I finally registered at Audioreview because my conscience could not let me sit ungrateful, enjoying my Odyssey Stratos, Magnepans and Outlaw gear, without acknowledging the joy and pride they have brought me. Before these, I used to own a Yamaha receiver and Polk speakers. I had always wanted to upgrade but sheer laziness prevented that. But before my recent move to India, I realized it was then or never. So I bought myself Odyssey Stratos and Stratos HT-3 (with cap upgrades), an Outlaw 990 pre, Magnepan MMG-Ws (3 pairs for 6 channels) and MMG-C for center. I retained my earlier M&K (V-125) sub and Harmon Kardon FL8450 CD. Out of all this, only the MMG-Ws were a compromise, I would have liked bigger Maggies but shipping and space restrictions prevented that. Still, with all this gear, now I live in musical (and HT) Nirvana!

But this is about the MMG-W and MMG-C. The ordering was painless, I got my speakers when promised. I didn't hook them up in the US before shipping them to India in their original packaging.

The speakers survived the shipping to India without a scratch. Installation on the wall was straightforward. I didn't tryout different positions. Just picked best spots from all the available ones. The fronts are 2.5 ft from ground and on side walls. The rears are on back wall, too close to the couch to be ideal but can't help it. Probably due to the positioning, the rears are not very effective unless in a 5-ch stereo listening (but who does?) or some really special HT effects. The center sits below the TV at about 1.2 ft. That's lower than I'd like but the sounds/dialogues are nothing to complain about. All are bypassed below 100 Hz to the sub.

Upon hooking up the system, the sound was outstanding. I couldn't believe I could get that kind of sound from mere panels. The quality of sound, the size of the speakers (and other gear), the unobtrusive and unconventional look has a big wow factor (especially in India).

The maggies, amply fed by Odyssey Stratos, and assisted by the M&K sub are one heckuva system. The sounds are very natural, the bass is enough punchy for movies but subtly and unobtrusively so for music. Just perfect!

Soundstaging, imaging, clarity

Bass, Highs

I bought the two pairs of the MMGW's and the MMGC center for a 5.1 channel surround system. I was concerned that since these were 5 ohm speakers my current receiver would run out of juice, so I bought a Yamaha RX-V1800 receiver to drive them. In addition, I am using a HSU VTF-2 MK 2 Subwoofer to take care of the bottom end.

My room is about 16 feet wide by 17 feet deep. I mounted the front MMGW's on the side walls about 3.5 feet from the front walls. At the moment, the rears are on the side walls about 2 feet in front of the couch. The couch is against the rear wall and there are door ways on each side of the couch. I'll be working on placement of the rears, but they work well where they are for now.

The center channel has been below the 52 in flat panel and above. The TV hangs on the wall. Below the panel, the center is just under ear level and so the clarity is a little better than when mounted above the screen. When the center is above, the sound seems to come from the screen more so than when at the bottom. I plan on leaving it on top. Besides, it just sits there perfectly and looks way cool. I should note that the center is only 6 inches away from the wall behind it. I spoke to Magenpan and they told me that it should be between 2 foot and 5 foot from the wall. I tried that, but my room is too small and I really didn't think it sounded much better. It sounds very good where it is! I love this center.

I also tried using a pair of MMGW's as center speakers. I used a pair, mounting one on each side of the monitor. It sounded very good, but I preferred to use the MMGC because while the MMGW's spread the audio image across the screen the MMGC seemed to focus it more toward the center of the screen. If I were to sit further back from the screen I might have to change my mind.

About me...

This is my first complete surround system. Since the early seventies, I have been into 2 channel audio and have owned some very good equipment and so have become very critical about sound quality. About 10 years ago I got off the highend carousel and decided to put together a system that didn't cost an arm and leg, but still sounded highend. I ended up building my own speakers and have never looked back since. My reference system consists of magnesium woofers and a 4 foot ribbon tweeter. They are not planers, but they sure sound very open like planers. These Maggies are the third pair of planers I have owned and I love the sound of planers. Once you live with planers, you will find that you can hear the boxes of most box speakers irregardless of price. It becomes very distracting.

