Re: toe-in, I’m a firm believer in following Magnepan’s instructions on the matter, which is simply to make sure the tweeter side is no closer to your head than the woofer side. Whether you go with tweeters-in or tweeters-out is personal preference.
On my .7s I started with tweeters-in, to maximize focus in the soundstage, and I thought it was fabulous, and didn’t want to change for fear of diffusing that image. My brother (who has 20.7s and who’s experimented more with placement than I’ll ever do) convinced me to try them on the outside, and I was surprised to hear the soundstage didn’t lose any focus, but just increased in size. What really iced the cake for me, my system and my room, was keeping that tweeter side farther away like the company said to do. I settled on a difference of one inch, measured at the edges of the speaker with a laser. Doing that means that the convergence point of the apparent “aim” of the speakers will be behind the listening position (if the tweeters are out) or in front of it (if the tweeters are in).
At least that’s been my experience with my .7s. I don’t recall that bit of information being included in the instructions with my old MG1s that I got in 1978. Those I just eyeballed aim at the listening chair. It was a simpler time.
I remember to have had Maggies much more toe’d out than I would do with any conventional speaker. I guess the reason is, that the backwards radiation of the speaker can harm soundstaging in case it directs towards corners, so that reflections get confused by multi-wall bounce compared to just back wall bounce if toe’d more parallel to the back wall.
Update to the below post. I ended up placing the tweeters inward and must say it appears to work better in my room. My room is 10x12 feet with low ceilings (7 feet in the center which taper down on the sides) as it was an attic room I had remodeled with flooring and drywall. My wife is much happier with this setup and it is my space to do as I want. The LRS setup properly easily beat speakers 3-4 times its price, just my opinion. Don’t know when I’ll rotate the Dynaudio S40s back into service.
Ok, I have about 100hrs on them now. They are amazing, an incredible value, even at this point that’s obvious. To compare them to the Aria 948’s is almost unfair but it’s what I have. They absolutely need sub reinforcement where the Arias would be acceptable without it. They at this point don’t disappear the way the Focals do, nor do they cast as wide a soundstage. They do cast a depth of soundstage that, at least with my equipment, in my room, exceeds the Focals a bit. I guess being planar that’s an effect. I will give them another 100hrs before talking about their full sonic character other than to say I don’t feel anything is missing. If forced to choose, at this point, I keep the Focals. Since I am not forced they are staying in the house. It’ll be nice to be able to swap in and out with the Arias when the mood hits me or when I am showing them to visitors (In the event visitors are ever allowed in).
Wonderful insight aiki…great comparo between the 2 …
I know you have said this elsewhere, but which amps
are you driving your speakers with? From what I understand
is that the Maggies require more power to sound their best,
more so than our 948s…the maggies may need a step up in power
to sound their best…
So much appreciate your early impressions…please do keep us
posted as your LRS keep burning in…with fresh insights you
gain with time…
Not sure about active crossover, with modern subs and DSP and Parametric EQ it is so easy to mate them it may be unnecessary. Or it may be a more elegant solution that will make the process even more seamless. Sorry for the non answer, but I am no expert and defer to anyone more knowledgable on the matter.
Someone in one of the Maggie Facebook groups posted a YouTube video of a guy demonstrating how important active crossovers were when using subs with Maggies, and I’ll admit it was impressive in the way it kept the ‘Pans from getting all wonky on all this new pop music with overemphasized ultra low frequency synthetically produced bass tones, like in Billie Eilish’s stuff. I was thinking I needed to get something like that for my .7/Hsu setup, but stopped when I realized I never listen to that kind of music.
Yeah, I think that’s it. When I realized literally nothing I listen to has that kind of artificial bass content, I stopped worrying about it. The sub’s low pass filter is all I need.
On OCD’s Ella Vos track, White Noise ("…we see through the stars…"), the vibration he hears is not caused by the Maggies’ bass panels vibrating uncontrollably, it’s actually in the recording.
For fun, I like to research potential amp upgrades for the LRS. Stumbled across a December 2020 Herb Reichert Stereophile review of the new Marantz Model 30 integrated. Class D (Hypex NC500), 200 wpc into 4 ohms. Are Marantz amps known to be able to drive Maggies? The Model 30 has piqued my interest because of the article. It’s made in Japan, and instead of a DAC, has a phono stage - which is great for me because I use an outboard DAC. It can be run as an integrated, or as a preamp only (disables the power amp side), or as a power amp only (disables the preamp side), has HT bypass - looks amazing to me, and only costs $2600.
My sights have been set on the $4000 Hegel H190. Is Herb prone to delusional exaggeration? Could the Marantz Model 30 be a good match for the LRS? Here’s a quote form the article:
"I’d been enjoying the Marantz Model 30 with every speaker I tried, including the 15 ohm Falcons, but with the $1400/pair Magnepan .7 quasi-ribbon panel speakers, my heart started pounding in my chest and heart emojis spewed forth into the room. The Model 30’s Hypex-based amplifier seemed to come alive with the 4 ohm Magnepan load. Stravinsky Conducts Histoire Du Soldat Suite (LP, Columbia MS 7093), traced by the humble Zu Denon moving coil, had me laughing, muttering “oh my God,” shaking my head, thinking, if this is how an approximately $6k hi-fi sounds, who needs more?
The Maggie-Marantz combo made sound images that were tall and precisely mapped. It was pure stay-up-late pleasure to gaze into their holographic enticements. Listening to Neil Young’s soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch’s film Dead Man (16/44.1 FLAC, Vapor Records/Qobuz), the Marantz Model 30 powering the .7 Magnepan panels took me further and more clearly into the dark campfire conversations of William Blake (Johnny Depp) and Nobody (Gary Farmer) than I had ever been before. The Marantz and Maggie .7 combo pulled out shovelsful of previously hidden subtleties.
I believe you’d have to spend at least $10k more to beat the LSD detail, CinemaScope soundstage, Technicolor tone, and nuanced dynamics of the Marantz integrated driving the .7 Magnepans.
The Marantz Model 30 is clearly a speaker-friendly amplifier."
Herb gushed similarly about the $1600 Rogue Audio Sphinx V3 with his Magnepans. And I got one based on his review.
He wasn’t wrong in that case, I’ll admit. I was able to get it plenty loud in my room with the Sphinx.
But a symptom of this disease I have is browsing craigslist and US Audio Mart when I don’t need anything. Another symptom is assuming my life won’t be complete until I buy what I find.
So, I replaced the capable Sphinx with some Bel Canto gear (PRe3 and Ref500M monos) that really is amazing with the Magnepans.
And I’m sure tomorrow I’ll post that I replaced the capable Bel Canto stuff with some other stuff that really is even more amazing.
I think I’m relatively immune. I describe my system as like that old axe that’s been in the family for generations, and is all original except for the head and the handle.
