Which speaker has the biggest sound stage?


I tried out a Magnepan 1.7 a couple months ago, and I am a bit shock by the sound stage of it. It just feel live music. Although the bass is a bit lacking, I really like the "be there" feeling.

So, my question is, does all planar speaker (electrostatic, ribbon ... ) have such big sound stage? And with different brands and models, which one has biggest sound stage?

Specifically for Magnepan, the 3.6 is about $1000 more than 1.6. What are the major differences? and is it worth the extra money?
gte357s

Showing 1 response by mapman

In a large enough room with enough open space behind, larger mbls, 111 or 101 have the biggest that is also very accurately defined as well that I have heard recently.

Omnidirectional speakers in general are capable of delivering the biggest sound stage that is also very well defined, but only when placed properly in suitably large rooms.

OHM Walsh speakers are pseudo-omni and physically attenuated in the wall facing directions by design in order to allow them to function better in most people's rooms. That limits soundstage depth somewhat but works out better in the end for most.

You can custom order them to be fully omni, at least up to 8Kzh or so, the range of the Walsh style driver used. I would expect this to deepen the soundstage potential if set up suitably in a suitable room, but have never tried this.

Bipolar speakers like Maggies also emit a lot of sound to the rear of the speaker. In a suitable setup in the right room, these also can have a very large and deep soundstage.