These speakers deliver a large soundstage. That's probably the first thing you will notice. Then the midrange will grab you. Just play some female vocals, preferably jazz, and you'll know what i mean. The sound is effortless.

While the Maggies benefit from powerful amps, I've played them using a 40 watt single ended Golden Tube Audio SE40 Special Edition and it sounded fine. I've also used a 50 watt Wadia 151 PowerDAC Mini and it sounded fine too. i used to own an MGIIB and the sound was easily recognizable as having the same sonic signature.

I own the .....5QRs .. fantastic speakers...as a professional musician I know what it sounds
like to sit in an orchestra , big band, latin band, rock band.. and nothing is as true to life
as the Maggies. I also own the Vandersteen 2ci 's which are very good and have better bass
extension and even hint at the soundstage of the maggis, but its just a hint, the maggies have the edge in realism.

Best speakers for the money, I paid 300 used. un bleiveable sound quailty
Sound image- 5 stars
Clarity.............5 stars
Qquailty..........5 stars
Size...............nice, move easliy and eveyone slse is spot on you have to place these exact, stand up or move to far left or right and its off, right on and its nirvana.......
Bass I think is ok, but mostly listen to guitar- blues, jazz- fusion, rock and guitar works, the reproduction of piano's is amazing,so is classical-
hard rock and anyhting else not your speakers, but they should be!
look forward to buying a set of 1.7 maggies soon!

Vocals reproduction, acoustic instruments, sound stage, lack of "boxy sound" and very accurate bass. Granted, they don't go that deep, but the bass they do reproduce is scrumptious!

The placement, power, bass and WAF requirements already mentioned. Not so great with dynamics. If you're a metal-head, go get some Peavy sound re-inforcement horns with 15" woffers.

These started life as 0.5QRs and were modded by the 1st owner to 0.6QR specs. After a couple months use I sent them to Magnepan for a complete factory re-build (delaminated wires) for about another $300. So for about the price of the MMGs, I have the "father" of the MG12. I did not replace the woodwork "wings" so the bass probably suffers a little, but they fit my room better now.

Maggie is a somewhat fussy & demanding mistress; placement is critical, WAF is low, and she likes current, LOTS of current! If you can supply her with these needs, she'll give you what you need ... a fantastic eargasm.

There's nothing I've heard for 2x - 3x the money (except the 1.6QRs) that I would ever think of replacing these for. I even prefer them to the TOL Martin Logans, which I find TOO analytical, fast and precise. Sure, the ML's are impressive, but they sound "artificial" to me. Kinda like the difference between Lps and CDs.

I love showing (sounding?) them off to people that have never heard Maggies or decent audio before. I've had quite a few jaws drop.

Customer Service

Great! The re-build was quick and well done.

Similar Products Used:

Nothing similar owned.

System:
Technics SL-1200MkII w/ AT-OC9ML/II or Denon DL-103 or Shure V15IVmr carts
NAD 1600 Preamp
NAD 216THX Poweramp
Tascam CDR700 CD player/burner
RatShack gold ICs & 12ga Monster Cable wire

Wrote an earlier review on the 0.5QR and gave it a 4 out of 5 simply because I believe that there are better speakers out there, notably the larger Maggies, which go lower in the bass. Well, I have not done the 0.6QR mod yet, but I have to submit this review to balance the score that I gave in my earlier review. 4 out of 5 seems low to me; they are much better than an 80% score would indicate, so I am giving them a 5 out of 5 on this review to end up with a 90% score overall. Truth be told, I feel that they are even better than that, considering that I have finally found a placement that produces wonderful bass, that I do not find to be lean AT ALL but that is excellently defined. I listen to a lot of pipe organ, and I find them eminently satisfying for all but the absolute lowest notes, which I don't seem to miss because the ones that I can hear sound so great. The placement is about 6 inches from the side walls, and about 4.5 feet from the rear wall. These things are great!

