[garetjax1]

Um, top of the line b&ws cost upwards of 40k... And planar speakers have a narrower sweet spot than traditional speakers.

 

[RexAeterna]

if you want things with good open soundstage look for speakers with good dome tweeters. due to the size of domes they offer the widest dispersion pattern on axis. lot of high-end speakers always uses domes. i like soft and silk dome tweeters myself cause they can offer good extension without the ringing issues of titanium/metal domes. usually silk domes cost more though. ribbons are next thing to offer great dispersion. the tweeter is the most important part of the speaker if your looking for soundstage and imaging cause it's the dispersion pattern on and off axis that counts. midrange and woofers have some dispersion properties but not as wide,deep,or high the levels of the tweeter. the tweeter believe it or not in helping the midrange and woofer's imaging on and off axis. that's why you can have vocals behind,side or anywhere in full 360 degrees. same with bass and sub-bass. you can have kick-drums all around you due to the help of the tweeter dispersion.

that's of course if it's a well design cross-over cause biggest faults in speakers is the cross-overs. the best cross-over is no cross over basically.that's why full-range drivers are considered the best with imaging. best full-range drivers around are basically headphones. but like full-range speaker drivers it all comes down to the enclosure. fostex has special cabinet designs to allow your full-range speakers to extend down to 30hz flat. i want to try and build it myself but their full-range speakers are pricey and the cab alone will cost good change cause it needs to be specially designed out of good wood.

 

[sperandeo]

Quote:

Congratulations. I went to Best Buy to listen to Neil Young Live At Massey Hall LP through a pair of B&W 800 powered by McIntosh decks and I nearly cried. If I can find an affordable stereo that sounds like that I'll sleep happy.

 
You need to do yourself a favour and listen to a pair of Magnapans. You will achieve audiophile bliss at a cost cheaper than what you would spend at a box store. Run don't walk to a dealer and just have a listen. You will then be much more careful at how you spend your hard earned dollars. 

 

[sperandeo]

 
Quote:

Are these only available through dealers, or can you order from Magnepan? I'm stumped, can't find where you would do that on their site. Thanks.

 
You need to phone them to place an order. Good luck

 

[sperandeo]

This is going to be hard to achieve with a box speaker:
 
Quote from Magnepan's web site re: MMG
 
....."The Magneplanar MMG with the equivalent surface area of 72, 1 -inch dome tweeters, and 9, 8-inch woofers does this better than speakers costing several times the MMG's modest $599/pair price tag."
 
The Magnepan's are also dipole which means you get full sound from the front and back of the speaker, which makes the soundstage incredible. I have been to many audio shows and I have never heard any speaker sound more "live" then these things. 
 
If you can't buy a pair right now, then just go listen to a pair. You won't believe your ears. 

 

[CatboyMac]

One day I'll go into IDGAF mode and splurge on some speakers. I've always been concerned with upsetting my family members (the sole reason I started buying headphones as a kid), but they always bump their **** 24/7. The other day one of them told me that they didn't know I listened to music. I probably listen to more than they do!

 

[jk6661]

Like others here, I'm one of those people for whom speakers are not a possiblity. And that used to be a shame, because I like speakers' presentation much better than headphones' presentation.

However, I no longer miss speakers. For soundstage and overall sound quality per dollar, I'd stack my LCD 2 rev. 1s, Smyth Realiser, and related equipment against just about any speaker system out there. (I've heard top-of-the-line Maggies.) My Realiser measurements were taken on a $100K+ system that was in a well-set-up but relatively bright room, and the resulting sound signature compensates nicely for the LCD 2's recessed highs. The soundstage is absolutely real, pinpoint accurate, seemingly about 15 feet in front of me, and exactly duplicates what I heard from the speakers in that $100K system. In fact, the overall sound quality is about 85 percent of that system. The only major thing missing is visceral base, but I intend to fix that with a tactile transducer.

 

[sridhar3]

Nice impressions, sperandeo.
 
