Well, firstly, I hate to gush over a set of speakers like this, but they are so damn good I think they deserve it. I have had the pleasure of listening to a fair portion of the Magnepan's speaker line up from the 1.5's, 2.7's to the 3.5R's and have never ceased to be amazed. I really tend to agree with those that say once you have heard the planar sound you never feel like going back to a conventional box/cone speaker. Planar speakers are far more intimate, exposed and startlingly life like than even the best conventional speakers I have ever heard. After listening to planar speakers, conventional speakers sound like you are listening to live music through holes in a wall rather than live and in person. The human voice is reproduced so accurately and intimately it is even a little unnerving at first. The only significant weaknesses I could find was in terms of dynamics, low end reproduction, and small sweet spot (necessitating proper placement). It became quicky apparent that all these problems were inversely proportional to the planar radiating area. The bigger the planar bass driver became the better the dynamics got, the larger the sound stage became, and the lower the ultimate frequency response became. The MG20's are Magnepan's top of the line speaker that stand over six and a half feet tall. They are full up from 25 Hz to 40 kHz and have dynamics that could satisfy any sane human being. The MG20's reproduced a wide variety of music (jazz, classical, organ pieces, even hard rock) with uncanny realism and with seemingly no limit to dynamic load. The bass was incredibly authoritative and immeasurably more accurate and controlled then even the best subwoofer. The MG20's had it all: uncanny truth of timbre, dynamics, accurate top to bottom reproduction, huge sound stage, and most importantly realism to die for. The only quirk it had was that the sound stage was too big and instrument size seemed universally exaggerated. Also, if you purchased these panels you would need to get impeccable electronics (these speakers would painfully reveal any flaw in the associated system) and enough power to light a small city. The MG20's I heard were bi-amped to a total of four Bryston 7Bst's. Oh, there is one other little draw back to these monsters, they cost over $9,000! Oh well, maybe in another life, I will just have to be happy with my Vandersteen 3A's. These speakers easily get a 5 rating.


Mr. Happy

huge soundstage; Very natural sound; very emotionally involving

Difficult to set up; need alot of power

I love these speakers. Had ML Quest Z which were more detailed, dynamic, and accurate but just weren't as musical as I thought they should be. Realized after about a month that I made a mistake. After about two years, I purchased the MG20 (had maggie 2.5Rs before the MLs). The MG20s are detailed etc. but overall, they are the most musical and emotionally involving speaker I have heard. I used to pursue accuracy and detail in a belief that I would enjoy music more, but found the accuracy and musicallity were not tied tightly together. The MG20s are detailed, but you can find speakers that do this better but non are more satisfying. I am interested in cooresponding with anyone owning these speakers to compare setup tips. Like all panel dipoles, there are incredibly sensitive to room placement and seating location.

Similar Products Used:

Magnepan 2.5R; Martin Logan Quest Z

*Massive sounstage
*Extremely accurate voice reproduction and high end (possibly the best)
*Very deep bass compared to the MG3 series

*Requires a large room for optimal set-up.
*Requires a very powerful amp given the low efficiency.

I have been upgrading magnepan speakers for the past 11 years. Once you hear the sound there is just no going back to a conventional box speaker. The soundstaging and instrument reproduction is phenomenal and effortless.

I have listened to the price no object speakers from Wilson Audio, Dunlavy, Theil and others. For the price of the 20's there is just no comparison. The Wilson Slamms cost about six times the MG20s for maybe just a little increase in low end.

There are a couple of downsides. This speaker is so good that any poorly recorded music (such as most pop and rock) will sound dreadful. If you feed it good source material you will be at a live performance. You will also need good components in the front end to make these speakers sing.

Similar Products Used:

*other magnepan speakers
*Soundlab Ultimate One (in comparison).

Efortless sound

none

After receiving these speakers I have finally arrived at the sonic Nirvana. I am using the 135 W per channel McIntosh MC2000 tube amp Cardas Golden Cross Bi wire cables, Sony SCD-1 and the VPI TNT Turntable w JMW 12" Tonearm with Grado Referene Platinum cartridge as my sources.
These speakers strenght is that it sounds gretat with all kinds of music but I must say that there is no better way to listen to orchestral music, than with the MG 20's. You can hear all 110 musicians, no fuzzines no smearing of instruments, almost scary soundstage and stereo imaging.
It is a great feling to feel fully satisfied with the components interaction with each other.
Bravo Magnepan.

Similar Products Used:

none