I have heard almost all the GoldenEar stereo speakers plus their best soundbar and some of their subs. I’ve also heard the Magneplanar 1.7, 3.7, and 20.7. I have owned the 1.7 since Nov. 2013 and picked them in a close audition over the GoldenEar Triton 7s.
What I noted about the GoldenEars was not a lack of involvement, but rather how their folded ribbon tweeter is free of inertia artifacts--no ringing or overshoot, simply sweet fast treble with great extension.
I also noticed with the Triton 7 that their passive radiator augmented bass overloaded the audition rooms easily. Ironically, the active Tritons could have done better in that situation because the bass can be turned down to match the room loading. For the passive Triton 5 and 7, they have to be better matched to the room size and dimensions, and may well need bass traps to tame that 100 Hz hump that seems to form so easily with many speakers in many rooms.
Anyway, I chose the Magenplanar 1.7 because it has this very natural presentation devoid of boxy artifacts, doesn’t have that room resonance hump, (which I suspect is because the dipole pattern cancels that resonance). And they are magical on inner detail, revealing vocal harmonies obscured my many speakers. The thing that sold me is how my wife noticed how they articulated the eight vocal parts in Mendelssohn’s cantato, "Elijah."
There is *so* much I like about the Maggies: the lack of boxy coloration, the effortlessness, the way sound and images hang in 3D space, inner detail, and the way they scale up and down with the music and ensemble size. There’s something magical about combining a line source with lots of radiating area. Plus the Maggie diaphragm weighs less than the air it’s moving.
I really don’t think the Magneplanars are *that* demanding of amplification; it just has to be the *right* amplification. The Absolute Sound’s rave reviews of the 1.7 were done with a Rogue Cronus Magnum with the internal jumpers set to 4 ohm output. My auditions were powered by a $1500 NAD C 376BEE integrated amp and it was a *really* good combination. It’s also reputed to have a good phono preamp. I'll admit I wouldn't mind a 250 wpc Bryston if I could afford it, but I really can't complain about my MAGI hand-wired tube preamps and vintage Perreaux PMF1150B power amp.
Speaking of... I particularly love the way my 1.7s caress my LPs. They invariably put a smile on my face or bring me to tears, or feel hopeful and triumphant--whatever the music calls for. Tone quality and timbre are spot-on, and the radiating pattern fills the room like live music.
To be fair, I *do* use a couple of small, very fast subwoofers to fill out the 35-50 Hz. section. A Magneplanar DWM panel with a pair of .7s would probably be about perfect.
Although the frequency range of the .7s would be about the same as a 6" 2-way mini-monitor, the .7s would have an advantage in scaling up and down--from solo to full orchestra--over most mini-monitors, and the DWM is a made-to-order solution to getting more and lower bass extension to properly energize the listening are.
What I noted about the GoldenEars was not a lack of involvement, but rather how their folded ribbon tweeter is free of inertia artifacts--no ringing or overshoot, simply sweet fast treble with great extension.
I also noticed with the Triton 7 that their passive radiator augmented bass overloaded the audition rooms easily. Ironically, the active Tritons could have done better in that situation because the bass can be turned down to match the room loading. For the passive Triton 5 and 7, they have to be better matched to the room size and dimensions, and may well need bass traps to tame that 100 Hz hump that seems to form so easily with many speakers in many rooms.
Anyway, I chose the Magenplanar 1.7 because it has this very natural presentation devoid of boxy artifacts, doesn’t have that room resonance hump, (which I suspect is because the dipole pattern cancels that resonance). And they are magical on inner detail, revealing vocal harmonies obscured my many speakers. The thing that sold me is how my wife noticed how they articulated the eight vocal parts in Mendelssohn’s cantato, "Elijah."
There is *so* much I like about the Maggies: the lack of boxy coloration, the effortlessness, the way sound and images hang in 3D space, inner detail, and the way they scale up and down with the music and ensemble size. There’s something magical about combining a line source with lots of radiating area. Plus the Maggie diaphragm weighs less than the air it’s moving.
I really don’t think the Magneplanars are *that* demanding of amplification; it just has to be the *right* amplification. The Absolute Sound’s rave reviews of the 1.7 were done with a Rogue Cronus Magnum with the internal jumpers set to 4 ohm output. My auditions were powered by a $1500 NAD C 376BEE integrated amp and it was a *really* good combination. It’s also reputed to have a good phono preamp. I'll admit I wouldn't mind a 250 wpc Bryston if I could afford it, but I really can't complain about my MAGI hand-wired tube preamps and vintage Perreaux PMF1150B power amp.
Speaking of... I particularly love the way my 1.7s caress my LPs. They invariably put a smile on my face or bring me to tears, or feel hopeful and triumphant--whatever the music calls for. Tone quality and timbre are spot-on, and the radiating pattern fills the room like live music.
To be fair, I *do* use a couple of small, very fast subwoofers to fill out the 35-50 Hz. section. A Magneplanar DWM panel with a pair of .7s would probably be about perfect.
Although the frequency range of the .7s would be about the same as a 6" 2-way mini-monitor, the .7s would have an advantage in scaling up and down--from solo to full orchestra--over most mini-monitors, and the DWM is a made-to-order solution to getting more and lower bass extension to properly energize the listening are.