I suspect that the other reason the 1.7i's sounded nicer in the larger room was because we were seated far enough away from them to sound a bit less ear fatiguing. The 1.7i's sounded fantastic in the studio.
Thank you for an interesting review. I use 1.7is successfully with a Parasound Halo hint 6 integrated amp. My room is 20ft by 13 ft but with carpeted floor and large curtains covering windows and French doors etc. and not as much furniture as in this video. Optimum bass is 3ft out from the wall behind them but the deep 'hollow' sound stage starts at 5-6 ft - and when you discover that you have to listen to all your recordings again! I use the resistors - no soldering needed. Recently I started using the 1.7is with a SVS SB 3000 sub (I want use them for films as well). This is taking time to set up because the SVS can be overwhelming compared to my old Rel strata 5. A 20 or 30hz tone will vibrate the whole room in a really unpleasant way without correct set up. Corner placement is out because of room reinforcement - booming. The SVS app is very helpful in correcting room issues. I suspect a Rel T series would have been easier to integrate. I have set the Parasound hi pass filter at 100Hz (12 dB slope) for the Magnepans and this really benefits the midrange (as noted by others) and avoids the Magnepan buzz which has developed in one of my 1.7is- a known fault I believe - apparent when playing a small minority of CDs such as Dark Side of the Moon - the heartbeat. In the UK (where I live), repairing Magnepans would be very expensive or DIY. In terms of Magnepan 1.7i resolution, the Parasound's DAC provides a more detailed but thinner sound than my Marantz SACD 15 S1. Using the Marantz as a CD transport through a Denafripps Venus 2 (bought with some trepidation) - wow!! Big improvement - more of everything through the Magnepans. I had to listen to all my recordings again!
. Great 3rd pair of speakers. Cones, Horns and Ribbons to round it all out. I was never a believer that speakers were the first & most important piece in the 2-channel puzzle. Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊
If you wanna make magna pan, LRS pluses 75% better than what you’re doing right now with your real you need to use an active crossover and take 80% of the base out of the panels of the LRS free it up to it to system and control your bottom man With an active crossover, you will be totally blown out of the water. I’m telling you I’ve done it and it’s unbelievable different. Keep your real. I’m using it TX five which is comparable and newer than what you have but it works. Unbelievable sub is what I’m using now for crossover and it was $500three-way unbelievably I’m using a much higher quality class than you are and a much higher preamp not I got an $8000 preamp beside the point keep what you got get a three-way crossover 500 bucks and you’ll be totally amazed and blown away guaranteed
My 3.6R’s on Mye stands driven by Pass preamps and an Audio Research amplifier with a single Carver true subwoofer and decent Synergistic Research foundation interconnect and speaker cables sound spectacular. You need solid stands for the LRS and for the 1.7i’s. There’s no two ways about it. I lived with the standard stands that were included with my Maggies and as soon as I bought the MYE stands music started to bloom and was more articulate, transparent and the image specificity and timber were knockout. The biggest change was in the micro details. Room size was 13’ x 21.5’ close to the golden ratio.
Cool stuff. I my self are currently using low wattage SET tube amp stuff with Heresy III. Denon AVR as the pre-amp with pre-outs for Main L+R + subwoofer (SVS). Gain matched so that only amplifed speaker from Denon is the rear speakers. Have these heresies dialed nicely position wise and subwoofer integraded good. I only use my SVS sub from 40hz(not localised) and lower, cause i find it will muddy the heresies bass response. Heresies goes to 45'sh on my room (placement near the corners) so i get good steady frequency response. Of course the overall subwoofer integration is important, group delays etc ...anyhow. My living room is 3.5 meters wide, 5-6 meters long and opening to other place of apartment more from the back. i have my speakers on the front wall that is the 3.5 lenght, listening position and coutch at 2.5-3 meters.Also, the toe in is quite steep on my heresies to lessen the side wall reflections. Been testing some Class A/B or Class D ...still, i find flea watt SET tube amps the best ...least amount of listening fatigue for longer listening 👍
wow I have both too!! LRS+ are amazing but I prefer the 1.7i hands down... I think you need a beefier amp to run the 1.7i properly they are power hungry beasts. I run the LRS+ with a Primaluna Prologue Premium (36wpc) just fine but I run the 1.7i with a Bryston 4B3... the PrimaLuna wasn't enough and a Pass XA25 neither. Please try the 1.7i with a bigger amp you'll be amazed.
It just comes to show how important it is for each owner to compare and listen and isn’t it interesting how different the results can be I think these are all important experiences and thank you for sharing
Are you going to try more power with the 1.7's, I would say the same thing to you. I have huge tower speakers with 15in base drivers and horn tweeters. No one had listened to the advised use of these with more power to help control the huge base drivers. Complaints about how they didn't sound very good and they were only using a 50 wpc solid state. I Recommended ATLEAST 80-100WPC the other people with these big bass drivers finally listened to reason and were completely moved by the same speaker run PROPERLY. it's not about individual experience, it's by being reasonable enough to actually listen to advice from others and apply it without dismissing it away.
Room size, shape, flooring, solid/hollow walls/ceilings and items/furniture, all make a difference in sound quality. Remember that everyone has a different hearing range, hence the like or dislike for speaker sound quality. Currently, I've read that Magnapan has another company experimenting with extermal subwoofers, crossover units, for the line of speakers. So far incredible results, but at a much higher price of course.
Thanks for the post. I got my LRS+ a couple months ago and loving it. My room is 14x20 but I have the speakers facing me from the 20' side. I listen mostly to straight jazz. I'll more than likely pickup a Rel sub but for now they sound great as is. Have you considered placing the LRS+ on stands? I haven't committed to stands yet but I placed mine on some platforms a few inches off the ground to test. They didn't sound much different to me and I'm usually sitting when I want to enjoy these.