So, how do they sound?

First off, the MMGW do not have tweeters and so you will notice it depending on what instrument is playing. In addition, they don't go below 100Hz so they have no bass. A good subwoofer can take care of the bottom end. With music the sound is to die for. They image much better than any speaker in their price range and better than most speakers I have heard. On the down side, there is a haze overlapping the clarity. Don't get me wrong, they are very clear and clearer than most speakers that I have listened to lately. I have heard the same haze on all the Maggies from the MMGW to the 1.6's. I also heard the same same haze on a pair of Sonus Faber that I listened to recently. I still liked the Sonus Faber. I guess that my reference system has me spoiled. I should also point out that all the Maggies I have heard have had great imaging. Okay, lets get specific...

(2 Channel music)

Imaging & Soundstage...
The first time I heard these speakers I was taken back because they produced the same soundstage as my reference system. They produced a deep soundstage and I could hear the singers in the back of the recording as clearly as I could hear the main singer. The images of the instruments and performs were separate and well definded in the soundstage, left to right and front to back. I was totally amazed! The images were not as well delinated as with my reference system, but they were not that far off either. I would not have believed it without hearing it myself.

Clarity...
This is the one area that could have been improved. However, I am comparing it to the best available and in the real world, the clarity is very good. In fact, if you've not heard better, you would be impressed with its clarity.

Dynamics...
The dynamics were acceptable and rarely did I notice any lack of dynamics. Of course, they were mated with my HSU sub. Without the sub, they had no bass.

(Surround sound)

They were seemless and would play very loud in my room. On one movie I was watching, the entire room lit up with energy when the special effects kicked in. It got so loud that I was afraid that the police would be knocking at my door any minute. Very impressive! The clairty of voices was exceptional.

Needless to say, surround sound is new to me and so I have been renting movies like crazy. I didn't realize how much I've been missing.

Finishing up...

A friend asked what I thought of these and I told him that if these were my only pair of speakers I could easily live with them for the rest of my life. What they do well they do very well and what they lack is minor in comparison. To my knowledge, there is no speaker in this price range that can even come close to their performance. I have heard speakers that cost thousands that I would not take over these.

The bottom line is that these are one of the most impressive speakers in their price range I have ever come across.

What's really amazing is that these are the bottom of the line for Magnepan speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Phase Linear, Quad ESL, B&W, System Audio, Newform, plus I auditioned many more higher end speakers.

Clear, lifelike, transparent, especially on acoustic music & vocals

Limited bass extension

The Magneplanar sound is such that, once you've had it, you'll never go back to box speakers. The box colouration is totally absent, and instruments & singers sound big and remarkably lifelike, almost like they're in the room. The Maggies have a reputation for being a bit energetic in the treble, and with my power amp, they have the very unusual combination of being clear & detailed and yet totally unfatiguing. They thrive on acoustic & vocals, try Eric Clapton Unplugged and all I can say is wow!

Great sound for the $$$. Just as good w/music as HT. Looks, and wife approval;)

16 gauge wire attached.

Initial review is NICE! Just installed, very easy wall installation. Full system not running yet(no subs and bare subflooring) but the sound produced from the speakers alone is "crisp and clean" with more detail than I'm used to hearing. Very unobtrusive style(very high wife approval). Just what I was looking for in HT speakers. Can't wait till Sub is up and running:)

Very small and unobtrusive. Great sound with movies! (very nice for music as well) Wall mounted! Amazing value!

VERY power hungry, don't try these with your tube amp :) Wall mounted so they're not real flexible for moving.

These are one of the best deals in home theater. I have had 4 complete home theater systems in the last 5 years and this modest $900 system is my favorite. The sound from the Maggies is most natural and involving, the surrounds are where the speakers really shine, I've yet to find a more enveloping pair of rear speakers. The shape of the speakers is unreal, they look like window shutters on your walls; very cool! Be warned that the recommended 24 inch mounting height is TOO high.

