Man, what a GREAT pair of speakers

Those that took a peek at my Grassroots Home Theater Build know that I have Magnepan speakers instead of conventional cone drivers. I've had a pair before and loved them. Well, last night I was doing some tweaking with the receiver and, naturally, when I was done I pushed them harder than normal listening levels. I got 100 dB out of them, recorded at about 10 feet!!

The thing that impressed me wasn't so much the sound level that I had, it's not hard to get 100 dB out of speakers. It was the quality! And that I think they could have kept putting out that level for months on end with no complaint. At 100 dB they weren't shrill (even though the piece I was listening to was pretty horn-heavy), wasn't tiring or irritating. They still sounded as crisp and clean as they do at half that level, just louder. The detail was still outstanding, the imaging didn't fall apart.
My goodness. For that kind of money ($600 or so new), wow! You can't touch them for 3X or 4X the price.
The only downside is that you have to have an amp that can handle a 4 ohm load. That being said, I highly recommend them if you have the power and the room for them.

$600! Wow that is a good price. I think I got around that for my old pair of MG-1s that I sold when we moved into the small house. Impressive.

I actually dreamed about those speakers last night and here you've posted about magnepans.. Is it a sign?

dculberson wrote: $600! Wow that is a good price. I think I got around that for my old pair of MG-1s that I sold when we moved into the small house. Impressive. I actually dreamed about those speakers last night and here you've posted about magnepans.. Is it a sign?

Yes, it IS a sign. The $600 is for the MMG speakers. They are aimed at the HT crowd because they are smaller (can you imagine having 2.5 sets of MG-1s in any room). Because they are smaller they produce less low-end than the other lines, but Magnepan knows that HT setups will have a subwoofer for LFE. Turns out a lot of people are using the MMG or Super MMG for 2-channel stuff too.

I need some of these in my life. Just not right now... after we move in a couple years.

This makes me wonder how well my Statement Monitors would do at 100db. I've got the volume capped at -20db on my AVR so that the kiddos don't blow their ears out by accident.

I'm too cheap to own a pair of Magnepan's, but I built a pair of these for cheap. Does that count?

http://projectgallery.parts-express.com/speaker-projects/dml-flat-pannel/

I'm pretty happy with the way they sound. I have them hooked up to an old Sony system here instead of the floor-standing Sony 10" 3-ways that I use for computer speakers, and they sound nice. Definitely lacking on the low end, but very natural-sounding for acoustic guitar and piano and such.

Is that SPL meter a free ap?

1988RedT2 wrote: I'm too cheap to own a pair of Magnepan's, but I built a pair of these for cheap. Does that count? http://projectgallery.parts-express.com/speaker-projects/dml-flat-pannel/ I'm pretty happy with the way they sound. I have them hooked up to an old Sony system here instead of the floor-standing Sony 10" 3-ways that I use for computer speakers, and they sound nice. Definitely lacking on the low end, but very natural-sounding for acoustic guitar and piano and such. Is that SPL meter a free ap?

I'm not familiar with those, but I will be soon. Very interesting. Thanks for posting the link. How much do you actually have into them?

scardeal wrote: This makes me wonder how well my Statement Monitors would do at 100db. I've got the volume capped at -20db on my AVR so that the kiddos don't blow their ears out by accident.

With speakers like those, you owe it to yourself to find out. Those are on my "some day" list.

In reply to DrBoost:

Pretty sure the exciters were less than 20 bucks apiece from P-E. Home Depot carries the Foamular panels for like 6 bucks. I used a whole big bottle of glue, and I bought some black ink for like 8 bucks. So maybe $75? I need to hook a sub up here and really work them out.

People look at them and wonder what they are, then appear amazed when sound comes from them.

Those are fantastic speakers and yes they are a little harder to power but so worth the price.

I liked the Magies so much that I went nuts and bought a set of Prodigy's 6 years back or so. Soundstage worked better for odd shaped room they were in.

This started along deep expensive hole that I dug myself and ended up replacing all of it with a set of high end grado headphones.

I have been trying to get our customers to buy these just I can hear them! It always comes down to designers having too much say and always end up putting in the Dolby Atmos or the JBL Synthesis systems.

I forgot to reply to 1988RedT2 - yes, that SPL meter is a free app. It's called Decebel 10th. I might have to make a pair just because they are sweet. I don't know where I'd put them, but does that really matter?

In reply to wearymicrobe - I've heard Prodigy's a few years ago. They are gorgeous speakers, both to the eyes and ears. And I have, as of yet, avoided getting headphones and a headphone amp because I have a car I need money to finish haha.

MulletTruck - what kind of business is it? A home theater store? If so, order a pair for demo. People look at them and see large panels and say no. But they hear them and just don't care what they look like.

DrBoost wrote: In reply to wearymicrobe - I've heard Prodigy's a few years ago. They are gorgeous speakers, both to the eyes and ears. And I have, as of yet, avoided getting headphones and a headphone amp because I have a car I need money to finish haha.

I actually sold all my Martin Logan's and bought a set of RS1 Grados and a little dot DAC/AMP. Does 99% of what the big ML's would do and I can take them to work on heavy coding days. Really cheap as well. I think that all the racing and concerts have finally started to ruin my ears, I can no longer tell the difference between the ultra high end and the standard high end audio stuff.

DrBoost wrote: MulletTruck - what kind of business is it? A home theater store? If so, order a pair for demo. People look at them and see large panels and say no. But they hear them and just don't care what they look like.

We do low voltage and high end home cinemas. We were so close to doing panel speakers here but was shot down since he got all the equipment for free.

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/michael-bay-home-theater

And on this one we lost to the free equipment too

http://www.cepro.com/article/inside_jerry_bruckheimers_barco_home_cinema

I think we may be getting close with a new house we are starting soon, some 28 year old billionaire that is pretty progressive in his thinking and wanting something different.

I may make some small ones and set them up at the studio and maybe get the band guys opinion.

How do these rich guys get free stuff??

DrBoost wrote: How do these rich guys get free stuff??

Its like everything else, For marketing. When you read articles you always see "so and so" installed our system in their state of the art home. They for get to say they gave it to them for free and paid for the install.

Its always been the way, The people who can afford it the most get it for free. They just want famous people to be seen in, around, wearing, driving their stuff so average people will buy it. Its a writeoff for them in the end so its no cost to them.

MulletTruck wrote:

DrBoost wrote: How do these rich guys get free stuff??

Its like everything else, For marketing. When you read articles you always see "so and so" installed our system in their state of the art home. They for get to say they gave it to them for free and paid for the install. Its always been the way, The people who can afford it the most get it for free. They just want famous people to be seen in, around, wearing, driving their stuff so average people will buy it. Its a writeoff for them in the end so its no cost to them.

The irony is sickening.