I tried stands but didn't like them while sitting down because the soundstage and angle they rest works perfectly. I mentioned this in the unedited video but had issues editing it in. Great question though.
I owned the og LRS with Hegel h160. I’ve since upgraded to the 1.7i and anthem STR integrated. The LRS was nice but the 1.7i is great. Room Size and dimension matters but the 1.7i was great in a smaller room pulled a few feet into it. I also have a pair of rythmik subs that I integrate when I feel like a bit more bass. My 1.7is have the upgrade golden fuse and eventually plan to get a set of magma risers.
Great Magnepan review Interesting outcome also I wanted the 1.7's but thought too much for my room, so went with the. 7's I was driving them with my Spectron musical MK lll class D amp designed by John Ulrich It's output is 500watts@8ohm 650@4ohms and 1,200 watts@1ohm I have the Magnarisers & Stereo11 fuse and jumper upgrade I also have two SVS Ultra 13 subs When dialed in correctly the music is sublime I also use my VAC PA 100 100 tube amp and ARC LS15 tube pre amp and that combo also produces magic
@drde4010 Have heard of Orchard Audio? If not talk to Leo ( one man show) about his GaN Class D amps Great reviews When my Spectron goes up in smoke I'm buying one! You may not be interested but I did a UA-cam vid of my rig with my Maggie's Specker position and my equipment is in the description ua-cam.com/video/fh5n7bdKDsM/v-deo.htmlsi=wli9MTbdLu13kcCj
@drde4010 Have you checked out Orchard Audio GaN D class amps? Give Leo a call and he'll help you out Oh I've heard the .7's is the sweet spot for Magnepans
Interesting. Some other channel said the same thing. I have LRS, Vidar and the same REL as you. About once a year I overheat the Vidar (playing very loud and a little liquor.) Ha!!
Thanks for the review. I had some Maggies in the past and while I acknowledge their resolution and transparency I never knew where exactly to put my head. Shift it a smidge to the right or left and constantly the soundstage changed. Did that bother you in your listening? Also how did you deal with the Maggies' dynamics / ability to render drums? Did you mainly do easy listening or more acoustic music? I found mine so limited that it was not enough for me. Maybe the newer Maggies are different?
I used to have the .7, not the .7i but I believe these latest Maggie's are an improvement. They have a more open treble to my ears and I don't mean harsh. I mean more information. It's solid, open and smooth to me. In this room, I could detect no audible differences in soundstage. When we did the comparison at the larger studio, I believe that we were far enough away from the 1.7i's to reduce the brightness of the treble, and there, the 1.7I soundstage had more presence. I did tweeter in, tweeters out for both in my living room here in the video, but it didn;t change their "relative" performance to each-other.
I have only owned the .7s, but I suspect that the point I want to make applies to all Magnepans. I tried the .7s with a Schiit Freya Plus (which has a lot of gain for a pre) and Vidar 1. The bass was anemic and unsatisfying and the overall sound was thin, harsh at higher volumes and lacking dynamics. I inserted a cheapish (under $700) Buckeye Hypex amp (500w). The difference was astonishing. In my medium sized room, the .7s had enough bass that I completely abandoned the idea of adding a sub. The only complaint I had, which may be DAC related (Schiit bifrost 2/64) was that there was a significant deficiency in the highs. It was really weird... everything else was outstanding and the mids and separation was better than I've ever heard. The high frequencies in the percussion were lacking and I never tried a different DAC. It was a very non fatiguing sound which some people may prefer, especially for harsher recordings like some classic rock that can sound thin and bright. Still, for well recorded music, I was missing those highs. If that issue was DAC related, then the Hypex/Purifi amps (450 + watts) are my first recommendation to anyone with Maggies... before you spend a bunch of money on subs and active crossovers. I wonder if the Purifi amp would have solved the issue with the highs... I also wonder if the newer Hypex amps with higher current might sound even better. Given that Magnepan stresses the importance of current, that is likely to be the case.
Have you tried the LRS+ standing straight up? I've just propped mine up, not raised them. Standing straight up adds clarity, while leaning back is more mellow. The difference is quite striking. The beauty though, is you get to pick which one suits your tastes. Just want to say that your comparison was quite illuminating, thanks.
Hi, thank you for the feedback and yes, I have leaned them straight up. From my seating position however, I have enjoyed the slight tilt back. When I am at a further distance, then I prefer them straight up like you suggested.
I have not heard the LRS+’s, but I have owned the LRS’s and now own the .7’s with Magna riser stands in a 12 x 11 ft room and in my opinion the .7’s are much more enjoyable. I also have 2 Rel T5i subs. I had a Schiit Vidar amp and in my opinion it was just alright with both Magnepans. I have many speakers and amps to rotate in and out to keep me interested. I now use the Wyred4sound sx1000 monos with a Schiit Freya preamp to great effect. I also use Martin Logan electromotion esl’s with that setup also.
@@drde4010 Thanks, it’s also about the synergy of your gear also. If you can get a synergistic match among your gear, that’s 90% of getting great sound. I also had some Heresy III’s and they are wonderful sounding speakers. Also had some rp600mII’s and with a great source and tube amp in a small to medium size room will blow away many $2000 to $3000 monitors away.
Thank you for your review! I have actually the same preference as you - some sort of hollow presentation regarding the 1.7i's. I had the same experience with my 3.7i's, go figure... I need to listen to the LRS and 0.7 to find out if the magical sound is there, as you say :) My previous MG12 and 1.6 sure did not sound hollow. Cheers!
