Which ML for me?

[bigbanger]

I've been a casual fan of MLs for a long time but never owned a pair. I flirted with the Aerius and SL3 way back when, but stayed with traditional box speakers. I've owned Magnepans (3.6 and 1.6), but never really had the space to let those speakers shine. So I"m once again considering ownership of an ML, and would like some advice. I've got a pretty small room (14'x13') so I need to choose carefully. Would a used Aerius-i be a good choice? How about an SL3? I'm currently using ProAc 1SCs with a pair of 50 WpC tube amplifiers, so I probably need to rethink amplification too (unless 50W of tube power would be sufficient in a room of this size). So ML gurus, lend me your opinions!

 

[sebrof2000]

Hell bigbanger, and welcome.
I caught your post on the MUG and gave my 2 cents over there. Here's what I wrote:
I went from 1.6s to ML Ascent i, in a 12' x 13' room. You can get the MLs for $2,000 - $2,300 or so (used). I wanted to upgrade from the 1.6s and the 3.6s would have been too big for my room.
The MLs are very nice, and also allowed me to drop down in amp power (90db efficiency). I went to a 75 wpc Primare integrated, and the combo sounds very nice to me, similar in ways to the Maggies. I'm very happy with the switch.

I will add that the similarities are the big soundstage, which it sounds like you like about the maggies. The MLs sound cleaner and more detailed to me than the Maggies.
The ability to drive the MLs with a smaller amp is a huge and unexpected benefit for me, so don't get rid of your 50 watt tube amp just yet.
On this site there's a ML Product Timeline. Check that out to get an idea of model sizes and other pertinent info.
Good luck.
Mike

 

[eknuds01]

I've been a casual fan of MLs for a long time but never owned a pair. I flirted with the Aerius and SL3 way back when, but stayed with traditional box speakers. I've owned Magnepans (3.6 and 1.6), but never really had the space to let those speakers shine. So I"m once again considering ownership of an ML, and would like some advice. I've got a pretty small room (14'x13') so I need to choose carefully. Would a used Aerius-i be a good choice? How about an SL3? I'm currently using ProAc 1SCs with a pair of 50 WpC tube amplifiers, so I probably need to rethink amplification too (unless 50W of tube power would be sufficient in a room of this size). So ML gurus, lend me your opinions!

You'll be OK with the Aerius i. Yesterday, I saw a used Aerius i pair going for $600 over at audiogon.com

There's always a pair on sale for $800-$1000 it seems.

As far as amplification goes, you have lots of choices. You could purchase a nice SS amp and use that to power the woofers and then let the tube amp power the panels (they call this bi-amping). Or, you could just get a SS amp that has a reputation for delivering lots of current when you need it. When buying an amp, make sure you look into how much power is available at 4 Ohm loads.

Of course, you can also buy a beefy multichannel receiver/integrated amp too.

One other thing, ML speakers not only fire forwards, but back behind the speaker as well. I am not sure how and where these speakers will be placed, but with smaller rooms, you might need a fair amount of experimentation. Make sure you get move them away from the side and front walls (relative to your listening position). You also have speaker spike and room treatments that could help overcome any unexpected acoustic issues.

Erik

 

[bigbanger]

Hell bigbanger, and welcome.
I caught your post on the MUG and gave my 2 cents over there...

Mike,

Thanks for the response here and at the MUG site. I'm glad to hear that there are ML models that will work in a room of my size. I'll keep a look out for a used pair of MLs at A'gon and let you know how things turn out.

Thanks again for your advice.

 

[bigbanger]

You'll be OK with the Aerius i. Yesterday, I saw a used Aerius i pair going for $600 over at audiogon.com

Erik,

You're right, I see Aerius-i and SL3s for sale regularly on Audiogon. I'll try and find a nice minty pair and pick them up. I hear you re: room treatment, and although my listening room is small, it is dedicated so use of room treatment is not a problem (I'm using some home-made Jon Risch bass traps in my current setup).

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Pcar928fan]

50 wpc tube amp will probably be good enough for that room size as long as you are not looking to get to full on live concert volumes. Tube amps sound REALLY GOOD powering the panels of the ML speakers. As noted earlier in the thread a later upgrade would be to add SS power to the woofers and thus be bi-amping whatever you end up with.

I liked my Aerius i but the Ascent are quite a big step up the food chain! I would HIGHLY recommend the Ascent if you can swing the entry fee!

 

[coolcobramatt]

My first Ml's were Sequel II's with the SL3 panels, they sure were sweet. As a matter of fact they actually had more of a presence and wider soundstage than the Aeon i's I have currently. They were huge though lol. I needed a bigger room they took up so much space!

 

[akm3]

You don't mention your budget, so I would say in your smaller room a used pair of Vantages or Vistas would let you get all the newest styling and technology for a good price.

/shameless plug: I have a pair of Vistas for sale at $2500 right now.

 

[bigbanger]

You don't mention your budget, so I would say in your smaller room a used pair of Vantages or Vistas would let you get all the newest styling and technology for a good price.

/shameless plug: I have a pair of Vistas for sale at $2500 right now.

Budget isn't the primary issue (within reason ), I just want to make sure that the speaker will work well in my smallish room. I'll check out the Vantages and Vistas, thanks.

 

[sebrof2000]

Mike,

Thanks for the response here and at the MUG site. I'm glad to hear that there are ML models that will work in a room of my size. I'll keep a look out for a used pair of MLs at A'gon and let you know how things turn out.

Thanks again for your advice.

Yes, they work very well in a small room. One of the things I didn't like about the Maggies was that I found I needed to turn it up a little louder to get full sound out of them. In a small room it wasn't always what I wanted to do. The MLs sound good - and full - at very low volume which works better a lot of the time.

 

[bigbanger]

Yes, they work very well in a small room. One of the things I didn't like about the Maggies was that I found I needed to turn it up a little louder to get full sound out of them. In a small room it wasn't always what I wanted to do. The MLs sound good - and full - at very low volume which works better a lot of the time.

I had the same experience with Maggies - they had to be 'juiced up' a bit before they came to life. That said, the 3.6s produced some of the best sound I've ever heard at home, but they simply require too much space.

 

[bigbanger]

Another model that hasn't been discussed in this thread is the ReQuest. I've got an opportunity to buy a pair in excellent condition locally for ~$2100, but I'm not sure if it'll be too much speaker for my room. Any opinions on how the ReQuest would work in my space? I suspect they will have my 50 Watt tube amps gasping for air...

 

[bober]

I have a question that would maybe work in this thread.. I want to know what would work best in my present scenario. I'm looking for a pair of speakers for a 2ch bedroom system that will be used 75% for music and 25% for movies in a 12 x 13 room. The type of music being played will range from hip hop, to classic rock, to brazilian jazz, to soul, to indie rock, etc. My musical tastes are all over the place really. I was pretty ready to pull the trigger on a pair of Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grands (i can get these for about $1000/pair), but now that I think about the going price of some Aerius i's, I've started to think.

Given my room size and my musical preferences, what would you get if you had $800-1000 for a pair of speakers and it was either a pair of mozart grands or a pair of aerius i's assuming they were both in 8/10 condition?

 

[Pcar928fan]

Given my room size and my musical preferences, what would you get if you had $800-1000 for a pair of speakers and it was either a pair of mozart grands or a pair of aerius i's assuming they were both in 8/10 condition?

Probably Aerius i's! There might be some other interesting speakers out there I would like to try, but I suspect all of them would be more than $1k... I really liked my Aerius i's too...