Similar Products Used:

NHT, Bohlender Graebener, Monitor Audio, Mission

Just received one pair of MMG Ws yesterday. My first impression was "wow " and they seemed to sound even warmer after a couple of hours. I knew after a short time last night, my quest for a budget HT system that would satisfy me was over. The ambiance they create is amazing, perfect for HT. They are airy, not bright, as I was afraid they might be. In fact, I was watching a flick last night and it sounded great just in Stereo mode! Be careful when mounting them as these things really have horizontal and vertical sweet spots, kind of like an old rear projection TV. Moving your head side to side and up and down makes a big difference. See what works for you and just don't go 24" from the floor as indicated in the directions. Mine are now at 18". 1) Packaged very well. 2) The pigtail wires coming out of them is weak. Why do I need my insulated 12 Gauge OF cable if I'm splicing into this cheap 16 ga. stuff? Not cool. 3) Very smooth, open and ambient sound. Sounds great at low volume levels as well. 4) Sucks juice from your receiver/amp like crazy! I can see how my Pioneer Elite is barely adequate for these babies, and I don't even have the center or surrounds yet. Might be time for an Ad-com... Thanks.

Similar Products Used:

M&K, KEF, JBL HT series

Unbelievable sound quality for $299

Needs a subwoofer

Well we just received and set up a pair of Magnepan MMG W ($300 per pair) speakers. First off, Maggies need to be broken in, so I have them in a 7.1 system playing a SACD "Jazz at the Pawn Shop" while I type. We received them today in perfect condition, they were ordered factory direct from Magnepan. The packing was good and keep them in mint condition. When we unpacked them, my wife was all smiles. The WAF is at an all time high. They are cute, thin speakers. They measure only 38" tall by 10 1/2" wide by 3/4" deep. We got natural wood with off-white cloth (matches our wall color). These speakers like (need) to be mounted on the wall. We are currently doing the 60 day money-back guarantee program. So we have placed them next to the front wall at a 30 degree angle, on boxes so they are at ear height. Not the optimum set up but it appears to do the job, with no holes in the wall. We are currently using them as front left and right's. One of our first questions were, what is this 30 degree angle thing. How important is it, how do you know you have it right!?! Well, we placed them, wired them, angled them at about 30 degrees, sat in the center seat, the wife rotated them back and forth between 45 degrees and zero. After maybe three passes we found the perfect sound... we pulled out a compass and measured the angle "hey, it was 30 degrees" go figure. It will be obvious to you when you have them right, to close to the wall they will sound restricted, when you rotate them out the sound opens up until it starts to sound hollow, then you just rotate them back a bit, again very little tweaking needed. Total time once we wired them, re-calibrated the Integra 9.1 U2 7.1 system, less than 5 minutes. Now to the sound quality, Please remember these are speakers that cost $300 for a pair! We started with a DVD, it sounded very open and articulate, everything was there that was supposed to be (can't wait until they get broken in). They really opened up my HT system. They have that sweet sound that Maggies are known for. I A-B ed them between PSB 4T's and right out of the box the Maggies were more open and detailed (hello eBay here I come with speakers for sale)! Now on to SACD music, these are the best sounding $300 per pair speakers I have ever heard or "heard of" (period)! No they don't sound as good as the Magnepan MG 20.1's but then again you can buy the MMG-W's for about half of what the sales tax would be on the 20.1's. " The Magnepan MMG-W speakers are a cost effective way to truly peer into high quality sound reproduction". My initial thoughts are... if you use your system more for HT than music, you just have to give these an audition. You, your partner, your HT system and your wallet will greatly appreciate the accomplishment Magnepan has achieved with the MMG-W's.

Similar Products Used:

Magnepan MGMC1

Awesome detail in the music! Super clean sound!

No bass but we have a seperate subwoofer for that and the integration seems seamless to us!

Unbelievable sound for the money! I had purchased a pair of definitive technologies bipolar TL2006 and my wife and I thought they sounded awesome UNTIL we heard these. Now, I am referring to these in 2 channel stereo (haven't even gotten to HT applications yet)! So CLEAN it was unbelievable. Somewhat directional but you can rotate on the wall.

Similar Products Used:

Martin Logan