@@drde4010 if you're near NY/PA/NJ you can borrow my pair. I just did the install on mine last week. It's annoying that I can't AB test it but it does still sound very nice after. I did notice the sweet spot got larger.
@@LuckyX2 Thanks so much for the very kind offer. Unfortunately I'm on the west coast but it's always great to be connected to fellow audio enthusiasts .
0.7 from the year they came out. Reskin 6 months continuous sound during day light hours. Preamp Parasound halo 6, amp Emotiva 250 / at 4 ohm.always ok but never lived up to my older Maggie’s.Built stands that stood them straight up 5 inc he’s off the ground, jaw dropping sound. Placement and better stands make a huge difference. No I did not pay 3-500 for the vertical stands. Stands cost me less than $50
Doc, you need to look at installing one of these Sublime crossovers (See Edit Below), mine is up and running, K231 model with their 80hz module, and it is sounding fantastic on the LRS+'s with the two REL T-Zero MKIII subs... Much tighter, more detail to my ear than the prior Rolls SX45 I was using. The sound now has a bit of "crispness" to it, especially with the horns and percussion. Crisp in a pleasing way, nothing shrill or bright, everything is just tighter, more focused no slop. This was worth the expense. And getting the bass to blend in is painless. I cannot believe what these silly little subs are doing in my room. On edit: The Sublime is headed back, the Rolls SX45 kicked its tail after getting another set of ears on the system. If you are looking for an inexpensive mind blowing experience in overall sound quality, get the Rolls. I also plugged in my Zu DW6 Supremes on a little Cayin EL-84 tube amp, the Zu's have never sounded wo good with the little RELs. Just incredible sound in the living room. Melody Gardot is in my room, excuse me while I go get her a glass of wine... ;-)
@@drde4010 We had a shoot out this morning, the old Rolls SX45 won out over the Sublime K231. Sometimes a second set of ears is best. She pointed out what I could not, or refused to hear. It was tighter sound, but the sparkle was gone. How the hell I missed that, must have been tired. The Rolls is back in the system, the Sublime is already labeled and ready to ship back tomorrow. The issue with the Sublime unit is gain, it simply does not produce enough to let the speakers breathe. The Rolls packs a punch in that regard, and that was the tell, cranking the gain up. there was no distortion that I or she could hear. so that is not an issue with the Rolls. A little tweak here and there and she is back sounding good. Good thing she is around. ;-)
@@michaelwright1602 What you shared there is exactly the kind of comparison I like hearing about. The experiences each are just so personal to tastes, rooms, components and situations. Appreciate you sharing this.
@@drde4010 I just plugged my Zu DW6 Supremes into the system, running off a little Cayin EL-84 amp and that Rolls SX45 crossover, along with the little RELs... Same 80hz cutoff, and boy do these sound fantastic. The sound quality improvement that this silly little crossover brings to the table is worth the modest price of entry.
Those 1.7's are huge, I could in no way run those in my room. The LRS+ are just right in the size department, and sound so sweet! Updates coming, just removed the two SVS SB3000 subs, replaced with a pair of REL T-Zero MKIII units. Sublime Acoustic K231 crossover just arrived, almost have the gear ready to go... I got some groceries, some peanut butter To last a couple of days But I ain't got no speakers, ain't got no headphones Ain't got no records to play ;-)
@@ericelmore887 Listening to it right now, and it is dreamy... WOW! Does it sound fantastic. I have had the Rolls SX45 cx in the system awaiting this Sublime Acoustic K231 unit. I have the 80hz module installed. I am using a WiiM Pro streamer, playing my local Detroit Jazz station, WRCJ, check them out, no commercials, all of the old PBS guys... The system... WiiM Pro with the LHY linear power supply > PS Audio Stellar Gaincell DAC/Preamp > Schiit Lokius via XLR > Sublime CX via XLR TRS > Emotiva XPA2 Gen 1 > LRS+ speakers along with a pair of the REL T-Zero MKIII subs. Crazy setup here, as I have the two REL's running off an RCA switch, as I have two amps in the mix and want to be able to switch on the fly. The Lokius is acting as a switch between the LRS+ and the old Emotiva along with a pair of Zu DW6 Supreme speakers and a Cayin EL-84 tuber amp. These Sublime CX are a bit pricey, but I think it was a worthwhile investment when put up against the Rolls SX45. I could live with either, but after hearing the Sublime unit, I am glad a bought it, it is much better than the Rolls. The sound is tighter, better separation and I really like what it is doing with the REL's. The Rolls is pro gear, and it had a bit of slop to it, but still made a marked difference to the betterment of overall sound quality. Even with all of this in the chain, I hear nothing out of the speakers, dead silent with nothing playing. A little Tony Bennett Live right now, sounds good, Tony is here, I am going to go get him a drink. ;-)
@@ericelmore887 After doing a serious shoot out this morning, with the Sublime and Rolls SX45, I would go with and stick with the Rolls. I brought in a second set of ears, and she promptly corrected my crap hearing. I figured it out, after eating some humble pie, that the issue is the gain. The Sublime only has 6db, just not enough in my system with these LRS+ speakers/amp combo. I removed everything out of the chain and hooked up both CX's direct, the Rolls was the easily the hands down winner. Both units handle the crossover with ease, it is the gain issue between the two. I have a gain booster, but adding more to the audio chain is now getting ridiculous. I boxed up the Sublime unit, printed a return shipping label and will be sending back tomorrow.
Magnepans are very amp dependent. The 1.7 needs higher quality and more current. All Maggie’s will improve with a better front end more than most speakers. But the bigger the Maggie’s the more important it is. So yea the LRS probably did perform better for you in that system.