I wanted to ask how you feel about the lower frequencies.  Are they represented well enough?  I'm not necessarily a basshead, but the low frequencies should still be well-represented, at least as appropriate to making the music sound natural.
 
Also, did you have a chance to hear the Mini Maggies?  I'm considering taking the plunge on those at some point, as my desktop speakers are crap (Logitech Z-5500), but I don't have enough space for full-size floorstanding models, as well as a family who feels that they're entitled to listen to TV/movies/music as loudly as they want but complain when I play anything above low volumes.

 

[Nepenthe]

You need to phone them to place an order. Good luck

They oughta mention that little tidbit, although I did find a dealer 30 miles away who carries them, so maybe that's the better route (hear them before starting the trial).
 
I think I will think about it. With no family and no shared walls (house) and good amplification (old Carver), the only thing that's giving me pause is the shape of my room. My current speakers are about 2 feet out from the wall but I don't know that I could manage much more in an aesthetically and practically pleasing way.
 
Also:
 
1. I hung a large rug on the wall behind the screen and speakers and liked what it did acoustically (not to mention aesthetically), but I take it that would be a poor choice for dipoles...
 
2. Anyone have thoughts on how dual HSU STF-1 or dual STF-2 subwoofers (i.e., two channel subs with small, quick acting drivers as opposed to massive 15s or 18s) would integrate with the MMGs?

 

[ETAHL]

Quote:

1. I hung a large rug on the wall behind the screen and speakers and liked what it did acoustically (not to mention aesthetically), but I take it that would be a poor choice for dipoles...
 
2. Anyone have thoughts on how dual HSU STF-1 or dual STF-2 subwoofers (i.e., two channel subs with small, quick acting drivers as opposed to massive 15s or 18s) would integrate with the MMGs?

I have some heavy drapes behind my MMGs and they sounds perfectly fine. You don't want too much reflections, or they can sound bright. There is provision on the MMGs to attenuate the tweeter. I had to add a 0.18 ohm resistor to bring the highs down a tad. Until they are broken in, they tend to sound bright.
 
I would skip the small subs. The MMG goes down to about 50HZ. With some room reinforcement, I am plenty happy with the bass. Top quality bass, they have imaging of bass I have never heard before from cone speakers. I have two huge DIY subs with fast 10" drivers. They add very little to the sound, mostly tactile sensation and rattling the house. I rarely use them with the MMGs the way I have it setup. In front of each MMG, I place a sound absorbing cylinder about 1/3 the height of the MMG, to block off the higher frequencies from the lower portion of the MMGs. This in effect will give the bass a boost, and also have the benefit of moving the sound stage up without messing with the stands.
 

 

[Swatcsi]

I was looking to build the ultimate speaker rig a while ago, and heard flagships or very high end speakers from a lot of great companies Martin Logan, Wilson Audio, B&W, PMC, PSB, Magnepan, and many others. The one that really stood out to me was the Magnepan 20.1's/3.7's. They were just fantastic, it blew my mind how wonderful they were but not at first. I tried them out first with a brand new CD I just bought and boy did it sound awful, but then I figured it out it was the recording, they were so revealing and unforgiving that they actually made music sound horrible, but when I tried it with some better known and recorded tracks I was stunned. Truly my favorite speaker company as of now, and all this at a great price.
 
I didn't end up purchasing them for 2 reasons, first I have not heard the Quad flagships which I really, really want to hear, as well there have been rumors about a new model at CES 2012. 
But as of now if I had to pick a speaker at any price point it would most likely be Magnepans.

 

[BoogieWoogie]

Quote:

Like others here, I'm one of those people for whom speakers are not a possiblity. And that used to be a shame, because I like speakers' presentation much better than headphones' presentation.
However, I no longer miss speakers. For soundstage and overall sound quality per dollar, I'd stack my LCD 2 rev. 1s, Smyth Realiser, and related equipment against just about any speaker system out there. (I've heard top-of-the-line Maggies.) My Realiser measurements were taken on a $100K+ system that was in a well-set-up but relatively bright room, and the resulting sound signature compensates nicely for the LCD 2's recessed highs. The soundstage is absolutely real, pinpoint accurate, seemingly about 15 feet in front of me, and exactly duplicates what I heard from the speakers in that $100K system. In fact, the overall sound quality is about 85 percent of that system. The only major thing missing is visceral base, but I intend to fix that with a tactile transducer.

