Magnepan MG – .7 $2000 pr.

(54.25h, 15.25w. 1.25d)

Magnepans have been among my favorite speakers forever. Given proper placement and amplification, they’re impossible to beat at what they do. Specifically, they provide a large and spacious image that is more like the real deal than practically all cabinet speakers. You just have to pay attention to placement and have enough amplifier to suit your musical needs.

As good as Maggies have always been, they upped their game substantially a decade back when they went to the .7 series. Before the .7 series, Maggies consisted of wires adhered to a thin Mylar diaphragm. With the .7 series introduction, the technology improved to FOIL STRIPS adhered to the thin Mylar diaphragm- instead of round wires. Magnepan terms this technology QUASI RIBBON.

The coverage of the diaphragm is now much greater, which provides an even more responsive performance. The sound is more clear, bass is stronger and efficiency is improved. All things good about Maggies got better with the .7 series!

The obvious question is, how close is the MG .7 to the 1.7i. First of all, the .7 is a two way, woofer and tweeter. The 1.7i is a three way and features a super tweeter from 10k up. The advantage of the 1.7i is improved dispersion- as well as bigger bass due to the bigger panel. Of course, if you have the room and an extra grand in your pocket, you’ll prefer MG 1.7i.

But the good news is, if you’re sitting in the middle, the broader dispersion of the 1.7i doesn’t really matter much. It’s possible the extra bass of the bigger panel on the 1.7i doesn’t matter much to you either. With the somewhat more subtle footprint of the MG .7, we’re finding people (OK, wives!) who will gladly let the .7 in the living room- but object to the size of the 1.7i. And of course that’s the goal- to get YOU an audiophile speaker with huge image and clarity while she accepts the cosmetics.

MG .7 is a very BIG improvement over its little brother the LRS+. LRS+ is an inexpensive step into

the shallow end for Maggie sound. But MG .7 clobbers the little guy for bass, dynamics and the size of image. If there’s any way for you to swing .7 above the LRS+, you’re much rewarded for doing so.

The physics of how Maggies work in your room haven’t changed. Because they radiate front and rear, they need to be off the back wall by about three feet. This prevents the back wave from canceling the front- and killing the bass. Some well meaning audiophiles have bought Maggies and been coerced to keep them near the back wall for domestic tranquility. The down side is, they have no bass and don’t sound rich set up like that. If you pull them into the room about three feet, they warm up and come alive.

This really isn’t a tough thing to accomplish. Virtually all cabinet speakers are about a foot deep. They ALL sound better a couple feet out from the back wall. So the fact is, if the nose of the MG .7 ends up three feet off the back wall, I’ll bet ya any box speaker would end up in the same place to deliver its best, least boxy sound.

On to the issue of power. Audiophiles have spread the rumor that Maggies need millions of watts. It just isn’t true! If you’re trying to play Maggies as loud as Klipsch Cornwalls- no amount of power will get you there. Don’t try.

There’s nothing wrong with using 200 w/ch if you like. But the truth is, if you’re not a head banger you should worry more about the QUALITY of your amp than the wattage.

If you’re willing to spend $1700 a magical partner is the Rogue Sphinx V3 integrated amp. It gives you 100×2 into 8 ohms, and 200×2 into the Maggie 4 ohm purely resistive load. Sphinx is Rogers to Astaire.

Maggies are extremely light, tall diaphragms- large headphones almost. With the small excursion they need to travel, they sound outstanding at lower volumes compared to box speakers. We have many a Maggie running with a fine integrated amp of about 50×2 if you’re not trying to blast urban music. Keep in mind, your amp will muscle up its power into Maggies, a truly resistive 4 ohm load.

If you do want to punch your Maggies pretty hard at a fair price, look no further than the NAD C399 or various Hegel integrateds.

Now… we do have customers that throw state of the art electronics at Maggies. This is kosher too. If you run them with McIntosh or Bryston separates for example, the improvement is worth it. The .7s are so good that they just keep revealing more and more musical goodness as you provide them the opportunity.

MG .7 brings a true slice of Maggie heaven to the lowest price point and size ever.