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Magnepan Sweet Spot

For the last year, I have been listening to my set of Magnepan Tympani IVs.  They are great at creating a wall of sound, and picked up substantial bass and detail when I acquired a Parasound A21.  However, I have failed to create the sweet spot I have experienced with other maggies I have owned.  Between this failure and the size of the Tympanis, I am considering selling them and looking at other Magnepan models to achieve the sweet spot. I have always loved the Magnepan clarity and detail, and do not need thumping bass.

The current Tympani arrangement has them at one end of a 22x12 room (12' wall behind them).  If I change them out, I think I will rotate the setup, so that the listening chair will be at one end of the 12' wall and the speakers 3' - 5' away from the other wall.

Given this setup, which of the Magnepan line should I consider to achieve that sweet spot??  I have MMGs but would probably get the LRS if I chose that size speaker. 

Heresy though it may be, if I turned away from the Maggies, what speakers would achieve similar results for about $2500 used?

kythyn

Showing 4 responses by mijostyn

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
barrysandy, the Tympani's image better withe the tweeter panels to the outside. The reason is that the woofer panels bloke the primary reflection off the front wall.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Douglas, then I will debate it with myself. I use ESLs but that does not keep me from supporting Maggie owners. Having set up quite a few I am very familiar with them. I challange you to find another review of any Magnepan speaker that says they can not image. It might be a different image (larger) but an image none the less. Having had Tympani's back in the early 80's I can vouch for the fact that because of their hinged multi panel design they can be daunting and harder to get right than any dynamic or horn speaker and a lot of people have trouble with them myself included. It took me over 6 months to be happy with their sound if I remember correctly. I sold them after three years because I was moving from Alabama back to New England home of Apogee Acoustics and a brand new pair of Diva's a speaker more problematic than even the Tympani's.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
douglas, then why say it at all? Line source speakers produce a larger image than point source speakers which many of us think is more realistic. You disagree and that is why Howard Johnson's made 28 flavors. Planar Magnetics still have a sweet spot and it should be easily noticeable. Having had Tympani's I know for a fact they will image appropriately if set up correctly. No they will not produce the lilliputian image you seem to like but they will produce the life like image I like and kythyn will have to determine on his own if it is for him or not. 
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
kythyn, if you rotate the system your listening chair will be up against the wall which will exaggerate the bass. I would keep the system on the 12 foot wall. Have you set the Tympani's up with the tweeter panels to the outside? If not please try it. toe the tweeter panels in so that they point directly at the listening position. They should be three feet in front of the wall. The woofer panels will block the primary reflection so do not use any treatment behind the speakers. 
If this does not work for you look for a pair of 3.7i's
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