2. speakers
  3. 161384-106199

Planar speaker characteristics

I’m thinkIng of the possible advantages of going planar.  Here’s my situation:
I currently have Triangle Stratos Volante 260 speakers, and I love their sound. The issue with these are that they have poly switches in the crossovers that limit the volume they can achieve.  Rectification of this issue is a long story, I’ll spare everyone the details. Before I acquired these speakers, I briefly owned a pair of Magnepan MMG’s, and was quite impressed with them. Unfortunately, also at the time I didn’t have the amplifier power to drive them to potential, and after all, they are the smallest end of the Magnepan line.  After acquiring the Triangles, I also got a pair of Parasound JC 1’s.  As of right now, I really do love the sound of my system. But the memory of those Magnepan’s kind of haunts me, now that I have the power to drive a pair of the larger models. I’m thinking in the 3 something range. Can someone with Magnepan experience tell me what characteristics they love about their Maggie’s, and also what they don’t. What I love about the Triangles:  midrange detail and musicality, not clinical, but not too warm. The “jump factor” as a reviewer put it in a review of the Signature Deltas.  What I don’t like are the aforementioned volume issues, and that they are fairly lean in bass extension. High quality bass, but not as deep as I’d like. However, and this is an important however, the addition of a subwoofer has effectively solved that issue. What makes The Magnepan sound appealing, and also not?  Not interested in electrostats. Also, please try to stick to the question.  Not really looking for commentary on the Parasound’s. I love them, even as my greener sensibilities and my electric bill don’t. 
Much thanks in advance,

Dave
dprincipato

Showing 1 response by jaytor

jaytor's avatar
jaytor
745 posts
 
I've owned four pair of Magnepans over the years - MG1s, MG2s, Tympani IVs, MG3.6r. Needless to say, there is a lot I liked about them.

For most of my years as an audiophile, I switched back and forth between Magnepans and more conventional box speakers. When I owned the Magnepans, I missed the deep bass and dynamics of box speakers. After owning the box speakers for a few years, I missed the open, airy sound stage and went back to Magnepans. And I had some pretty nice box speakers including Revel Studios and Duntech Sovereigns. 

I've finally found a speaker that delivers the strengths I liked about both types of speakers. I've built a set of GR-Research NX-Oticas with stereo triple-stack GR-Research subwoofers. These are DIY speakers, so not for everyone, but they have the open, spacious soundstage that I love so much about the Magnepans, along with excellent detail and dynamics and incredible bass. 

Obviously not everyone wants to build their own speakers, but I'd recommend looking at some of the commercial open-baffle speakers, such as from Spatial Audio, if you are looking for that kind of sound.
More to discover