MMG 2.1 setup

Hi Stat33,

The MMG's are good down to 55 Hz or so, and the DWM's should go down to 40 Hz or even lower. Deep bass fundamentals aren't all that common in music so it just may be that the material you're playing doesn't go that deep. Click on the chart in the lower right hand corner of this page to see just how scarce those fundamentals are, and which instruments are likely to play them. Even when they can, e.g., the piano, the lowest notes may not be played very often:

http://renegademinds.com/Products/GuitarDrumTrainer/FilteringInstrumentsfromSongs/tabid/111/Default.aspx

Another thing I think you may find is that the DWM takes some load off the MMG so you can play music louder without distortion, but this may not matter to you, a lot of people never push their systems to levels where it does.

Also, I don't know how long you've burned the speakers in but bass will get deeper in both the DWM and MMG's as you play them.

In theory, the XPA-2 would be a better choice than two channels of an XPA-3, but in practice I don't think you'd notice that much of a difference unless you're really pushing the levels. But you could check on the Emotiva forum to see what others think.

The MMG's really are special, aren't they. I'm glad you're enjoying them.

I owned MMG's a number of years ago which I sold to a friend who still loves them. The subs I had the best luck with were sealed designs, M&K and NHT both fit the bill nicely. Sealed subs don't typically go as low as a vented sub but to my ears were more musical and quick. Maggies are very fast and the ported subs I tried just weren't able to keep up and usually sounded rubbery and dis-jointed. Again this was a good ten years ago so things may have changed so YMMV.

Hi Josh,

Everything makes sense!! MMG's do rock:)
I so far have auditioned as many as I could, but nothing beats these. I guess the only problem is the placement issue...the speakers themselves look great, problem comes when they have to be placed ~3 feet from the wall, messing the looks of TV....but, I am keeping them. I guess the sound that comes from these is hard to explain, it suits my taste quite a lot.
I can only imagine how ur Tympani's sound!!

I guess u still use the XPA-2. I am still trying to see a noticeable difference with and without the DWM bass panel with the MMG's. The DWM needs powered input & I am running the 2 MMG's throgh the DWM, like u had explained. In case I chose not to keep the DWM...would u suggest xpa-2 instead of xpa-3, I have now, any significant difference that I might notice?
I am rethinking the USP-1 per-amp, since it has only 2 channel output. Any per-amp that u recommend that will integrate well with the XPA & MMG's

Thanks a bunch!!

I really love the MMG's. I bought them as second-system speakers for my home office and couldn't believe what they do for $600.

One caution, they take a while to break in -- you'll hear a big improvement after the first few days and then the bass will continue to get deeper. This should be true of the DWM's as well as the MMG's. Also, dipoles are really sensitive to placement! Experimentation will pay off.

Wow, thanks for your detailed response. I guess I will see what best I can achieve with this setup.
I am trying the monster cables for now.
The last venture of mine was the ML-ESL with Rotel amp with preamp...I just could not replicate what I heard at the audio store. I also auditioned the Paradigm Studio 100's with the Simaudio integrated amp, but the whole deal was costing 5000$ with good cables..
I guess my goal is a warm sounding setup for my tv room, the dimensions of which have been a challenge...and the fact that I am a novice to high end audio with time constraints is not helping this either.

Really appreciate your input!!

Hi Stat33,

I did get a sub for my MMG's, a Martin-Logan Dynamo, but soon right after I got it I scored a pair of Tympani IVa's here on Audiogon and my sub was too small to do any good with them so I actually never got to try it out.

I can tell you though that if I were doing it today, I would have gone for the DWM rather than the sub. The DWM is just going to sound a lot purer than a dynamic sub and sometimes it can go all the way down to 25 Hz. That's setup and room dependent so Magnepan only states the low limit as 40 Hz. But with the 30 day trial, you can try it out and see how well it works for you. Definitely the way I'd go unless my main priority was big explosions and such and I could budget for a sub that was big enough to go significantly lower and louder than the DWM but also clean enough to blend with the MMG's for music (which usually means a sealed sub).

I'm not a big believer in esoteric cables, because I think they make a subtle difference at best and for most of us, the money can buy more sound if spent on speakers, amps, and acoustical treatment. But I know there are those who feel differently. Maybe they'll chime in with some suggestions.

Anyway, for small subs on a budget, I'd recommend the same Martin Logan Dynamo I got, but you have to find it used since the newer ones are bass reflex. Among bigger subs, the REL's have an excellent reputation for blending well with Maggies. Two subs are better than one.

The DWM has been around for a while and was originally sold for use with the on-wall speakers, the Mini Maggies, and the centers. But at some point Wendell Diller at Magnepan decided to see what would happen if he tried one with the MMG's and was amazed by the results. So now they're being marketed as a DWM + MMG package. This is so recent that I only know of one person who's tried the combo, Steve Ford over at the Planar Circle.

Thanks a lot Josh!
In your setup, did u use a sub? The more I read about DWM, the more i get confused...the best application seems to be with the magnepan's center channel speaker.
Either ways do you recommend a good sub, in the event my DWM does not work as planned. I guess I am planning way too far before trying (I have a week off & hope to accomplish this setup).
By the way what cables r using in ur setup?
Thanks a lot..

The good news is that you don't need a separate amp to drive the DWM! Basically what you do when using the DWM's with the MMG's is to feed your two channel amp to the DWM's inputs, then the DWM's outputs to the left and right MMG. This feeds the MMG's off the DWM's internal crossover.

The clever thing that makes this possible is that the DWM has two separate voice coils, so a single DWM can handle both channels.

I still haven't head the DWM's, but when I had MMG's I used them with an XPA-2 and it was an excellent match. I imagine you could also use the XPA-3 arrangement using the USP-1's bass management. In that case, you just hook up one of the inputs of the DWM.