The Hegel H190 had no problems back in the days when I had some Maggies. Can drive very low ohm loads (I think most Maggies are below 4 ohm). It's a neutral sounding amp that resolves very well, in the area of USD 3k. looks very bland though, lol.
Please don't just dismiss the good advise to go ahead and try the 1.7 with much more power. They will actually work well in that space with much more then just adequate tap water power. Also, the LRS+ are very racked back in how they sit, I would also try that stance -somehow with the 1.7 changing the dispersion outward in that same rackish fashion.
I should mention that I had been driving the Vidar 2 for several hours with some pretty high volume play. I'm always open to ideas and suggestions and would love to learn, however I never felt at any time that either speaker was underpowered, honestly. The Vidar just needed some open air to breathe properly and once that was done, it never shut itself down. I don't know that orienting the 1.7i at an angle is practical when the LRS was already delivering an equally large soundstage. I actually like the LRS's leaned position, I admit,. Not sure if that's what you are suggesting.
Both speakers need work from stock form. There are response anomalies and colorations due to interference effects from overlapping responses of the tweeter and woofer. Move a few degrees and the sound changes. If crossed over the way they should the "ribbon" tweeter should play the treble and not overlap the same frequencies as the bass panels. Likewise the bass panels should be kept out of the treble zone. But on the LRS, Magneplanar has done the opposite... both drivers operate nearly full range with the attendant interference effects as you move even a few degrees around the speaker.
@@S682 If it makes you feel any better I decided to plug it in for the first time to the LRS and so far it's running fantastic. No issues. I'll post a video shortly.
@@drde4010 nope. If you look at the bass regions of the left and right LRS diaphragms, you can see differently positioned "anchors" that tune the left and right bass zones differently. The low and mid frequencies are probably interwoven/combed between the left and right channels. Just a hunch, based on the physical differences. Yes, mini maggies are amazing at any price. :)
To my ears the 1.7i was substantially better sounding to the LRS. You pay three times the price and I promise you get your money's worth. Get the 1.7i. Even in a smaller room they sound great. Put them in too big of a room and they get lost. A typical sized living room is perfect. You will get depth and width. I would suggest a 400 watt amplifier per channel for a larger room. The amp requirement is a bit over blown in my opinion.
They say the LRS plus is better not angled but vertical with stands at 10 inches from ground. Imagine if you use active dsp on LRS plus tri amp and integrated with a stereo open baffle woofers at 80hz or higher- midrange woofers like those in the 1.7x open platform. An issue with reviewers specially YT is their familiarity with acoustic absolute sound is just to be kind minimal, more so with headphone iem equipment. Nice review. A speaker I just can’t use due to room requirements, tsk.
Au tweeters on the outside.....uhm no the complete surface area is bigger on the 1.7 and wider witch dictates how low they go. (and lower distortion) thats why the LRS drops off at 65 hz.... the 1.7 should not. besides that if you like uneven response on left and right, response the LRS or LRS+ ar the way to go ! they where never measures in an anochoic chamber im pretty sure
IMHO, this was a very poor comparison form the start, because the room is obviously too small for the 1.7i speakers to bloom and sound their best. I don't get it. Why even bother? The far more interesting comparison in that room should've been between the LRS Plus and the .7 speakers, instead of the much larger 1.7i and the LRS Plus.
But that’s my entire point. what I’m saying is that often when people evaluate speakers they always assume that the one that’s more expensive is the right speaker or the better speaker and that is not always the case.
@@drde4010 Ok brother. My apologies. I watched the video again more closely and you do make a valid point about Maggie speaker size vs room size. We know that some will attempt to cram a larger speaker like the 1.7i into a room that's too small for them, and you warm against it. Thank you.
I suspect that the other reason the 1.7i's sounded nicer in the larger room was because we were seated far enough away from them to sound a bit less ear fatiguing. The 1.7i's sounded fantastic in the studio.
Thank you for an interesting review. I use 1.7is successfully with a Parasound Halo hint 6 integrated amp. My room is 20ft by 13 ft but with carpeted floor and large curtains covering windows and French doors etc. and not as much furniture as in this video. Optimum bass is 3ft out from the wall behind them but the deep 'hollow' sound stage starts at 5-6 ft - and when you discover that you have to listen to all your recordings again! I use the resistors - no soldering needed.
Recently I started using the 1.7is with a SVS SB 3000 sub (I want use them for films as well). This is taking time to set up because the SVS can be overwhelming compared to my old Rel strata 5. A 20 or 30hz tone will vibrate the whole room in a really unpleasant way without correct set up. Corner placement is out because of room reinforcement - booming. The SVS app is very helpful in correcting room issues. I suspect a Rel T series would have been easier to integrate.
I have set the Parasound hi pass filter at 100Hz (12 dB slope) for the Magnepans and this really benefits the midrange (as noted by others) and avoids the Magnepan buzz which has developed in one of my 1.7is- a known fault I believe - apparent when playing a small minority of CDs such as Dark Side of the Moon - the heartbeat. In the UK (where I live), repairing Magnepans would be very expensive or DIY.
In terms of Magnepan 1.7i resolution, the Parasound's DAC provides a more detailed but thinner sound than my Marantz SACD 15 S1. Using the Marantz as a CD transport through a Denafripps Venus 2 (bought with some trepidation) - wow!! Big improvement - more of everything through the Magnepans. I had to listen to all my recordings again!
Have to totally agree about the room. Had some Gallo's that sounded only fair in one room, pretty dang good in another. I learned.
