2. speakers
  3. 1247086675

Passive sub for Magnepan 3.6r?

Intrigued by the fanatical praise for the Magnepan line, my buddies and I finally got the chance to audition same at length. The 1.6s were fairly engaging, though a bit bright to my ears, and wholly lacking in low end slam--overall there's a number of conventional dynamic speakers I'd choose for the same $$. The 3.6rs, however, truly are as awesome as their cult proclaims--they reproduce drums and vocals as well as anything I've heard and are incredibly transparent. We did an A/B comparison of the Maggies to comparably or higher-prices B&W Nautilus and Thiel floorstanders, and it was absolutely no contest--next to the Maggies, the others sounded veiled and boomy.
All that said, and with due respect to those that enjoy the 3.6rs w/o a sub, we all felt that the 3.6rs lacked bottom end impact and were, in effect, 80% of a great speaker. We then added a REL sub (as is often recommended), but still struggled with the integration--no matter how we adjusted the sub, the combo still sounded like two separate speakers, not an integrated whole.
So my question is, assuming I take the plunge, would the Maggies be better served by pairing with a passive sub? My concept, as yet untested, is that by using the same amp to power both the sub and the Maggies, I might get a less distorted, more seamless sound. While I'm sure this topic has been addressed somewhere, your informed opinions would be most appreciated.
loomisjohnson

Showing 2 responses by johnnyb53

johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
To integrate a sub you have to play around with location a bit. I heard a pair
of JL 212s with a pair of Maggie 20.1s and the integration was seamless. it
was put together by Seattle's best high end shop, who definitely knows what
they're doing.

I would think that a really good sub candidate for Maggie would be the
Martin-Logan powered subs. Since they're made to integrate with
electrostatics, they are very fast and light, and fill that 40-100 Hz area very
well. One of the ways subs have trouble supplementing panel speakers is that
many of them are relatively slow. The JL and Martin-Logan are lightning-fast,
however.

Also, Maggie makes a separate woofer. Not quite a sub, but it supplements
the bottom end and makes sure it's flat to 40 Hz. They are passive, made to
blend with decor, and are reportedly fairly inexpensive. They are easier to
blend because, being panels, they're as fast as panels, and they have a
frequency response up to 7KHz.

The Magnepan passive woofers are made of a smaller version of the bass
panel of a 20.1.
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
Right now Audio Advisor has a sale on ML subs. They're certainly some of the most nimble and musical I've personally heard.
More to discover