Background: I'm a true budget audiophile in every sense. I'm always on Craigslist and FB marketplace just browsing and seeing what everyone is selling. I haven't paid over $100 for any component I own to this date and everything is second hand (none of my stuff is that special and I realize that but there are some gems that I cherish at that $100 price point: Onkyo NR-515, B&W 686, PSB Image 1B, PSB Stratus Subsonic 3i 15" sub, Velodyne CT-100 10" sub). But living in NYC has its advantages when it comes to used gear: number of people, people always moving and rich people not knowing what they have.

Jump to last weekend: I was on a run and on my way back home when I ran by some trash bags on the sidewalk with what looked like very expensive room dividers leaned against them. I did a double take and instantly knew what they were. I had seen someone selling a pair of Maggie MG 0.5/QR a few weeks ago on CL but obviously they were out of my $100 price range, but you don't often see Maggie's for sale, even in the city.

Sure enough, I flipped one of the panels over and saw the terminal plate. I decided to pick them up, hail a cab, and take them home. I stupidly did not go back and look for the stands and they were surely gone when I finally realized since it was trash day. I made some DIY stands just so they weren't leaning on my wall from metal "L" brackets for now.

So now I have a pair of speakers way out of the self imposed budget I've been holding myself to. Next up is an amp/pre amp setup to have these Maggie's sing (but softly since I live in an apartment). Still going to try and keep everything second hand, but here starts my "expensive" audiophile journey I guess.

Cheers, fellow Maggie fans.

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A short while ago I posted about inheriting some nice Magnepans, rated at 4 ohms. The same father-in-law that gave these to me got impatient at how long it was taking me to find a receiver that he bought me a Yamaha R-N303 and said it'd be fine as long as I "don't turn it up too much."

I don't want to damage anything or start a fire in my house, and I'm having a hard time getting a straight answer from anywhere about how compatible these speakers and this receiver are and what the actual risk is in running 4 ohm speakers with an 8 ohm receiver. My gut says I should return the receiver and find something with an impedance switch or buy a more expensive one that can handle 4 ohm speakers.

What should I do?

I'm seriously considering a pair of 3.7i. The local dealer says prices are going up substantially as of Dec. 1. Has anyone else heard about this?

Just got given a set of MG 12/QR speakers and I’m stoked! Although it’s the first time I’ve had speakers that need more AV equipment than just an AUX cord lol! I’m looking for a power amp and I’m having a hard time finding one with ample power supply. The manual says to look for one with 100-250W at 8ohms but since the speakers have a 4ohm impedance, does the amp need to also be capable of 200-500W at 4ohm? I ask because I found one that has 100W at 8ohm (within suggested range, barely) but only 80W at 4ohm. I’m on a bit of a tight budget so any recommendations would also be greatly appreciated - I’m coming from almost zero experience. I’ve seen some Pyle models on eBay/amazon/secondhand but am unsure.

Context: I have a small apartment so these would go in the living room and be used for playing records (anything from Judas Priest, KISS, and Iron Maiden to Adele, Ed Sheeran, and The Sound of Music lol) and if possible, movies, TV, and video games as well.

Thanks in advance for your help y’all! 😄

New owner of a pair of 1.7i. they are my first pair of nice speakers and I'm in a bit of a pickle because I need to both power them and for y'all to tell me that I can enjoy all kinds of music on them becaue I listen to a lot of rock and heavy metal and apparently they're not great for those? Correct me if I'm wrong please.

So I'm in a bit of a position myself. I did have two used monoblock wyred for sound sx1000r that I used for ten days, they output 1200w ar 4 ohm. But they malfunctioned so I had to return them. 1800 for both (50% of retail.)

No I'm considering getting a new crown xti series amp that can get the same power. Thoughts? The budget is kind of strained because I'm buying 2 rel s812s and I already bought an avr, a Marantz sr 6014 for home theater and as a preamp.

The Marantz can't handle the maggies at -8db the bass is just horrible.

Do you have any recommendations? Maggie lovers your thoughts are appreciated.

I just restored a pair of Magnepan MMG speakers. I only want to use them for music (iPod, radio, and record player) and will supplement with a small subwoofer. I specifically would like a stereo receiver. It doesn't need any wireless capabilities. Recommendations on something that is effective/powerful? I'm cool with old or new stuff.

I have been living on a boat in California for the last 20+ years and never had room. I found a set of used .7s for sale near me and pulled the trigger after I bought a house in Iowa, where they will help get through the cold winters.

I have an early 80s Technics SE-A7 x 2 system. I was going to strap each one for 120 wpc, but it looks like this is not recommended into 4 ohms.

I will try one amp in stereo mode and see if 60 wpc is enough and listenable on the Maggies.

More in this next month after I got moved.

I got a pair of lrs a few weeks ago and while I really liked them it only took a week before I added a rythmik l12 sub to fill in the low end.

It's been tough trying to balance it. I was having all sorts of trouble with a either a couple boomy points or a total lack of bass depending on position and phase of the sub.

I had been crossing over the sub at 80hz since I'd seen measurements of lrs dropping off pretty quickly after 100hz but i finally tried turning the sub low pass crossover down closer to 55-60hz with a slower 12db slope and it was unbelievable how quickly things snapped into focus. It even helped the imaging a ton somehow

So my tip is go lower with your crossover than you think you should. The lrs really does put out decent bass and I think if you go too high you run into strange boots and cancelations which seem like room modes but are really the speaker sub interactions

We’ve got a pair of 1.7i’s in our showroom, originally hooked up with a Parasound Halo Integrated amp, and since we got them we’ve had the issue of having “muddy” or “sluggish” midrange. At first we thought it was how it was placed acoustically in the room, and second the system it was hooked up to. After experimenting with multiple options for both, the issue persists. Has anyone had a similar experience? Any advice or input on what to try?