. Great 3rd pair of speakers. Cones, Horns and Ribbons to round it all out. I was never a believer that speakers were the first & most important piece in the 2-channel puzzle.
Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊
Great video! I have the .7 and the older 1.7, love both. I don’t understand people who have to be told what sounds good, perhaps they’re soulless.
Soulless! 😂 that’s it!
Sell them.
If you wanna make magna pan, LRS pluses 75% better than what you’re doing right now with your real you need to use an active crossover and take 80% of the base out of the panels of the LRS free it up to it to system and control your bottom man With an active crossover, you will be totally blown out of the water. I’m telling you I’ve done it and it’s unbelievable different. Keep your real. I’m using it TX five which is comparable and newer than what you have but it works. Unbelievable sub is what I’m using now for crossover and it was $500three-way unbelievably I’m using a much higher quality class than you are and a much higher preamp not I got an $8000 preamp beside the point keep what you got get a three-way crossover 500 bucks and you’ll be totally amazed and blown away guaranteed
I'm looking into that now. Thanks
My 3.6R’s on Mye stands driven by Pass preamps and an Audio Research amplifier with a single Carver true subwoofer and decent Synergistic Research foundation interconnect and speaker cables sound spectacular. You need solid stands for the LRS and for the 1.7i’s. There’s no two ways about it. I lived with the standard stands that were included with my Maggies and as soon as I bought the MYE stands music started to bloom and was more articulate, transparent and the image specificity and timber were knockout. The biggest change was in the micro details.
Room size was 13’ x 21.5’ close to the golden ratio.
Cool stuff. I my self are currently using low wattage SET tube amp stuff with Heresy III. Denon AVR as the pre-amp with pre-outs for Main L+R + subwoofer (SVS). Gain matched so that only amplifed speaker from Denon is the rear speakers. Have these heresies dialed nicely position wise and subwoofer integraded good. I only use my SVS sub from 40hz(not localised) and lower, cause i find it will muddy the heresies bass response. Heresies goes to 45'sh on my room (placement near the corners) so i get good steady frequency response. Of course the overall subwoofer integration is important, group delays etc ...anyhow. My living room is 3.5 meters wide, 5-6 meters long and opening to other place of apartment more from the back. i have my speakers on the front wall that is the 3.5 lenght, listening position and coutch at 2.5-3 meters.Also, the toe in is quite steep on my heresies to lessen the side wall reflections. Been testing some Class A/B or Class D ...still, i find flea watt SET tube amps the best ...least amount of listening fatigue for longer listening 👍
very cool.Thank You.
LRS + good enough, i put it on my bed as a destop setup. Sit ear level Or stand ear level, thus negates the need for a bigger model.
Good to know as I have a small room so LRS is good enough
wow I have both too!! LRS+ are amazing but I prefer the 1.7i hands down... I think you need a beefier amp to run the 1.7i properly they are power hungry beasts. I run the LRS+ with a Primaluna Prologue Premium (36wpc) just fine but I run the 1.7i with a Bryston 4B3... the PrimaLuna wasn't enough and a Pass XA25 neither. Please try the 1.7i with a bigger amp you'll be amazed.
It just comes to show how important it is for each owner to compare and listen and isn’t it interesting how different the results can be I think these are all important experiences and thank you for sharing
@@drde4010 absolutely!! Agree 100% I think a big part of this hobby is trying and enjoying the experience in the meantime!!! Love your channel ❤
Are you going to try more power with the 1.7's, I would say the same thing to you.
I have huge tower speakers with 15in base drivers and horn tweeters. No one had listened to the advised use of these with more power to help control the huge base drivers.
Complaints about how they didn't sound very good and they were only using a 50 wpc solid state. I Recommended ATLEAST 80-100WPC the other people with these big bass drivers finally listened to reason and were completely moved by the same speaker run PROPERLY. it's not about individual experience, it's by being reasonable enough to actually listen to advice from others and apply it without dismissing it away.
Brystons can drive just about anything.
Room size, shape, flooring, solid/hollow walls/ceilings and items/furniture, all make a difference in sound quality. Remember that everyone has a different hearing range, hence the like or dislike for speaker sound quality. Currently, I've read that Magnapan has another company experimenting with extermal subwoofers, crossover units, for the line of speakers. So far incredible results, but at a much higher price of course.
Thanks for the post. I got my LRS+ a couple months ago and loving it. My room is 14x20 but I have the speakers facing me from the 20' side. I listen mostly to straight jazz. I'll more than likely pickup a Rel sub but for now they sound great as is. Have you considered placing the LRS+ on stands? I haven't committed to stands yet but I placed mine on some platforms a few inches off the ground to test. They didn't sound much different to me and I'm usually sitting when I want to enjoy these.
I tried stands but didn't like them while sitting down because the soundstage and angle they rest works perfectly. I mentioned this in the unedited video but had issues editing it in. Great question though.
I owned the og LRS with Hegel h160. I’ve since upgraded to the 1.7i and anthem STR integrated. The LRS was nice but the 1.7i is great. Room
Size and dimension matters but the 1.7i was great in a smaller room pulled a few feet into it. I also have a pair of rythmik subs that I integrate when I feel like a bit more bass. My 1.7is have the upgrade golden fuse and eventually plan to get a set of magma risers.
Thanks for sharing!
Great Magnepan review Interesting outcome also I wanted the 1.7's but thought too much for my room, so went with the. 7's I was driving them with my Spectron musical MK lll class D amp designed by John Ulrich It's output is 500watts@8ohm 650@4ohms and 1,200 watts@1ohm I have the Magnarisers & Stereo11 fuse and jumper upgrade I also have two SVS Ultra 13 subs When dialed in correctly the music is sublime I also use my VAC PA 100 100 tube amp and ARC LS15 tube pre amp and that combo also produces magic
Sounds like you have a very nice rig! Thanks for sharing.
