Maggie 1.7i's lack detail. Ideas?
Hi,
In about 1979 I had a roommate who had a pair of Magnapan's, an amp, pre-amp (at least one of which was NAD, and a fairly high quality turntable. I was shocked and amazed about the feeling the singers were present in the room with me. The accuracy and detail of the sound.
Fast forward 40 years and I purchase a barely used 1.7is. I have a new Marantz NR1200. A 15 yo BK EX-440 Sonata (350WPC @ 4 ohms), and optical bit stream out Sony DVD player. I use optical cable between the DVD player and NR1200. I have fairly high quality cables between the pre-out of the NR1200 and the EX-440. I have somewhat high gauge copper stranded cable, about 6', between the EX-440 and the speakers.
The sound is not bad but very much lacking the detail and immediacy I remember in the highs and mid-range. A great disappointment. My question is what the most likely culprit?
Some possibilities:
1. My hearing has declined.
2. I've a romanticized memory of the sound quality.
3. What I was hearing was the mushrooms.
4. The speakers my roommate had were a bit wider. Maybe more like the 3.7s. Maybe 40 year old 3.7s are just that much better than current 1.7is.
5. Stranded wire cables.
6. Turntable that much better than CD.
7. ????
hartf36: my bad. It is a B&K EX442 Sonata (not 440). Thanks for the specific experience with the amp speaker combo.thanks for the perspective jji666. I was hoping for a cheap fix :-( Thanks to everyone for all of the input. i hate to do it but I think the Marantz NR1200 has to go. I really like that it accepts all of the inputs I need. I also liked the price tag. But I am going to bite the bullet and get a better DAC and preamp because my disappointment is killing me. |
Magnepans without the true-ribbon tweeters, such as your 1.7is, do lack some detail in the highs. Doesn’t matter what amp you pair with them, they will always lack some amount of treble detail compared to good dynamic cone speakers. Even when paired with the most transparent amplification in existence they will lack some detail, relatively speaking.
It’s most likely that your recollection of those older Maggies is based on their open, effortless soundstaging and imaging. That trait is what tricks the uninitiated into believing they’re more detailed than they are in reality. Also, they are very sensitive to toe-angle and can sound very bright if not positioned correctly, which probably also accounts for some of the perceived detail. Don’t get me wrong. I love my Maggies. I own the .7s and previously owned the 1.7is. They’re great speakers but only in the context of their strengths (all speakers under ~$20K/pair have strengths and weaknesses). Those strengths are open/effortless scale and imaging, and midrange nuance unsurpassed by nearly any cone driver. They do have excellent midrange detail, just not so much in the highs. The true ribbon 3.7is have greater detail but lack the dynamic balance and imaging precision of my .7s. The LRSs are allegedly more detailed than the .7s. The 1.7is I owned were sorely lacking in midbass impact. So it seems to me that different Maggie models have different deficiencies, or strengths rather. Anyhow, don’t go chasing detail that will never come. If you want Magnepan-like openness in conjunction with great detail, get a high quality coaxial monitor speaker with a stout cabinet (LS 50 Meta for example) and use subs to augment the bass. Invariably, you’ll encounter some who will claim that Maggies are as detailed as any speaker when powered properly. I’d question the experience level of those who postulate such. My bet is they haven’t heard a good beryllium dome or a RAAL tweeter. That or maybe they’ve suffered too much hearing damage over the years. |
Well I have my Focal Electra 1007 BEs sitting right next to my rebuilt Maggies. I find the Maggies have plenty of detail, just not quite the absolute forward quality of the Focals. My Maggies are actively biamped with a Krell on top and a Classe on the bottom...take out those 25 year old crossovers and they sing like birds. As for lack of punch, I have a pair of DWM woofers to enhance as well as a swarm of subs, but frankly I'll often have most of that off, thinking it's on, because the bass from the Maggies is quite pleasing. Agreed it's best to have at least one sub on all the time - RELs are a perfect mate for Maggies. I'd keep extolling the virtues but I have to head to the ear doctor for an upgrade in my hearing aids. What honey? That's tomorrow? I can't hear you? What?
|
