Any Present Magnepan 3.7i owner using them in a smaller listening space...


I am contemplating the purchase of the 3.7i's however I have a smaller listening space.  My space is approx. 10-ft in width by approx.14-ft depth (the space is open behind the listening position).  The most distance I could put the 3.7i's out from the front-wall would be about 3-ft.  If any of you 3.7i owners are working with a smaller listening space, can you offer some recommendations as to how you got your speaker placement to work ?  As I understand it, Maggies in general need to be placed out notably from the front wall to give them room to "breathe".  

Any experience or recommendations would help me in deciding to purchase or go another route.  Thanks !  

128x128liquidsound

Hi, I live in the Netherlands so.. small houses, small rooms.

I have had magnepan 3.7i’s in my room which is 11x17ft.

Long story short. They were truely amazing. The bass and the imaging was of the charts. The depth of the image, the natural sound of instruments and the voices. Oh my the voices were just so beautiful. That ribbon is truely something special.

I was also worried about my space being too small but after a long research and asking alot of questions I made the move and bought them. Couldn’t be happier.

That is before the virus struck again and now my current set up is Analysis Audio the Epsilons. Oh my.. everything the 3.7i does but then better, in all but one aspect. The bass on the 3.7i’s is just a tad cleaner but.. Much and I mean much less more in balance with the rest of the frequency spectrum. The bass on the Analysis is exceptional. Just a tad less clinical. Which is more a question of taste I believe. The Epsilons are just (sorry for the cliché part) in every way much more musical and involving sounding.

I think regarding speaker vs room size there is not always a clear answer. Sometimes it just works and sometimes not.

Best,

Joost

Thanks to all of you who have contributed to this conversation.  For those who have them in smaller rooms or have heard them in such, this gives me hope that they might work in my small listening space.  I believe in order to satisfy my curiosity on the 3.7i's, I will find a dealer or someone in the central Forida area where I can hear these speakers in a small room with similar dimensions to mine.  I've heard the 3.7i's in a couple of dealers when I lived in No. Virginia and they sounded pretty amazing, even with mid-fi electronics, however they were in rooms notably larger than mine.  Yes...  The ribbon tweeter is truly amazing.  Vocals sound very real and micro-detailed and sound stage is also very good.  Thanks again !  John  

I have a 12x15 room with the 1.7s The tweeters are on the inside at 3ft and other side of speaker from front wall is 4ft. So properly placed you get awesome imaging. Make sure to use magnerisers too. Stock stands are just ok. Also you need a good amplifier with current so you can sit back and enjoy.

I own 3.6 Maggies and have had the in 3 very different rooms due to moving over the past 17 years.  They can work in your room, but the universal truth about Maggies is have more than enough power (current), install Mye stands or simikiar and treat your room with diffusers behind them.

Placement and addition room treatments will fine tune the room and the Maggie magic can be realized.  I cannot emphasize enough that having substantial power makes them sing.  I have been using MC501s, and the move up from lesser power (300 woc into 4 ohms) was more than noticeable. 
Good luck on your journey!!

Hi All... Great suggestions and recommendations.  I know having enough clean quality power is really important especially with amplifiers that are able to drive current.  I'm also big on room treatments and with the right combination of proper attenuation and diffusion, the room can improve the listening experience tremendously.  In my opinion room treatments are a necessity to get the best sound from your system.