Magneplanar MG .7 and 1.7

[thumb5]

Have you ever heard any of the Elac speakers with the Heil AMT, such as the FS407?  They seem to have a reputation for "fast" and "airy" sound...

[Jwg1749]

Yes, I heard the BS 314s at a show once. They would be the same AMT units, I think. I thought they were very promising -- with the usual caveats about lousy show acoustics and dreadful music being played far too loud.

I haven't got round to hearing them properly. Maybe I should make a trip down to O'Briens in Wimbledon.

Good call.

I also rather like the look of their omnidirectional supertweeters. Quite pricey though.

[f1eng]

Interesting reading your experience(s).
I ran panels for several years (Apogee active Divas) and I still miss them, but the only place to put them in this room they blocked too much light.
Also, whilst the stereo effect was very enjoyable on recordings I hadn't made , the recordings of my own did, however, show that it was probably an artefact of the rear wave bouncing off the rear wall rather than something they were revealing on the recording, so whilst I loved them in general I started feeling I needed something which added rather less of my own room to the sound!
I completely agree that it is very difficult to get sound with as little overhang from a conventional speaker, particularly in the bass, and I spent 2 years searching for something as fast as the Apogees which used the room less to create an effect.
I ended up shortlisting Wilson, Goldmund and B&W speakers, listening to the WAMM, Grand Slamm, Apologue, Analogue, Epilog and the beautiful Nautilus.
I ended up with Goldmund Epilogs, but they have increased in price to a ridiculous extent since then. I now also have some front loaded horns. They are supremely "fast" and fairly directional, so they minimise any addition of listening room acoustics.

The only thing I would say is that the "fastest" moving coil speakers I heard during my 2 years listenathon had very rigid cabinets.
The BBC box speakers had fabulous mid range, great on speech with limited dynamic range and loudness but were all either a bit or very slow sounding on dynamic orchestral music, particularly if played loud.
I was unable to pigeonhole any other aspect than cabinet rigidity. I heard speakers with metal, plastic and paper drivers some good some disappointing, so I don't think the cone material had the key effect here, personally.
They will probably never be SAMmed, but if you are looking for something with very inert cabinets which are not very expensive the Q-Acoustics Concept 20 and 40 were cleverly engineered to minimise cabinet talk by Fink Audio Consulting who design very much more expensive speakers for other clients as well, though the others do not admit it publicly...

I should say I met one of the partners of Fink Consulting back in 1999 when I was doing some design for Lola cars and he is now a friend of mine and I like to think I was at least partially responsible for them looking into minimising cabinet talk.
So I may be biased

http://fink-audio.com

[BestAlexEver]

This is a follow up from my first post about 1.7 and the Devialet 120. I was initially very enthusiastic because the bass the Devialet was able to produce on the 1.7, truly special. But after a couple of weeks I have come to realized that the overall sound had not enough "oomph" (for lack of better word) with the 1.7, compare to my Ayre AX-5 or my Hegel H300. Maybe a 200, or 400 would do a better job driving the 1.7 or the 3.7.

[ogs]

This is a follow up from my first post about 1.7 and the Devialet 120. I was initially very enthusiastic because the bass the Devialet was able to produce on the 1.7, truly special. But after a couple of weeks I have come to realized that the overall sound had not enough "oomph" (for lack of better word) with the 1.7, compare to my Ayre AX-5 or my Hegel H300. Maybe a 200, or 400 would do a better job driving the 1.7 or the 3.7.

Are you still using the 120+1.7? Did you do any changes to make it work better?

I am considering the .7 in my system. I will of course try the speakers at home, but with my 250 at full power setting (I use a setting of 180W with my current speakers) I hope this will work. As I use room correction (Audiolense) I should be able to tune the amplitude response if needed. I would like to know if the tweeter panel is connected with same or reverse polarity to the bass panel. I know the 1.6 had the tweeter reversed, but .7 is a completely new design so I am hoping. Does anyone know?

[rwjr44]

I had my 1.7s for about two years before buying my Le200. The previous amps were an old Mark Levinson 335 which needed a tune up that would have cost me about $1.5K just for an inspection. I replaced it with a NewClear 1000NC which was good but had a few anomalies that didn't match well with the 1.7s. I tried a Magtech and liked it but didn't feel (totally subjective) that it meshed with my future plans. I also tried a Pass 30.8 and LOVED  it but it didn't quite have the oomph. The other Pass class A amps were just too expensive since I am also in the market to replace my 1.7s.

Well the 1.7s are great speakers for the price but they are not for many people that are used to "dynamic" speakers. I am thoroughly enjoying them with the Le200. While it is a good match there are times when I miss the Pass 30.8 amplifier. It is a neutral and quiet match that seems to struggle a bit at frequency extremes where the impedance of the 1.7s drop a bit.

I do recommend that anyone owning planars or electrostatics take the time to add diffusers on the front wall and bass traps in the front wall corners. These types of speakers also need careful placement and plenty of space to sound their best.

[ogs]

This is a follow up from my first post about 1.7 and the Devialet 120. I was initially very enthusiastic because the bass the Devialet was able to produce on the 1.7, truly special. But after a couple of weeks I have come to realized that the overall sound had not enough "oomph" (for lack of better word) with the 1.7, compare to my Ayre AX-5 or my Hegel H300. Maybe a 200, or 400 would do a better job driving the 1.7 or the 3.7.

Are you still using the 120+1.7? Did you do any changes to make it work better?

I am considering the .7 in my system. I will of course try the speakers at home, but with my 250 at full power setting (I use a setting of 180W with my current speakers) I hope this will work. As I use room correction (Audiolense) I should be able to tune the amplitude response if needed. I would like to know if the tweeter panel is connected with same or reverse polarity to the bass panel. I know the 1.6 had the tweeter reversed, but .7 is a completely new design so I am hoping. Does anyone know?

A follow up on my own post here.
I talked to Wendell Diller of Magnapan on the phone some time ago. He confirmed that the bass and tweeter panels have the same electrical polarity. Even more interesting is the fact that the deviding network of the .7 (and 1.7) is of the so called serial type where a capacitor is connected across the bass panel for low pass and an inductor across the tweeter for high pass. The filter is 1st order. The technical minded members will like this information I hope!
I have not yet had a chance to try the .7 at home.

[BestAlexEver]

This is a follow up from my first post about 1.7 and the Devialet 120. I was initially very enthusiastic because the bass the Devialet was able to produce on the 1.7, truly special. But after a couple of weeks I have come to realized that the overall sound had not enough "oomph" (for lack of better word) with the 1.7, compare to my Ayre AX-5 or my Hegel H300. Maybe a 200, or 400 would do a better job driving the 1.7 or the 3.7.

Are you still using the 120+1.7? Did you do any changes to make it work better?

I am considering the .7 in my system. I will of course try the speakers at home, but with my 250 at full power setting (I use a setting of 180W with my current speakers) I hope this will work. As I use room correction (Audiolense) I should be able to tune the amplitude response if needed. I would like to know if the tweeter panel is connected with same or reverse polarity to the bass panel. I know the 1.6 had the tweeter reversed, but .7 is a completely new design so I am hoping. Does anyone know?

I have now a HEGEL H360 (420W 4 Ohms!) a PERFECT match for the power hungry 1.7 (the Hegel H300 was also a great match) It looks like the Devialet and Magnepan will only be happy with a lot of power (250 maybe or the 400 most definitely). As for running the .7 with the 250 that might work nicely...but they do need POWER! I friend bought the .7 and had to upgrade his integrated amp because his Nad 390DD was not bringing the .7 to life...