@drde4010 Thanks So whatever power is suggested to feed your Maggie's, give them more 😅 They love watts/current
@@Jack96993 I'd love suggestions on a single solid state power amp.
@drde4010 Have heard of Orchard Audio? If not talk to Leo ( one man show) about his GaN Class D amps
Great reviews When my Spectron goes up in smoke I'm buying one! You may not be interested but I did a UA-cam vid of my rig with my Maggie's Specker position and my equipment is in the description
ua-cam.com/video/fh5n7bdKDsM/v-deo.htmlsi=wli9MTbdLu13kcCj
@drde4010
Have you checked out Orchard Audio GaN D class amps? Give Leo a call and he'll help you out Oh I've heard the .7's is the sweet spot for Magnepans
Interesting. Some other channel said the same thing. I have LRS, Vidar and the same REL as you. About once a year I overheat the Vidar (playing very loud and a little liquor.) Ha!!
Thanks for the review. I had some Maggies in the past and while I acknowledge their resolution and transparency I never knew where exactly to put my head. Shift it a smidge to the right or left and constantly the soundstage changed. Did that bother you in your listening?
Also how did you deal with the Maggies' dynamics / ability to render drums? Did you mainly do easy listening or more acoustic music? I found mine so limited that it was not enough for me. Maybe the newer Maggies are different?
I used to have the .7, not the .7i but I believe these latest Maggie's are an improvement. They have a more open treble to my ears and I don't mean harsh. I mean more information. It's solid, open and smooth to me. In this room, I could detect no audible differences in soundstage. When we did the comparison at the larger studio, I believe that we were far enough away from the 1.7i's to reduce the brightness of the treble, and there, the 1.7I soundstage had more presence. I did tweeter in, tweeters out for both in my living room here in the video, but it didn;t change their "relative" performance to each-other.
I have only owned the .7s, but I suspect that the point I want to make applies to all Magnepans. I tried the .7s with a Schiit Freya Plus (which has a lot of gain for a pre) and Vidar 1. The bass was anemic and unsatisfying and the overall sound was thin, harsh at higher volumes and lacking dynamics. I inserted a cheapish (under $700) Buckeye Hypex amp (500w). The difference was astonishing. In my medium sized room, the .7s had enough bass that I completely abandoned the idea of adding a sub. The only complaint I had, which may be DAC related (Schiit bifrost 2/64) was that there was a significant deficiency in the highs. It was really weird... everything else was outstanding and the mids and separation was better than I've ever heard. The high frequencies in the percussion were lacking and I never tried a different DAC. It was a very non fatiguing sound which some people may prefer, especially for harsher recordings like some classic rock that can sound thin and bright. Still, for well recorded music, I was missing those highs. If that issue was DAC related, then the Hypex/Purifi amps (450 + watts) are my first recommendation to anyone with Maggies... before you spend a bunch of money on subs and active crossovers. I wonder if the Purifi amp would have solved the issue with the highs... I also wonder if the newer Hypex amps with higher current might sound even better. Given that Magnepan stresses the importance of current, that is likely to be the case.
Have you tried the LRS+ standing straight up? I've just propped mine up, not raised them. Standing straight up adds clarity, while leaning back is more mellow. The difference is quite striking. The beauty though, is you get to pick which one suits your tastes.
Just want to say that your comparison was quite illuminating, thanks.
Hi, thank you for the feedback and yes, I have leaned them straight up. From my seating position however, I have enjoyed the slight tilt back. When I am at a further distance, then I prefer them straight up like you suggested.
I have not heard the LRS+’s, but I have owned the LRS’s and now own the .7’s with Magna riser stands in a 12 x 11 ft room and in my opinion the .7’s are much more enjoyable. I also have 2 Rel T5i subs. I had a Schiit Vidar amp and in my opinion it was just alright with both Magnepans. I have many speakers and amps to rotate in and out to keep me interested. I now use the Wyred4sound sx1000 monos with a Schiit Freya preamp to great effect. I also use Martin Logan electromotion esl’s with that setup also.
Thanks for sharing and my opinion it’s all about one’s own personal listening experiences and you have to be happy in the end
@@drde4010 Thanks, it’s also about the synergy of your gear also. If you can get a synergistic match among your gear, that’s 90% of getting great sound. I also had some Heresy III’s and they are wonderful sounding speakers. Also had some rp600mII’s and with a great source and tube amp in a small to medium size room will blow away many $2000 to $3000 monitors away.
@@stephenradnich7811 Different rooms have so many different impacts on sound and I agree, matching gear is so important.
Thank you for your review! I have actually the same preference as you - some sort of hollow presentation regarding the 1.7i's. I had the same experience with my 3.7i's, go figure... I need to listen to the LRS and 0.7 to find out if the magical sound is there, as you say :) My previous MG12 and 1.6 sure did not sound hollow. Cheers!
Love your LRS+ reviews. It would be great if you gave GR Research's crossover upgrade on them a try, I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
I appreciate the feedback. I admit I'm nervous messing with it because it sounds so nice.
@@drde4010 if you're near NY/PA/NJ you can borrow my pair. I just did the install on mine last week. It's annoying that I can't AB test it but it does still sound very nice after. I did notice the sweet spot got larger.
@@LuckyX2 Thanks so much for the very kind offer. Unfortunately I'm on the west coast but it's always great to be connected to fellow audio enthusiasts .
I will add a second video follow up soon to address some questions and more details about how they compared at the studio.
