Price Paid:  $38000.00 from Radiosalongen

Summary:
When I first startet listening to music on the Magnat Vintage 760, I fell in love with the superior sound it delivers. This is a giant speaker (90 kg), and it has no problems pressing out ALL the details the music reveals. Pop, rock, jazz and even big symphonies; you can throw anyting at the Magnat Vintage 760, and it'll still deliver perfectly!!

Strengths:
Thunderous bass, perfect midrange, crystal clear treble. Great terminals and a lovely design!

Weaknesses:
Rather heavy...

Similar Products Used:
Electrocompaniet AW-250 and Vincent SP-993 monoblocks. Kimber- and Monster cables.

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Media Markt, GE

Summary:
For one I believe that audio review has this speaker in the wrong category. It should really be considered a bookshelf speaker.

Overall this is a very good speaker in its price range. It has great overall tonal balance, is very natural/neutral and faithfully reproduces recording without any additional coloration.

With that said this speaker is not a serious contender in the two channel main speaker role, at least not without a quality sub. Attention has to be paided to placement, at ear level preferrably, because the sound stage is not over tall(typical of bookshelf speaks).

I run a separate theater system from my two channel audio, and I use a pair of 22s for the center and a pair for the rear effects channels. Joined with a pair of Vector 77s(excellent floor stander) for the front, the combination performs marvelously. Sound effects reproducted are so realistic that friends often comment about looking for birds or the telephone while viewing movies.

The vector 22 is a fine speaker; the key is finding the right combination in the right application.

Strengths:
Overall tonal balance

Weaknesses:
Needs a sub for 2 channal

Similar Products Used:
Cerwin Vega AT10

Price Paid:  $599.00 from Videopro

Summary:
Not much to say about these. Germans might be good engineers but they sure as hell can't make decent sounding hifi. Compared to British and US offerings these speakers sound quite horrible. Voices are so abraisive its painful and the bass...hrmm still can't find it!

Can I also add a big @#$% you to those idiots at Videopro. You should quit selling inferior mass market speakers and get some real ones. I owned your Magnats for 5 days before I flogged them off in favour of a pair of Acoustic Energy Aegis 1's.

Strengths:
not many, good looks i guess....

Weaknesses:
sandpaper like treble and poorly controlled bass

Summary:
Contrary to a WHAT-HI*FI review published in September 1998 these speakers are not typical cold/harsh sounding European Hifi. Magnat have been around for over 30 years and have won numerous accolades accros the Euro Hifi press. Placed on solid 60cm stands and biwired with quality multistranded cable, the Magnats IMHO are some of the most dynamic bookshelf speakers I've ever heard.
Claimed bass response is 35hz and comes from a 15cm paper cone woofer. It's obvious when listening they don't go that far down but bass is impressive nonetheless - deep, wide and well controlled. Treble and midband are clear and zingy courtesy of a 25mm ceramic dome tweeter. Magnat claims top end reaches 35,000hz - no mean feat. A high sensitivity of 90db and 4-8 ohm impedance won't cause too many problems for most amplifiers.

The characteristics of this loudpseaker lean it towards rock/pop, techno/dance and orchestral works. They are also ideal for home theatre use (their main purpose for my setup). Simple arrangements (eg guitar, soft jazz) can sound a little processed but the music is always extremely well balanced. Tracks like "Rising Son" from Massive Attack's Mezzanine album go good and loud without any sense of strain.

There are more detailed and revealing speakers on the market but in terms of bass, dynamic ability and value for money, the Magnat's score well.


4 stars