I'm jealous.. I can't have big speakers too so I'm stuck with heaphones. Now my ultimate objective is to purchase the Smyth and clone an expensive room/speakers and bring it home to reproduce throw the lcd2s or stax which should be more resolving, bleh need money.
 
 

 

[dyl1dyl]

Hey, here is my input on the topic. I have had extensive listening time with the 1.7s, 3.7s and 20.1s in both showrooms, audio fairs as well as friend's homes. Recently I have been able to give the new Mini Maggies a try too. In my opinion so far, the Maggies have absolutely unsurprassed detail for their pricerange with spectacular mids and highs against similar priced speakers. The highs are generally detailed, yet smooth and unfatiguing. However, in my expeience, there is a caveat to Magneplanar speakers, that is due to a lack of an enclosure, the sound they produce vary considerably from room to room. Some of the dealers I've been to have had 20.1s set up in accoustically tuned rooms and let me tell you it was an absolutely fantastic experience, surprassing my home B and W 802D setup in some respects. Therefore, my advice would be, please try the Maggies out in your home before buying them.
 
About the Mini Maggies, I really liked them. However, true to the brand, they do require a bit more room tuning/ placement trial and error than conventional studio monitors made by other companies. They do however, generally sound very good just sitting beside your computer with the bass module below the table. In most setups I have heard, the Mini Maggies surprass the LCD-3s in treble extension and detail, yet retain the smoothness and unfatiguing traits of the LCD-3s. However, I find the bass extension and texture to be severely poorer than the LCD-3s which imo are absolutely fabulous, capable of competing with speakers in excess of 50k in the bass region. In terms of midrange, I love the LCD-3s rather sultry, rich presentation. However, the Mini Maggies soundsage and clarity in the midrange is just phenomenal, easily matching system's costing 5-10 times more. The one thing the Maggies do lack though is soundstage height which is rather poor but understandable considering their small size. On the whole though, I prefer the Mini Maggies, largely due to their soundstage which is quite outstanding. However, in the end, I decided to purchase the LCD-3s for bedroom use. Why? The main reason was sweet spot. I tend to like to move around when I work/read books/etc. With the Mini Maggies, the sound deteriorates tremendously when one steps out of the sweet spot. Soundstage becomes horrible, image height dissapears completely and the midrange and treble are much less coherent. Therefore, I would strongly urge any potential buyers considering a Mini Maggie against a headphone to ask themself, am I going to be mainly sitting in one spot when I use the audio setup? If the answer is yes, get the Maggies, if its no then a pair of headphones like the LCD-3s would suit the user better.

 

[DarknightDK]

Great advice there.

 

[jeffreyfranz]

Sorry about your environmental issues, but I love your taste in music. +1
 
Quote:

I love speakers, but, in my current form of living, I can not have loud bass, and without bass, my music just sucks. My subwoofer is a standard, passive, cheap Sony, and it still makes the floors and walls boom. And Night mode on my Receiver is Bleh for music. People like to complain about everything here and someone already complained about me playing The Beatles's HELP! (in Mono. BTW) between 8 and 10 AM. The security guard, who I know and is friendly with me, asked me turn it down. And already I thought it WAS at a very good level in the morning. The people below me on 5th floor were complaining. So after that, I began listening to my headphones more. Makes sense to invest big $$$ anyway since I am really a night person. I can get away with watching Blu-rays in the Afternoon because Action Movies are not loud and banging and pounding all the time, unlike most songs.
 
Headphones are private, engaging, and can be more personal with your favorite music than speakers.