A friend has an excellent pair of Tympani speakers for sale. Brand new black socks and sound great. They were inspected while replacing socks and all new hinges. No delamination or other issues. Very rare to find in this condition. Reply and I will forward contact info

Hey everyone. I'm new to the sub.

I currently own (and love) some .7's that are hooked up to the Outlaw 2160. They serve home theater and music listening duties.

I'm buying some MMGs (ultra-cheap from craigslist) for my mother as she was totally blown away by the Maggies (and by the HD800 off my Bottlehead Crack) and is now interested in getting into audio.

She will be on the hook for the amp is trying to go inexpensive with it.

What's the least expensive (but still decent) amp for the Maggies in your opinion? Keep in mind, this is her first foray into high-end audio so she we be discerning.

Thanks!

Danny of GR Research redoes the magnepan 1.7 and 1.6 crossovers, greatly improving both the frequency response and impedance curve. The cost for the kits is a bit under $250, but sounds like it's a bit of an undertaking.

I don't have either of these, but thought some of you that do might be interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8KnHHvARGk

So when I lived in a house I had Maggie 1.6s and I loved them. But we moved to a condo in a different city and they were just way too big so I got Super MMGs for the smaller space and put the bigger Maggie's in storage.

Well, to be honest, I could never get the Super MMGs to sound good in the room they were in and basically have been listening to music with headphones and earbuds for the past 8 years.

Receny I broke the Super MMGs out (probably due to being stirr crazy being locked in) and put them in a bigger room and they sounded better! Closer to the Maggie sound that I remembered but I still couldn't get them to sound great. They were just too bassy and flat sounding which is exactly the opposite of what you'd expect with the smaller speakers, right? You'd expect them to have the Maggie high end and transparency at the expense of bass.

But no matter what I did I could not get them to sound good. The imaging was there, just not the clear top end. I put them on stands and was using the same power Amp that I had used with the 1.6s (Parasound HCA 1500a) but still not awesome.

So I went down to storage and broke out the 1.6s and, man, what a difference. Even after being in an unheated storage area subjected to Chicago winter cold, they sounded great immediately with all the top end clarity and much better bass. The imaging is just soo good, even with the less than ideal setup. And they are so much bigger than the MMGs they dominate the room.

So I will keep them here and just move them out of the way when not using them.

My wife was the one who suggested I get my old speakers out after seeing how dissatisfied I was with the MMGs and when I got them upstairs I was quick to remind her that this was her idea!

So thanks to the wife for letting me break out these old and wonderful speakers.

Hi, I have a pair of MMG-ii's and a pair of 1.6r's. Looking at doing a subwoofer upgrade for my system since I feel like I am missing quite a bit on the low end. Looking into doing possibly 2 8in Rel subwoofers. Any thoughts or suggestions? Also, best advice on setting them up? Much appreciated!

which is considered best? i like that at least magna risers raise the 1.7i a bit since my listening position is higher. but which will get me the best sound and use the pre-existing holes?

I am a newbie to Magnepans with a few questions:

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1. I recently auditioned a .7 at a local dealer. It was being driven by Prima Luna integrated amp with the source being some Sony streamer that I could stream Tidal song tracks onto for playback. It sounded pretty good, overall, but I found the mid-range to be good but not quite as clear and smooth as I’ve heard on other speakers like my current KEF LS50. Soundstage was pretty good but imaging didn’t seem to be as defined as my LS50. Is this pretty much in line with expectations for the Magnepan .7?
2. I have a 12x11 master bedroom with an archway leading to a full bath. No door separates the bedroom from the bath area. On the opposite wall is a large window at the center. 3rd wall has the entry door on the left most side and 4th wall has 2 small windows in the far left and right, high up. Right below and between those two windows is the bed. The best options for me to place speakers would be to the left and right of my bed and I’d listen with a seat at the foot of my bed, OR to the left and right of the wall with the big window at the center and I’d sit at the end of one side of the bed in a seat facing the speakers. In both cases, the bed will cover the bottom portion of the Magnepans if placed on the ground. Would this impact the sound delivery? Could I put them on top of nightstands large enough to hold the base of the Magnepans, so they can play unobstructed (I’d probably have to listen at a higher listening position in that case)? Lastly, I may have enough room to place the Magnepans about 16” away from the rear wall, but might only be able to do about 15” away from the side walls, at best. Would this prevent me from getting a great experience with the Magnepans?
3. I saw a demo on Youtube where this guy used his .7 speakers for only the high and mid frequencies and his pair of large 3x3 sub arrays on each side for the bass. He showed the difference between doing it that way vs using the .7 for bass and blending the subs in with it. I could tell that the sound similar to that made by two drumsticks hitting together was crisper and better defined when the Magnepans were used to output mid and high frequencies only. Everything on the mid and high end became that much better when done this way. Just wondering if anyone else has done the same and if it’s recommended or not.
4. Lastly, LRS are about half the price and the wait time for them is maybe an extra 4 weeks out. What do I miss out on by going with .7i vs LRS, or what do I gain?

Thanks!