Magnepan MG 2s'..Old,OK, but worth re-furb?

I had the MG-IIc and liked the sound. They do not sound like conventional cone type speakers, so your first impression may or may not impress you. The MG-2C is a 2-way panel, Oak side rails, and stand about 6 feet tall by 2.5 feet wide and are 2 inches wide at the rails. When I sold them they were driven with an old 1969 Sansui 350 20WPC receiver. The buyer was impressed as I turned the volume up way past loud listening levels easily with that 20 Watt solid state. If they are clean and sound Ok, $300.00 is maybe more than I would pay. If they need an O'haul forget them completely. But if you have never listened at some Maggies, you should. The sound may be what you like forever.

Charlie

I bought a pair of MG1's in 1982 or 1983 and sold them to a friend of mine when I upgraded. He still has them, and they sound fine. I'm pretty sure the MG2 is just a bigger version of the same technology--the ribbon tweeters didn't filter that far down the product line until several years later. Based on my experience, you've got a very good shot that they'll sound fine, and, if they do, $300 is a very fair price.

Not sure what you mean by re-furb. If you mean performance-based refurbishment, I don't know how you can evaluate the need until you know what the speakers sound like in their current state. If you mean cosmetic refurb, Maggie used to, and very well still may, sell replacement "socks" for consumer installation, if, for example, someone wanted to change grill colors, or gave up smoking after having kept the speakers in a smoky room. A friend bought the kit for the SMGs, which are much smaller than your pair. I think that it cost a little under $100. He was able to install the new socks without problems, but seemed to find it harder than he expected.

You should call the factory, I know II's cannot be refurbed after a certain serial #, which I don't have hands on at the moment. I buy and sell a fair amount of maggies and on
II's the 1st thing I ask about when buying is what serial # they are.
If you hook them up and they sound good, no bass panel rattles or no missing mid range or high end, really no need
to refurb. New socks are nice if needed, and not that hard to do. If they were well taken care of, probably ok.
If they are II's and you paid 300, I think more than a fair price. I personally think Magnepan and Jim Winey have consistantly built one of the great audio bargains in history. No, they are not for everybody, cause if you have to have gut thumping bass or or a heavy metal rock and roller, those listeners usually don't care for them. But if you like acoustic music, jazz, classical, I think they are incredible. Very few speakers can bring a performer into your room the way Maggies can. Very few speakers can dissapear into a room the way Maggies can. If I were in your shoes, I would listen to those a while and see if you liked them. If you do, I would be posting them for sale here and looking for a pair of 1.4's or larger, great bargains under 15oo dollars.

I have owned MGIIs and loved them. I had them rebuilt coz one driver was blown. They came back from the factory in as new condition.
If i remember correctry, the cost was $300 including shipping back to me. They also replaced cloth, so Maggies looked completely new.
If they did not have a poblem, I am not sure I would have done it. But, when I saw them, I had a good feeling of having a brand new pair. So, it's really up to you.
Beware, they are very power hungry. I would use at least 100W of good tube power or 200W ss. Make sure amp is stable at 4ohm impedance.If you need more help. let me know.

As indicated above, if they are in good condition $300 is an excellent value. I own a pair, which I have done modifications to. New cross-over, internal wiring, stands, ect, which was all easy to do and fun. I have transformed a nice but dated speaker into a very good one with little costto me. A vist to www.audioasylum.com will give you a lot of support regarding these speakers.

Also, they are the only speaker made that are totally self servicing. When the glue goes south and the panel wires lift you can repair them yourself at little cost. If the panel wires go bad you can replace them. Yes, tjis can be a project, when and if it happens, but IMO they are worth it.

At $300 plus another $100-$200 to upgrade them, depending on what you want to do, you get a speaker that has no peer in its price range. Couple it with a sub and you get great full range sound. Yes, I know they roll off after 16K but what is there is good and at that price you can't expect flat to 20K.