MMG Placement


I am considering taking advantage of the trial offer on these speakers. I have owned larger Maggies before. Amp will be Adcom GFA-555 with matching preamp.

My question is placement in my 13x22x10 ft room. One end is a glass slider with plastic vertical blinds. The other end is open to the kitchen above 4 ft. Floors are laminate. Seems like placement should be along the long wall, but how far in front of the wall given the narrow 13 ft width? Also, how long a cable run is reasonable?

Other furniture in the room includes 9x10 L-shaped couch, recliner chair, computer table and TV stand. I can't see a way to sit in the sweet spot, so my goal is to fill the room with sound and be unable to locate the speakers.

If there is a way to attach pictures, I have some of the bare room.
kythyn
Yet another alternative has presented itself as well - 10 QRs for $600. I have never heard a pair of these but would ask the same question about suitability in my room
based on my 1.6's in a 13 x 23 x 8 room I would say no problem and in fact they might fit ideally.
An opportunity has arisen to acquire Maggie 2.7 QRs for less than $1000. Are they too large for my room (13x22x10)? I would acquire these and, in the future, upgrade the amplification to feed them.
MMGs should do very nicely in that space. It would be better to get them out a bit further from the front wall - 3 feet being significantly better than 2 IMO. A robust SS amp is a good idea for MMGs, but 100 to 150 wpc should be sufficient.

However, I'd agree that these are probably not the best choice for a broad "sweet spot". Wider dispersion designs, like Gallo or Ohm, might be more suitable.
Kythyn, A much fuller,more dynamic sound with better instrumental seperation , depth and better highs, lows and equal mid-range . Read what Underwood wally on here says,its true.
The" Absolute Sound" had an accurate review as well;
"a compact speaker that offers detailed ,refined, dynamically expressive and improbably expansive
and full-range sound " .

Just what you say you want and that was at 1600$ .
"I could create some distance from the half wall, but probably not 5 feet."

even four feet would probably suffice in that situation and the half wall thing may (or may not who knows) work out pretty well (also you could hear the stereo in the kitchen which might be nice)

my two cents
I suggest you take Magnepan up on their trial offer.
I think the Adcom would be plenty to drive the MMGs or 12s, and long speaker cables shouldn't be a problem.
Getting room filling, speaker disappearing sound might be a challenge, but you won't know until you try.

It's been a while since I've owned them (MG12 and MG1.6), but I enjoyed the heck out of them while I did. Great speakers.
Its just my opinion, but I think Magnepan is overrated. I put my 1.7's next to my Vandersteen Model 1's and felt that the Model 1's were definitely a better speaker. Next to my Model 2's, the 1.7's sounded defective.
Schubert,

Thank you I will check on the Gallos. If you had to describe the sound relative to Maggies, what would you say?

Philojet,

The only way I can place them on the short wall is in front of the kitchen pass-through (4 feet high). If I do that, I could create some distance from the half wall, but probably not 5 feet.
fwiw I use SMGa's in a room 13' x 30' x 8' and the balance is terrific with beautiful bass, however, I have them placed at one end of the room (about 5 feet out) not along the side wall like you want to do.

also fwiw the SMGa is supposed to be a better balanced speaker than the MMG which is supposed to be a bit bright
Oh, one other thing, The Gallo tweeter had a full 180 degree dispersion, and why I can't tell you but said tweeter is very little effected by 10 ft wide ,floor to ceiling sliding glass door in my condo.
MMG's have a very small "sweet spot" and require exact placement like 1/8" to get even that and you must be sitting as well.A BAD choice for room filling , long wall is OK .
They also are VERY inefficient and need a good 400 watts a side @4 ohms to be at their best.
They will sooner, or later, blow most amps not rated 2 Ohm stable as well. Been there, done that.
A fine speaker for what you want is Gallo CL-3 which Underwood Wally is selling for $999 on here now .I bought a pair of these and they are everything Wally claims them to be. A very good speaker not just for the money, but good period.
Ideal would be an Ohm 1000 but that will run you 2k.
Agree, those speakers will get "lost" in a room that size with very little bass.
Schubert,

Do you mean that there is no way to "fill the room with sound and be unable to locate the speakers" or no way to use any sort of Maggies in a long narrow room?
My intention if these work out is to upgrade to the next step in the Maggie line within a year, but the problem of distance from the wall in a narrow room remains
These might not be the best choice for you as your permanent speakers. I would ask Magnepan about the set up if you want to try them anyway. I had a similar situation with different speakers and settled on bring them out only 2 feet into the room.