Daniel_Rai@ub.cc.umich.edu (10/15/90)
==========================
In the $300-$500 per component range, perhaps Magnepans
are quite a bargain. Years ago, a pair of SMGa'a were
startlingly well driven by a Nak Receiver (I thought I
was so happy). That was then -pre tubes, or American
solid state...
I've owned three diferent pairs of Magnepans in three
different apartments. Each night after dinner, I would
spend 2-4 energy draining emotionally harried hours
trying to get the things optimally placed.
If I were to give Magnepans a name, it would be
"Frequency Countour of the Picosecond". If you blinked
- imaging would flip-flop then go inside out. Thermal
expansion from temperature changes , would swing the
"sweet" spot (aka Psycho Death Chamber) several yards.
The most miniscule placement changes (we're talking
mm's or less), would put all the nasty spikes and
valleys through a Moulinex, to be scattered about
randomly.
I would always get rid of them after 3-4 very trying
weeks.
No matter how much I wanted them to sound *just good
enough to keep them* (and how I wanted to keep them -
women *love* planar speakers), they were always able to
bludgeon my perseverance though sheer attrition.
As for Apogees, they are insanely fragile. You *will*
be punished if you try to ship them. A Caliper woofer
was damaged en route to me from the seller. The
pedestal was damaged on the trip to the factory to
repair the woofer, and the frame was vertically
fractured from the factory while shipping them to me.
Shipping Calipers runs about $150 per speaker per
direction. Not to mention Apogee's parts and labor.
The speakers flog the amp to run at 160-170(F) during
low to moderate listening levels - this is up from the
normal idling temp of 110(F), [Levinson 27 with user
placed meat thermometer].
In spite of all of this, of all speakers I have ever
come across, these have been the easiest to live with,
by a COMPLETE and SIGNIFICANT step. (There are others,
but of the ones I've had firsthand experience with,
only Apogee, Quad, Thiel, and Rogers have I been able
to forget where the speakers are located while
listening).
Placement: as mentioned before, I've spent much less
than 1% of the time moving Magnepans, on placing the
Apogees. Zero toe in, rear wall space adjusted to tune
bass response. Period. Box, lock, and key.
Apogees are definitely colored - no neutrality here!
But colorations make it sound rich and brilliant.
Bottom half is very controlled, yet powerful as to just
hint at being heavy handed at times. Total response is
smooth (Apogee trademark) and somewhat soft, with no
noticable peakiness anywhere. Imaging and openness is
done so well, that for the first time ever , I have
been able to *listen* without analyzing most of the
time. (I used to spend >80% analyzing - now it's less
than 10%)
This is not a sales pitch for Apogee. I am quite
pissed off at their inadequate packaging. "Here's a
Faberge Easter Egg . Drop it in a shopping bag, and
we'll stick it in the US Mail to Miami."
Right. What packing buffoons.
RE: speakers $2-$5K
-------------------
The Quad ESL-63's are accurate (If you are a detail
freak, this is God's gift to you), but are missing all
of the lower octaves, so balance is light (let's call
this White). Martin Logan CLS II's have stage size, but
is not convincingly open or very clear (their
transformers maybe? - let's call this Off-White).
Mirage M1's weren't bad, but lost control too often and
had a schizophrenic balance (Some-Color-of-Bicycle-
Shorts-Which-There-Exists-No-Name). Linn DMS's sounded
good - light and open, but on some material was
slightly nasal. DMS's are visually imposing.
Thiel CS 3 or 3.5's sound great. One should be able to
find a used pair of CS3's for less than $2K (as steal
in my opinion).
RE: B&W Bashing
---------------
After all the fanfare and rave reviews, I was dying to
be blown away by the $5500/pair.
Store 1: Denon CD (no vinyl), Adcom electronics
Blurry image, confused transients, nasal, boxy,
hollow, in a word - irritating. The eager salesperson
smiling for a rave review prompted me (and non-audio-
girlfriend) to severely understate our illness. I
could only tell him that there must have been something
wrong with the player or electronics. The speakers
COULDN'T POSSIBLY sound THAT bad.
Store 2: LP12/ITTOK, MAC electronics
Sounded much better. About as good as a pair of
medium floor standing Boston Acoustics. (Let me see,
equivalent performance , at a 900% premium - well, the
B&W's *look* fancier). Whoever here said earlier, they
sound like bookshelves but with more bass, was right on
target.
I still refuse to accept, that they do not sound better
than the times I've heard them. I WANT them to sound
good (let alone great). They can't be this short on
performance. If they really are (to my disbelief),
they would be the worst sounding expensive speakers
ever to reach main markets.
Daniel_Rai@UB.CC.UMICH.EDU / USERHDM0@UMICHUB.BITNET
Kresge Hearing Research Institute
University of Michigan Medical Schoolkucharsk@number6.Solbourne.COM (William Kucharski) (10/16/90)
In article <6966@uwm.edu> Daniel_Rai@ub.cc.umich.edu writes: > As for Apogees, they are insanely fragile. You *will* > be punished if you try to ship them. A Caliper woofer > was damaged en route to me from the seller. The > pedestal was damaged on the trip to the factory to > repair the woofer, and the frame was vertically > fractured from the factory while shipping them to me. > Shipping Calipers runs about $150 per speaker per > direction. Not to mention Apogee's parts and labor. Just thought I'd mention that Apogee may have improved their shipping techniques lately. My Caliper Signatures were shipped via Consolidated Freightways from Mass. to Denver. The boxes look like they underwent some rough handling but the speakers came through unharmed, not even a scratch. Sure, they turn my GFA-555 into a space heater, but the sound makes it all worthwhile. By the way, I've recently purchased a Linn Axis with Akito tonearm and Sumiko Blue Point cartridge and I'm going to mate it with my recently ordered Adcom GFP-565 preamp; if there's interest I'd be glad to submit a review of the 'table and the preamp, when it arrives. Oh, and no, I still haven't figured out what speaker cable I'm eventually going to settle on (sigh...) -- ===================>> Quote: "It's Night 9 With D2 Dave!" <<=================== | Internet: kucharsk@Solbourne.COM | William Kucharski | | uucp: ...!{boulder,sun,uunet}!stan!kucharsk | Solbourne Computer, Inc. | ===>> Opinions expressed above are MINE, not those of Solbourne Computer. <<===
martinb@cod.nosc.mil (Brett F. Martin) (10/17/90)
While Maggies are probably among the top 10 in terms of
"difficulty in placement," they do not need to be moved all the
time once the best spot is found. I have found that recordings
made with spaced microphones rarely have stable images: period!
My Maggies give rock-solid images to M/S recordings very, very
consistently. The fact that other speakers are less accurate
should not be touted as a virtue for them. Therefore, I would
tend to blame the recording for the wondering images you describe
(and which every owner has experienced).
Do women really love planars? They seem to like them OK in other
people's homes, but do they really like them in their own living
room? (Probably not, but it beats an ugly box if they are forced
to choose!)
Brett Martin