MMGs
My Dear Khythyn: "Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy." GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE, novelist |
I have MMGs in a similar-sized room. I made oak stands that raise them 5 1/2" off the ground with adjustable feet to tilt them back just a hair if desired and to counter uneven flooring. I followed Magnepan’s setup instructions and tweaked a bit from there: toed in a bit but not on a line directly to critical listening spot - not that far; tweeters on the inside, distance between inside of each speaker stand is 6 1/2 feet, inside edge of speaker out about 25" from back wall (all the room I can afford). I matched them with a Rythmik FG12 sub (a respectably fast, musical sub that marries well with the Maggies) that is inboard a few inches of the left speaker. I drive them with a Hafler DH220 with full Musical Concepts mod, and it provides plenty of power. SUPREMELY better sounding than the Adcom GFA6000 I was driving them with, and plenty of power. Lastly, on a whim, I recently made up some DIY speaker cables using 6moons "White Lightning Moonshine" recipe. http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/whitelightning/moonshine.html I was utterly blown away by the sonic difference (I was using straight 16 awg speaker wire). Made up the cables and ran the bare wire into the speaker terminals. You can greatly improve the sound of your MMGs without spending into the thousands. My biggest difference was the Hafler amp upgrade, and that cost me less than $500. For the MMGs............it’s plenty. However, a good, fast and musical sub crossed over around 50-60 Hz is pretty much a requirement to get the most out of them, IMO. Luck. |
Speaking of Brystons, I found and purchased a pair of 7B-ST monoblocks locally and shipped them to my brother in California last week to use with his 1.5QRs. I tried them with my MMGs (and my ML Aerius i) for a couple of days before shipping them. They definitely woke them both up. The bass extension was immediate and astounding, especially with the MLs but the amps also showed how low and tight the bass could get on the MMG. One thing I found common in both speakers was the higher the volume the more profound was the difference with these amps. Everything was better with higher power with the bass being most noticeable but the instruments stayed separate as well. Just to mention this is all compared with my current pair of McIntosh MC2200 monoblock amps driving my MLs. Good high power is a must. |
