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Magnepan .7 Alternatives

Looking for suggestions…Currently I have Magnepan .7’s and am generally happy but at times they just don’t do it.

I find these speakers to be schizophrenic, sounding great on some tracks and other tracks leaving me wondering what the hey !… I’d say probably 30-40% of the time I’m feeling this way. Either too much treble, not clear or not tonally balanced. I’m no expert but just my opinion, it often comes off as the midrange being pushed to it’s limit trying to be treble. I assume I feel that way being the speaker’s lack of accuracy, although what Maggi’s do they do well, just not an accurate speaker.

I experience this pretty much no matter what source or style of music I play, certainly a non forgiving speaker. Yes, I’ve played around with Toe-In, tried various resistors & jumpers…sounds great on everything I adjust, just not a consistent sounds great.

Lets get it straight, I’m not a “Magnepan Hater”, there’s certain qualities I truly love about my Maggi .7’s, the open sound, the transparency but hoping I may be able to find a speaker that’s not as finicky and can give me the open feel, transparency and clarity that I seek.

My set up consists of:

Odyssey Khartago Extreme Amp

Tubes4hif SP-13 Preamp

Bluesound Node

EAT B Sharp TT w/Sumiko Moonstone Cart

Pro-Ject Tube Box S Phono Pre

(2) REL - T5x Subs

 

Room dimensions: 11.5’ W x 12’ L

10’ Ceilings -

Listening Distance from Speakers

8.5’ - 9’

Carpet, Curtins, (4) 48” x 12”Acoustic panels on wall behind sofa facing my set up.

Not a fan of bookshelf’s and rather would prefer recommendations on

Floorstanders but will listen and research any suggestions you feel would work.

Note: I’m just starting my search, so don’t beat me up if I don’t go right out and purchase your suggestion as others have done in the past.

My Budget is around the $3k mark.

Thanks

🔊

flasd

Showing 1 response by audiokinesis

audiokinesis
2,772 posts
 

@flasd wrote:  "Either too much treble..."

"Too much treble" can be a symptom of "not enough bass".

@flasd:  "Room dimensions: 11.5’ W x 12’ L... Listening Distance from Speakers 8.5’ - 9’..."

This implies your Maggies are pretty close to the wall behind them.  In such cases, it is the out-of-phase backwave which is getting the benefit of strong boundary reinforcement from the nearby wall, resulting in greater cancellation of the in-phase front wave and therefore weaker bass.  I know it's counter-intuitive to think that pulling speakers away from the wall will result in more bass, but that is what happens with dipoles.  On the other hand the closer your listening position is to the wall, the more bass you will hear, in general.

You might try this if you have the freedom to do so:  Since your room is almost square, set up your system on a diagonal, with your chair in or near a corner, with the midpoint between your speakers about  2/5 of the way out from the opposite corner along that diagonal.  I haven't tried this but it might be a way to pretty much maximize the low end and thereby fix the tonal balance.

Duke

dipole speaker dealer since 1999

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