0.7 from the year they came out. Reskin 6 months continuous sound during day light hours. Preamp Parasound halo 6, amp Emotiva 250 / at 4 ohm.always ok but never lived up to my older Maggie’s.Built stands that stood them straight up 5 inc he’s off the ground, jaw dropping sound. Placement and better stands make a huge difference. No I did not pay 3-500 for the vertical stands. Stands cost me less than $50
Cats love these
True!
Doc, you need to look at installing one of these Sublime crossovers (See Edit Below), mine is up and running, K231 model with their 80hz module, and it is sounding fantastic on the LRS+'s with the two REL T-Zero MKIII subs... Much tighter, more detail to my ear than the prior Rolls SX45 I was using. The sound now has a bit of "crispness" to it, especially with the horns and percussion. Crisp in a pleasing way, nothing shrill or bright, everything is just tighter, more focused no slop. This was worth the expense. And getting the bass to blend in is painless. I cannot believe what these silly little subs are doing in my room.
On edit: The Sublime is headed back, the Rolls SX45 kicked its tail after getting another set of ears on the system. If you are looking for an inexpensive mind blowing experience in overall sound quality, get the Rolls. I also plugged in my Zu DW6 Supremes on a little Cayin EL-84 tube amp, the Zu's have never sounded wo good with the little RELs. Just incredible sound in the living room. Melody Gardot is in my room, excuse me while I go get her a glass of wine... ;-)
A crossover is next on my list. I seriously gotta try one.
@@drde4010 We had a shoot out this morning, the old Rolls SX45 won out over the Sublime K231. Sometimes a second set of ears is best. She pointed out what I could not, or refused to hear. It was tighter sound, but the sparkle was gone. How the hell I missed that, must have been tired. The Rolls is back in the system, the Sublime is already labeled and ready to ship back tomorrow. The issue with the Sublime unit is gain, it simply does not produce enough to let the speakers breathe. The Rolls packs a punch in that regard, and that was the tell, cranking the gain up. there was no distortion that I or she could hear. so that is not an issue with the Rolls. A little tweak here and there and she is back sounding good. Good thing she is around. ;-)
@@michaelwright1602 What you shared there is exactly the kind of comparison I like hearing about. The experiences each are just so personal to tastes, rooms, components and situations. Appreciate you sharing this.
@@drde4010 You are welcome sir, and WE can vouch for the Rolls. I would not hesitate recommending it. The Sublime unit, not so much.
@@drde4010 I just plugged my Zu DW6 Supremes into the system, running off a little Cayin EL-84 amp and that Rolls SX45 crossover, along with the little RELs... Same 80hz cutoff, and boy do these sound fantastic. The sound quality improvement that this silly little crossover brings to the table is worth the modest price of entry.
You added ? For additional 500 to lrs+. Rel a tease plus?
Yeah, so the total is 1500
Those 1.7's are huge, I could in no way run those in my room. The LRS+ are just right in the size department, and sound so sweet! Updates coming, just removed the two SVS SB3000 subs, replaced with a pair of REL T-Zero MKIII units. Sublime Acoustic K231 crossover just arrived, almost have the gear ready to go...
I got some groceries, some peanut butter
To last a couple of days
But I ain't got no speakers, ain't got no headphones
Ain't got no records to play ;-)
Niiiiiiice! 😊
I like to know your thoughts on the sublime crossover once you get it set up
@@ericelmore887 Should be tonight, I have been using the Rolls SX45 cx with fantastic results.
@@ericelmore887 Listening to it right now, and it is dreamy... WOW! Does it sound fantastic. I have had the Rolls SX45 cx in the system awaiting this Sublime Acoustic K231 unit. I have the 80hz module installed. I am using a WiiM Pro streamer, playing my local Detroit Jazz station, WRCJ, check them out, no commercials, all of the old PBS guys...
The system...
WiiM Pro with the LHY linear power supply > PS Audio Stellar Gaincell DAC/Preamp > Schiit Lokius via XLR > Sublime CX via XLR TRS > Emotiva XPA2 Gen 1 > LRS+ speakers along with a pair of the REL T-Zero MKIII subs.
Crazy setup here, as I have the two REL's running off an RCA switch, as I have two amps in the mix and want to be able to switch on the fly. The Lokius is acting as a switch between the LRS+ and the old Emotiva along with a pair of Zu DW6 Supreme speakers and a Cayin EL-84 tuber amp.
These Sublime CX are a bit pricey, but I think it was a worthwhile investment when put up against the Rolls SX45. I could live with either, but after hearing the Sublime unit, I am glad a bought it, it is much better than the Rolls. The sound is tighter, better separation and I really like what it is doing with the REL's. The Rolls is pro gear, and it had a bit of slop to it, but still made a marked difference to the betterment of overall sound quality. Even with all of this in the chain, I hear nothing out of the speakers, dead silent with nothing playing. A little Tony Bennett Live right now, sounds good, Tony is here, I am going to go get him a drink. ;-)
@@ericelmore887 After doing a serious shoot out this morning, with the Sublime and Rolls SX45, I would go with and stick with the Rolls. I brought in a second set of ears, and she promptly corrected my crap hearing. I figured it out, after eating some humble pie, that the issue is the gain. The Sublime only has 6db, just not enough in my system with these LRS+ speakers/amp combo. I removed everything out of the chain and hooked up both CX's direct, the Rolls was the easily the hands down winner. Both units handle the crossover with ease, it is the gain issue between the two. I have a gain booster, but adding more to the audio chain is now getting ridiculous. I boxed up the Sublime unit, printed a return shipping label and will be sending back tomorrow.
