Still undecided ....help!

[dmusoke]

Hi All:

Brand new user here...I'm deciding between the ML Theos($5K) and Magnepans 1.7($2K). I audioned both of them at seperate stores. I was impressed by both speakers. The thing i liked baout the Maggie was that regardless wehther i was seated or standing, the imaging and tonality remained constant due to the taller speaker height of 71 inches versus the 59 inches of the Theos. Its tonality and imaging changed (dulled) when i stood up. The dealer told me the obvious ... that most people listen while sitting so i should evaluate the Theos that wayp) yet i loved its fast and transparent sounding panel. Also i heard no integration problems between the panel and the woofer.

My room is 11'x23' and have my speakers on the short side of the room, whose center is occupied by a 58" wide plasma TV. This leaves me with 3 ft (36 inches) on either side of the panel to place my new speakers.

Which speaker will work as intended in my room with its limited 11' wall? How far off the wall does the Theos (or maggie if you know)need to be for optimum or realistic setup? Which will sound better in my room? Unfortunately, demos inmy room require lots of paperwork and approvals up the sales channels, i'm told.

Thanks,
David

 

[dmusoke]

Anyone willing to help?

 

[amey01]

Unfortunately, it is hard to tell and audition (and personal preference) is the only way I'm afraid. I know that may not be the answer you want to hear, but that is why responses have been limited.

It's sort of like asking "What should I order - the beef or the fish?"

Well - that's a decision for you to make.

 

[dmusoke]

Thanks for responding Amey01. I guessed that most users on this forum are expert users in ML products and maybe most must have had maggies in their past or present lives hence my original question on which speaker is better.

OK...assuming a pick the Theos, what is the minimum distance from the sidewalls? I believe the front wall distance is 3 ft minimum?

 

[amey01]

You want to keep them well away from side walls too, but again - it depends on the room. Toe-in and room treatments can help immensely for problems with first-reflection points, so it's not all what it seems. My Vistas are about 80cm from side walls.

 

[churchill]

I have my CLS IIz pulled out about 48'' from the wall behind them but I only have about 11'' from the side walls. Room treatments help the side walls disappear!

 

[Gordon]

Your room size is almost identical to mine. My right speaker is 28 inches from center of panel to the wall. My left sits near a large opening to dining room but is 28 inches from an imaginary line. They are placed 58 inches from the front wall to the front of the speaker. They are way out in the room but I have a wife who enjoys them also!! The sweet spot is not large and it falls off to nothing when standing up. That does not concern me since I do most of my listening sitting down. When we get the urge to dance, we push some furniture around to make room and just enjoy.

Gordon

 

[Gordon Gray]

David,

I do agree with Justin (Amey) and Gordon on their feedback.

I'm not sure there are alot of folks on this forum who were / are Maggie users and are now ML users or vice versa.

Absent the sidewall issue, I think you will have more of a problem as a result of your TV being between the speakers. This will definitely compromise speaker performance (center imaging, stereo soundstage, depth, tonality, etc.) regardless of the speaker brand.

Just my two pennies.

Good luck.

GG

 

[jmschnur]

I put my tv (kuro 151) on the wall that was once part of a closet. It became a nook 32" deep and 60" wide. I then used acoustic aborbing material on both sides and the 6.5 foot above ceiling(lowered ceiling from installed cabinets above on this side of room only) and the back wall around the tv. The tv is mounted about 30" from the floor (center of screen to seated eye level) my stage center is mounted above the tv and out the 36" from the wall. On the outside of this space on the walls facing the outside walls I also put acoustic absorbing material

My Vantages are on either side of the nook about 32" from either side wall

I use a descent I crossed over at 80 for the Vantages and 100 for the stage in an Audyssey pro xt32 system using the integra 80.2

In stereo the imaging for CDs is great and the sweet spot 9' away is about 5' wide.

The music sounds quite good in this setup

For mch sacd the sound is glorious.

The black surround for the tv makes images very nice indeed

Life is full of compromises. We enjoy opera a lot.

This approach gets us great sound and visuals from our blu ray music.

 

[TomDac]

I haven't listened to Maggies for many years, but I remember liking them a great deal. Then I heard MLs and liked them more. I honestly don't think you can go wrong with either. I think adjusting the rake of the ML's will help with the sitting/standing issue you describe.

 

[dmusoke]

Thank you very much guys ...I appreciate all the advice given here a whole lot

 

[dallas21]

Hello Dave why not listen to the Maggi 3.7 that has gotton all the raves ? The Maggi 1.7 I had and sold and had the 1.6 before it marketing, they changed 2 capacitors and the Xover points Nothing more ,the 3.7 is a great speaker but you need at least 4 ft from the rear and side walls to make them work and a ton of power.With ML speakers especially the powered ones you can use a much smaller amplifier than before and The midrange is super fast with Electrostatics and when seated and setup properly which the stores almost Never take the time to really tune them in, at home it is at least 10-15% better in performance ,I have over 30 years in the Audio field and worked in stores so time for setup is allways at a minimum.

 

[beek]

I have been a Maggie user since 1975.
They are great drivers, easy to drive load wise but don't wake up till they see alot of power.
Like at least 400 or more into 4. Not as fast or detailed as ML.
Air space is more of an issue with the Mags not as bad with Ml.
Last but not least repairs on the mags have to ship back the Mfg
7/8's of the Ml are field serviceable. Only kick with the ML is needing amps that can handle low imp.