# Magnepan MMG bad or good for home theater



## informel (Jun 21, 2011)

I was looking for nice looking on-wall speakers and saw some used MMG (I know those are not really on wall, but they can be) speakers from Magnepan. I heard that those speaker are fantastic for music but do not have the dynamic of regular speaker.

Is it true?


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

It has been a long time since I have heard Maggies, but from what I remember and what I have read they will not play very loud. So, it depends on your expectations. At moderate volume I am sure they will sound great. Also, most users will want a subwoofer with them.

As for on wall mounting, don't Maggies radiate from front and back and isn't the recommended placement out from the wall a bit? Sealing off the back by mounting them on the wall could cause frequency response oddities.

Also, efficiency is a bit low so you will need a good bit of amplifier power to drive them.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

The wall mount MMGW is meant for side walls and mount on a wing that swings out. Planars have nulls at the sides, so the speaker wouldn't "see" the wall.

Are Magnepans suitable for HT? Depends on your listening levels, don't expect to hit reference levels (105 dB @ the listening position) easily. As hjones4841 has noted, they also like power and should be fed a minimum of 200 watts @ 4 ohms, each panel.


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## informel (Jun 21, 2011)

hjones4841 said:


> As for on wall mounting, don't Maggies radiate from front and back and isn't the recommended placement out from the wall a bit? Sealing off the back by mounting them on the wall could cause frequency response oddities.
> 
> Also, efficiency is a bit low so you will need a good bit of amplifier power to drive them.


They will be mout on the front wall but with a mount that swivel, the MMGW are sold like that, you just pushe them on the wall when not in use


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## informel (Jun 21, 2011)

tesseract said:


> The wall mount MMGW is meant for side walls and mount on a wing that swings out. Planars have nulls at the sides, so the speaker wouldn't "see" the wall.


their site show clearly that they can be mount on the front wall with a swivel braket,
As far as 200WPC, I have an old Sansui B2101 that is doing nothing right now and it would be perfect for that.

And I have a Velodyne DD-15 so I am covered for the base.

Yes, yes yes, I think »I am going to call the guy to see if it is still for sale
Thanks


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Let us know how it works for you, informal. Sounds like a very interesting system and fun project.


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## informel (Jun 21, 2011)

tesseract said:


> Let us know how it works for you, informal. Sounds like a very interesting system and fun project.


Yes I will probably start a tread that shows how hugly it is right now with all the wires hanging.
I have a rack mount cabinet in the basement and all the AV equipment will go in there.

I am only waiting for the guy who is selling the sepaker to respond


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## informel (Jun 21, 2011)

I just got a reply from Magnepan telling me that.
"It doesn't work well to try to convert a floor-standing model to an on-wall model. Please call for more details."

I will call him, he will probably tell me to go with the MMGW, but I will have to cross-over above 100Hz (possible to localize the base above 100Hz) and I do not want to move the sub to the front.


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## JoeESP9 (Jun 29, 2009)

Although you can try using Magnepan's in the way you have written, IMO you are wasting time and energy attempting to do so. What the people at Magnepan told you should be sufficient to warn you away. After all they make them and have more knowledge than you or I concerning their product.

BTW: I totally agree with what they told you. I've owned three different sizes of Magnepans (MG1's, 2's and 3A's) and none of them worked well close to a wall.


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## jackfish (Dec 27, 2006)

informel said:


> ...but I will have to cross-over above 100Hz and I do not want to move the sub to the front.


Why do you have to cross over above 100 hz? Also look at the MC1 which has low frequency extension down to 80 Hz.


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## informel (Jun 21, 2011)

informel said:


> I just got a reply from Magnepan telling me that.
> "It doesn't work well to try to convert a floor-standing model to an on-wall model. Please call for more details."
> 
> QUOTE]
> ...


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## informel (Jun 21, 2011)

jackfish said:


> Why do you have to cross over above 100 hz? Also look at the MC1 which has low frequency extension down to 80 Hz.


Thanks for the info, I did not look at the MC1 because when I saw the ''C'' in MC1, I tought it was a center channel


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## JoeESP9 (Jun 29, 2009)

informel said:


> informel said:
> 
> 
> > I just got a reply from Magnepan telling me that.
> ...


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## informel (Jun 21, 2011)

JoeESP9 said:


> How else could Magnepan have said it? Any panel (dipolar) speaker, ribbon, electrostatic or planar magnetic has the same placement requirements.


What he said was very clear, what got me was the fact that he ask me to call him back for more detail, so I just tought that they may have new product coming out or a way to modify them to work like the MMGW




JoeESP9 said:


> BTW: With proper placement and the addition of a sub woofer IMO MMG's are excellent for HT use and even better for music.


MMG are floor stander and I do not want that, that is why I may be going with the MC1, I do have a good sub (Velodyne DD-15) to complement them.


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