Do you prefer the tweeters out as you have them or in ~ I too have a small room for my LRS+ and have the tweeters out ~
I've always preferred them out, particularly if they are standing closer together.
@@drde4010 Actually I never had them in ~ Thanks for your reply ~
Magnepans are very amp dependent. The 1.7 needs higher quality and more current. All Maggie’s will improve with a better front end more than most speakers. But the bigger the Maggie’s the more important it is. So yea the LRS probably did perform better for you in that system.
If anyone has opinions on a single solid state power amp, I'd love to hear others opinions on some for the Maggie's.
The Hegel H190 had no problems back in the days when I had some Maggies. Can drive very low ohm loads (I think most Maggies are below 4 ohm). It's a neutral sounding amp that resolves very well, in the area of USD 3k. looks very bland though, lol.
Son of Ampzilla ll 350w@4ohms
Did great with 1.7i, ok with 20.7s
Coda Ts v3 800w@4ohm 😊
Hegel 390, LRS and a REL T/5x is all you need…🥰
How do you feel about the GR Research mods for these?
I'm so happy with the way it sounds, I'm scared to change it.
Maggie’s vs open baffle full range?
Please don't just dismiss the good advise to go ahead and try the 1.7 with much more power. They will actually work well in that space with much more then just adequate tap water power. Also, the LRS+ are very racked back in how they sit, I would also try that stance -somehow with the 1.7 changing the dispersion outward in that same rackish fashion.
I should mention that I had been driving the Vidar 2 for several hours with some pretty high volume play. I'm always open to ideas and suggestions and would love to learn, however I never felt at any time that either speaker was underpowered, honestly. The Vidar just needed some open air to breathe properly and once that was done, it never shut itself down. I don't know that orienting the 1.7i at an angle is practical when the LRS was already delivering an equally large soundstage. I actually like the LRS's leaned position, I admit,. Not sure if that's what you are suggesting.
Both speakers need work from stock form. There are response anomalies and colorations due to interference effects from overlapping responses of the tweeter and woofer. Move a few degrees and the sound changes. If crossed over the way they should the "ribbon" tweeter should play the treble and not overlap the same frequencies as the bass panels. Likewise the bass panels should be kept out of the treble zone. But on the LRS, Magneplanar has done the opposite... both drivers operate nearly full range with the attendant interference effects as you move even a few degrees around the speaker.
Would you / do you run the LRS+ off your ST70?
Sure, I’ll do a sound demo between the Vidar and the ST 70
@@drde4010 Thank you. I just bought a new ST 70 from Kenny and I'm interested in the LRS+'s.
@@S682 If it makes you feel any better I decided to plug it in for the first time to the LRS and so far it's running fantastic. No issues. I'll post a video shortly.
@@drde4010that’s gonna be interesting! Looking forward to it!
Is there a chance the asymmetrical LRS design is filling-in the imaging space?
Do you mean the angle of the stands?
@@drde4010 nope. If you look at the bass regions of the left and right LRS diaphragms, you can see differently positioned "anchors" that tune the left and right bass zones differently. The low and mid frequencies are probably interwoven/combed between the left and right channels. Just a hunch, based on the physical differences. Yes, mini maggies are amazing at any price. :)
@@brrryan2908 Skip to 15:28 of this video. ua-cam.com/video/6bBabp2a7LM/v-deo.htmlsi=P2qU-Vre8bGCeaoZ
Exactly.👍
OMG. I am a an Electronics Engineer. And will understand the Near Field Experience.
To my ears the 1.7i was substantially better sounding to the LRS. You pay three times the price and I promise you get your money's worth. Get the 1.7i. Even in a smaller room they sound great. Put them in too big of a room and they get lost. A typical sized living room is perfect. You will get depth and width. I would suggest a 400 watt amplifier per channel for a larger room. The amp requirement is a bit over blown in my opinion.
Had LRS 2 months, 1.7is 2 years 😊
They say the LRS plus is better not angled but vertical with stands at 10 inches from ground. Imagine if you use active dsp on LRS plus tri amp and integrated with a stereo open baffle woofers at 80hz or higher- midrange woofers like those in the 1.7x open platform. An issue with reviewers specially YT is their familiarity with acoustic absolute sound is just to be kind minimal, more so with headphone iem equipment. Nice review. A speaker I just can’t use due to room requirements, tsk.
Au tweeters on the outside.....uhm no the complete surface area is bigger on the 1.7 and wider witch dictates how low they go. (and lower distortion) thats why the LRS drops off at 65 hz.... the 1.7 should not. besides that if you like uneven response on left and right, response the LRS or LRS+ ar the way to go ! they where never measures in an anochoic chamber im pretty sure
IMHO, this was a very poor comparison form the start, because the room is obviously too small for the 1.7i speakers to bloom and sound their best. I don't get it. Why even bother? The far more interesting comparison in that room should've been between the LRS Plus and the .7 speakers, instead of the much larger 1.7i and the LRS Plus.
But that’s my entire point. what I’m saying is that often when people evaluate speakers they always assume that the one that’s more expensive is the right speaker or the better speaker and that is not always the case.
@@drde4010 Ok brother. My apologies. I watched the video again more closely and you do make a valid point about Maggie speaker size vs room size. We know that some will attempt to cram a larger speaker like the 1.7i into a room that's too small for them, and you warm against it. Thank you.
@@kenmcglown6642 no worries at all thank you for sharing
The dog needs a treatment scratching too much
Get something for that dog's ears. Poor puppy
Yes! I finally got that worked out. 😂
Something that is not "speakers" :)
Doggo needs anti- itch meds!
Yea, he needed some of that and got some love from the wife after that. 😀