they are not otherwise. Adding stands was by far the biggest change audibly of anything I did with my 3.6s.
2) Optimize room position - can't under estimate this - get those things out away from back and side walls.
3) Quality power. MAke shure your amp doubles into 4 ohm loads. meaning a 250W amp in 8 ohm doubles to 500 in 4 ohm. Also look for a high damping factor. I use a Musical fidelity 300 Integrated amp that is 350w in 8 and 600 in 4. This amp is seperate SS amps in 1 chasis with seperate tube pre inside. A used Innsersound ESL-300 would be nice too.

Unfortunately - Maggies are great at thier price point as a speaker, but really require higher quality gear to really make them sing. My 3.6s didn't really bloom in bass till I fed them nearly 1000 watts in 4 ohms.

Good Luck !!

AL