Clarity, great sound stage & detail.

Needs a powerful amp.

Driven by Carver TFM-35, its wonderful. Get one if you find it at ebay.

Similar Products Used:

JBL, Infinity, Bose.

I've had these Home Theater Maggies for over a year now and LOVE them. Imaging is superb, but you must have a good amp or it all falls apart. Rolloff is set to ~60Hz, so they require a subwoofer. Combined with the SS-1 (surround, $450) and CC-1 (center, $750) speakers, the MGLR-1's ($850) make for one of the best HT setups -- even compared to HT setups at twice the price.

I got a pair of Magnepan MGLR's for $500 a pair as a closeout sale. My friend got me an Onkyo A-9511 amp at his cost, right around $500. The amp is high current with enough power for my small apartment. I have on occasion turned the volume all the way up, it was too loud to listen to for any extended period, but the system sounded unstrained. The imaging and detail are amazing and the bassis tight and accurate with no boominess. I'm sold on their sound because I can close my eyes and see the instruments.

It absolutely amazes me each and every time I fire up my system! How did Iever appreciate the sound of music before owning a pair of Magneplanar MGLR-1
loudspeakers?
Sure, I thought my JBL L112 Studio Monitors kicked ass when I first purchased
them in 1983 (they were at that time JBL's top-of-the-line bookshelf speakers,
and man, could they crank out the tunes of Pink Floyd and Led Zepplin). They
could make your eardrums bleed before they would ever distort (which I never heard them do), and being able to handle 300 watts, I never had to worry about
blowing any of the drivers with my Carver M-400t Magnetic Field Amp! As much as
I loved the JBL's ability to spit out over 110dB of raw volume, I realize now
that they weren't as "musical" as I thought they could have been (sorry, JBL...
you continue to build fine loudspeakers...this is just my opinion).
What happened next was the fact that my musical taste had changed. As I was
losing more interest in multi-tracked, recorded-in-the-studio Rock, I was just
beginning to appreciate live Jazz recordings, and most importantly, the deeply
moving experience of a large symphony orchestra or pipe organ playing the most
beautiful Classical music ever composed! Over the years, my JBL's just didn't
"sing" to me like they used to, and after upgrading most of my components, in-
terconnects, and speaker cables, they just weren't right for the music I now
enjoy. My dad bought a pair of Klipsch Cornwall 1's way back in '78 that I had
always loved, with their pristine ability to capture the musical truth with as
little power as possible (gotta love those efficient horns), but they've been
long sinse discontinued, plus they're just too damn big for my listening room
(sorry, Klipsch, but I like your older designs better than your new ones...Dad's
Cornwall's are over 21 years old and still sound brand new! Will your plastic
Quintet's hold up as well, and will they in the next 20+ years have a cult following like the Klipschorn and Cornwall? Sure hope so...)!
When I first saw the Magnepan MG-20 at a dealer's showroom, I was immediately
in awe that aluminum wires, mylar diaphragms, and strips of magnets were all
that made up these loudspeakers! And when I heard them for the first time, I
couldn't believe it! How does a coneless, 1" thick loudspeaker produce clean,
revealing, naturally life-like sound? I assumed that all Maggies were out of my
price range until I happened upon the affordable MGLR-1. I had to audition them,
and I could not believe how wide and high the soundstage was, plus the depth
behind the speaker was exceptionally convincing! I was hooked!
The MGLR-1's literally disappear when played in my listening room. This amaz-
ing soundfield suspends all around the room, and it's possible to pin-point the
placement of different instruments! Vocals "sing" sweetly, and they stay within
their own space in the soundstage! This was "thee" musical experience I was
searching for!
True, the MGLR-1's don't have the power-handling capabilities of the JBL's,
and they're not nearly as efficient as the Klipsch, and their lack of true bass
is no secret to the planar audiophile, which is why I own a home-made subwoofer
with a 15" JL Audio 15W6 driver, connected to an AudioControl Richter Scale
crossover set at a frequency point of 90Hz, and powered by the trusty M-400t!
My Maggies "sing" to the power of Carver's TFM-35x, with 350 watts per channel
at 4 ohms, and are connected to garden-hose sized Space and Time #9 AWG speaker
cables, terminated with gold-plated banana plugs. This is as "musical" as it
gets, and it didn't break the piggy bank!
I could go on and on, but I can't really express how gratifing the musical
experience is on paper...you have to hear it to believe it for yourself! There
are other reputable loudspeaker manufacturers out there, and the choices these
days are mind-boggling! Eventhough the MGLR-1's are no longer made, I can't see
ever replacing them (except with another Maggie), and they just might become
a cult status as well. Highly recommended!