I would like to offer another view here of the whole question of
updating the Maggie 1.6's.
I did update my pair over a year ago. I used Alpha Core
inductors and Hovland capacitors. I was careful to draw
2 diagrams...one of the original circuitry (which wires
attach to each other) and one with the "new" configurations.
I was thrilled with the results and I enjoyed them thoroughly.
However, I recently purchased the Carver Professional
ZR 1600 amp (I wrote a full review in Audio Asylum
which is still there under aka -Richard-). I use a tiny
passive preamp called the axiom with it and the
combination is very exciting...startling really...I have
since learned some interesting things about my maggies,
which incidentally I love.
The Carver amp has certain qualities about it that are
revelatory...holographic imaging, textural complexity,
detail never heard (or even guessed at) before that
always serves the music, a rich tonal pallette, and
a papable instrumental presence...the pacing and
dynamics are wildly alive in ways other amps could
only dream about...
Strangely, these qualities did not achieve the synergy
with the maggies you might think it would...I have another
pair of speakers, the Ruark Crusader 2's, that the ZR1600
brought to life in ways quite unimaginable before I heard
it...very much appreciated.
On a whim I undid my moded work on the maggies and
reconnected the wires to their orginal configurations.
And guess what? The synergy is now there with my
ZR 1600...what I always craved the maggies had a tad
more...transparancy...is now a "natural" part of the musical
landscape...
I cannot describe what the bass sounds like on my unaltered
maggie 1.6 qr's, using the ZR 1600, without sounding slightly mad...it is thunderous, powerful, evocative, detailed and soooo
right (fully and naturally integrated which is one of the magical
traits of the maggies).
I am considering moding my ZR 1600 to tame the occasional
glary highs (I can live with them...but there is a new universe
of moding possibilities growing up around this killer amp)
that creep into some string musical material on certain red
book CD recordings. After that I my try to reassert the "mods"
on my Maggies to see if the synergy has changed.
May I add a thought or two here. I have read in this respected
forum some very critical ideas about the limitations of the
maggies...let me say that my unaltered 1.6 qr's driven by the
ZR 1600, creates a very convincing musical experience...
more than that...the emotional connection to the music
is very moving, the musical "expression" penitrates the
"air" and stimulates the senses in ways that are similar to
to a live musical experience. I have heard the best speakers
in the world (obviously not all of them...but many many
examples) and they do not sound "better" than the 1.6qr's...
only a bit more fleshed out here or there...but the illusion
of real music playing before you in the same space in
which you are listening is uncanny and emotionally very
satisfying.
Go ahead and try a mod, if you have the time, patience and
an adventurous spirit...why not? But in my case...with the
right amplification...the Carver Professional ZR 1600...
the original maggies sound incredible...suggesting that
we may not know what we have with the maggies because
the amplification has not been evolved enough to make
them really "sing"...until now that is.
With warm regards to all, America
updating the Maggie 1.6's.
I did update my pair over a year ago. I used Alpha Core
inductors and Hovland capacitors. I was careful to draw
2 diagrams...one of the original circuitry (which wires
attach to each other) and one with the "new" configurations.
I was thrilled with the results and I enjoyed them thoroughly.
However, I recently purchased the Carver Professional
ZR 1600 amp (I wrote a full review in Audio Asylum
which is still there under aka -Richard-). I use a tiny
passive preamp called the axiom with it and the
combination is very exciting...startling really...I have
since learned some interesting things about my maggies,
which incidentally I love.
The Carver amp has certain qualities about it that are
revelatory...holographic imaging, textural complexity,
detail never heard (or even guessed at) before that
always serves the music, a rich tonal pallette, and
a papable instrumental presence...the pacing and
dynamics are wildly alive in ways other amps could
only dream about...
Strangely, these qualities did not achieve the synergy
with the maggies you might think it would...I have another
pair of speakers, the Ruark Crusader 2's, that the ZR1600
brought to life in ways quite unimaginable before I heard
it...very much appreciated.
On a whim I undid my moded work on the maggies and
reconnected the wires to their orginal configurations.
And guess what? The synergy is now there with my
ZR 1600...what I always craved the maggies had a tad
more...transparancy...is now a "natural" part of the musical
landscape...
I cannot describe what the bass sounds like on my unaltered
maggie 1.6 qr's, using the ZR 1600, without sounding slightly mad...it is thunderous, powerful, evocative, detailed and soooo
right (fully and naturally integrated which is one of the magical
traits of the maggies).
I am considering moding my ZR 1600 to tame the occasional
glary highs (I can live with them...but there is a new universe
of moding possibilities growing up around this killer amp)
that creep into some string musical material on certain red
book CD recordings. After that I my try to reassert the "mods"
on my Maggies to see if the synergy has changed.
May I add a thought or two here. I have read in this respected
forum some very critical ideas about the limitations of the
maggies...let me say that my unaltered 1.6 qr's driven by the
ZR 1600, creates a very convincing musical experience...
more than that...the emotional connection to the music
is very moving, the musical "expression" penitrates the
"air" and stimulates the senses in ways that are similar to
to a live musical experience. I have heard the best speakers
in the world (obviously not all of them...but many many
examples) and they do not sound "better" than the 1.6qr's...
only a bit more fleshed out here or there...but the illusion
of real music playing before you in the same space in
which you are listening is uncanny and emotionally very
satisfying.
Go ahead and try a mod, if you have the time, patience and
an adventurous spirit...why not? But in my case...with the
right amplification...the Carver Professional ZR 1600...
the original maggies sound incredible...suggesting that
we may not know what we have with the maggies because
the amplification has not been evolved enough to make
them really "sing"...until now that is.
With warm regards to all, America