Magneplanar 1.7s to Recruit New Audiophile?

I have had 4 pairs of Magneplanars in the last 30 years or so, and on reflection, Amandarae makes a good point! But to me, the biggest struggle has always been space and power, not associated gear.

Nonetheless, they have a special magic that no other speakers I have ever experienced can match.

I have not tried them for home theatre, but always thought they would be very good and especially immersive for home theatre, particularly with the dipole aspect for the rear or surround channels, as pointed out by Magfan.

As Magneplanar has been one of the most enduring brands in all of high end, it seems to always stir up the "haters"....

Further to the original reason for this thread, I am thinking a well set up, adequately powered pair of 1.7s, with or without stands, subs, or exotic cables, should put a smile on a non audiophile's face, who would otherwise end up with the usual multi room, multi channel garbage as peddled by countless "independent" and/or "custom" installers undoubtedly known to the architects, designers and/or chattering wives in his high priced zip code.

Thank you,

I think your system is right on target with two exceptions:

1) I think the Benchmark is very harsh, and bright, especially with revealing speakers with Maggies. I would try DAC's from MHDT (Havana) or Eastern Electric instead.

2) I like the Wyred4Sound amps better than the Oddessey. To my ear they have much more depth and warmth.

If you are going to add additional surround sound speakers to the Magnepan 1.7's, the system could be difficult to set up properly as setting up just the 1.7's properly won't be easy especially if your room isn't large enough. For home theater you could add a subwoofer. The EAD theatermaster/powermaster has the advantage of plenty of power for your 1.7's as well as any other speakers you add later on with the addition of automatic room set up calibration for multiple speakers (and I believe a built in crossover for subwoofers). If interested, google EAD or ask the seller or call noble electronics. If you are are careful, you could spend $7-10,000 for near mint used equipment and get a $30,000 system or spend $10,000 on new equipment and have it worth $5,000 a year from now. My advice is to let someone else pay for the depreciation. I love magnepans but would be cautious about using them for surround sound unless you have a large room. You might be better with just 2 front speakers and sub and perhaps trying a center channel later etc.

Macdadtexas,

Thanks and yes, I have heard some accuse the Benchmark of being "bright" or "clinical" but others think its pretty good.

Mainly, it seems like a good utility device given PC, DVD, HDTV etc. which also elminates the need for a dedicated preamp?

Perhaps the Eastern Electric can function that way, too?

Having heard good things about the sound, the MHDT looks pretty homemade to me and not sure I could ever get comfortable with the 1970's smoked plastic (?) finish.

Might look at home in a car stereo for a pimp my ride style custom van renovation.

As an aside, I am always curious why the first Google hit for both of these - and it seems every other quirky brand recommended on Audiogon - is enjoythemusic.com, but I will try to keep an open mind.

The MHDT, well in person, does not look home made. It sounds fantastic, and I tried many.

I think you will find many, many, many Benchmark comments where they think it's bright, mainly because it really is.

With a warm system, it would work very well I am sure.

I also loved the Bryston BDA-1 when I owned it, and have heard the Wyred4Sound DAC2 recently, and thought it sounded stellar as well.