Soundstage, Clarity, Planar Bass (not muddy)

Size (if you have a small room), Picky about Electronics

I bought these wonders about 1 year ago. I know I paid too much. I own the .5QR Special Edition. I run them together with a a Cambridge Audio C500 Pre AMP and a P500 Power AMP. I use Wireworld Eclipse 3 Cables and a Marantz CD 56 CD Player. They are very picky regarding placement in my opinion. But once you find there spot they will do wonders for your ears. The soundstage is ver large (ribbons inside) and wuite deep. Clarity and detailed imaging is a large plus from these wonders. It is very important use Amplifiers with a high and stable current. I used a 600 Watt per Channel AP AMP and was very unhappy. Know I use a les Wattage AMP but it delieversy at all loads. To sum it up, a great speaker which truly defines the word High End. The largest Maggies of course are more detailed and faster but ALL Maggies have the same basic sound which is a "wonder"

Similar Products Used:

Infinity RS3, Onkyo THX Ultra, (But I listened to a lot of High End

Purchased MG-0.5 used, had to re-do fabric grilles; Magnepan was great, fortunately they are local for me. Got the 0.6 mod, am waiting to get a more powerful soldering iron to do it. MG-0.5 sound is fantastic in 11x23 foot room. Listen mostly to vocal, classical and rock, some old jazz, try to listen on vinyl as much as possible. Speakers are a terrific match with Moscode Superit phono preamp stage, but tend to show off the weaknesses of my Arcam CD. Would like to try tube power amp with them, they are very natural and the timbre they produce would, I think, lend itself very well to being combined with tube power stage. 4 out of 5 results from only the very best getting 5--like the larger Maggies, and other truly full-range speakers.

real music sounds. attactive and amazing.

needs better legs

Didn't see the MMG12 listed, but this is close to the price I paid for mine new. This was the best investment I have ever made for improving my system! I heard the smaller version some years ago and was impressed. They are small enough (about 51") to match the level of my Armiore height and yet portable to move into position. "You are there" presence! Great sound and clear. My system: Adcom GTP-502 pre/tuner Belles 150A Hot Rod amp Adcom GCD-700 CD changer Sound Dynamics Woofer(10" x 100w) Carda/Wireworld /MIT cables

Similar Products Used:

JBL

excellent mids, good highs, superb imaging

bass shy

I owned quite a few other speakers before I ended up with these magnepans. I also invested in the Magnepan 3.5R at one time and just loved the sound of a true ribbon but due to the size, and the fact I was moving, I sold them and went back to my trusty .6's. The company Magnepan is far and away the BEST manufacturer of speakers in existence. I bought these used and were my first pair of real hifi speakers. After listening to them for a day or two I noticed a little disturbing hiss in one of the speakers. I contacted the orignal owner who then in turn contacted magnepan. After some investigation it was determined that the glue had come loose from the ribbon itself. I was shocked when Magnepan decided to take the speakers back, have them completely redone (BOTH of them!), and then returned to me. They completely knew the original owner was selling them to me and they had no obligation to fix them whatsoever and yet they did anyway. I have now put these things through torture tests for years and they still work flawlessly. And even if they did break I wouldn't even hesitate to send them back to Magnepan to have them redone. I would even hope they charge me a fortune. It would be money well spent toward an excellent company who truly cares about their customers.

Enough of that...onto the sound charateristics. I find Magnepan's to be a tad on the bright side but then again I almost find every speaker bright. Ribbons and electrostatics are the only speaker that I have found which really exhibit a warm *enough* sound for me. Personally, I feel magnepans are only good for listening to music. If you are satisfied with two channel home theater they will do ok when mated with a good sub. I do find them bass shy but if you use a good sub they can sound incredible. For home theater I would not suggest any magnepan. They feel very directional to me and someone who is sitting away from the optimal seating position I feel will not get as good of an experience from these as they would if the home theater was using cone speakers. Ultimately, I feel ribbons and electrostatics are perfect for music but cones are best for home theater.

If you are looking for some speakers which will make your music come alive then look no further. Mated with a sub they can sound outstanding and there isn't too much that I have heard that I feel is any better.

Similar Products Used:

Martin-logans

At this price, these speakers are unbeatable in terms of sound stage, clarity, and detail. While somewhat lacking in bass, the bass it does produce is incredibly tight and detailed. They require a strong amplifier to drive however since they are not efficient. Well worth it.