For only a $1,200 investment, I think I did pretty well. I would definately like to upgrade my sub, but aside from jumping up to the $5,000 range, I don't see a system sounding any better to me. Any comments and/or suggestions are always welcome!
Very nice system on a budget. I am wondering about the size of your room. It looks to be relatively small which makes me wonder how well the MMGs do in a confined space. My listening room is 12 X 11 and I'm thinking about purchasing a pair but am concerned about the small room. I've read Magnepans like large space, would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.
I am "The Bottom Feeder". I value value over aesthetics, but not by much. I, like you, want the ultimate bang for the buck. You can see the Audio Room/HT I just finished on Audiogon, under Virtual Systems, Home Theaters, "The 'Bottom Feeder's' HT".
The Maggie MMG's are a wonderful value. I currently am running a pair of them at my office, and using a Rotel integrated amp along with a Nakamichi 7 disc changer and Parasound tuner. Lovely little system.
I had fun a few weeks ago; took my MMG's over to an audiophile friend's place. He's put no less than 25k into his room/system. He's running Rogue Audio tube amps into his Vandersteen 3's. Nice. So, he's not heard Maggies before. We hook up the MMG's (I have 1.6QR's at home, but too big to tote around). We both agreed there were some things the Maggies did better, i.e. widened sound stage, clarity of voices, etc. But, the Vandersteens did have more "presence" and bit more depth.
The fun part was seeing the shocked look on his face when I told him these were $500 speakers! Here they were, hanging in there with speakers costing 6 times the price. It was like comparing a bookshelf to a full floor standing speaker! Should have been "no contest" but it was closer than any $500 speaker has a right to get!
Regarding subs, watch out. We noticed that the MMG's had difficulty filling the gap between the twin subs and the higher bottom end of the MMG's. This probably wouldn't be a problem with a larger Magnepan speaker. My 1.6's have no difficulty blending with my twin Vandersteen subs. For MMG's you might not want to do stereo subs, unless you were immediately upgrading the mains.
As you get going in audio, and as budget, wife, etc. permit, do some room tuning. Nothing super expensive. Just get a couple of sound pannels, and place them critically. Man, what a nice difference in sound! Especially with the front/rear firing Maggies, some sound absorbtion is big benefit!
Also, can't say it enough; POWER POWER POWER... Maggies crave power. I'm using 400wpc into each of my 1.6's. You will see huge improvements in upping power supply.
Enjoy your new addiction; I'm thoroughly diseased at this point! Would welcome your comments, questions on my HT.
Speaking as a confirmed cheapskate who likes your system,I hope your move went smoothly,and when you are in the market for a sub;go to http://www.madisound.con.
They have several sub kits available at reasonable prices.
I borrowed a friend's Hsu sub to try with my Maggie 1.6 s and passed-though I would probably sub a set of MMG s
I am really new in this field,and I like to have my own system but don't know what to buy. You got this all the stuff for 1200 US dollars? Seems the total is much more than that. How you get them? If this is the price, I'd like to have them. hjasdasd
I'm a big fan of MMGs and subwoofers. Transparent mids and tight bass! Great combination. I have had a lot of experience with low end RELs including the Q150 and Strata III. If you decide to make the investment to replace the B&W get the Strata. It is great. I currently have it paired with Martin Logan Scenarios. As long as you don't have a really big room, this is about as good as it gets.
If you are looking to upgrade the sub, I would suggest a REL Strata II. I used to have MMGs paired with an Audio Refinement amp and the REL; it was great. Since then I have upgraded the MMGs to Martin Logan Scenario.
MMGs are an excellent anchor for great budget sound where loud volume is not required
Very cool, big bang for the buck set up. Maggies are wonderful.
Ever considered the Sound Anchor MMG stands? http://www.soundanchors.com/page52.html You might try some sort of isolation feet under at least the CD player. Vibrapod has a new cone that's pretty cheap. http://www.vibrapod.com/vibrapodcone.htm A cryo'd Hubbell outlet from Albert Porter here on AgoN for under $40 will take it up another notch. Have fun.
Yeah Plato, the room is narrow for Maggies. But this is the only room I've ever had them in, so I don't know any better! I guess for now that is a good thing!
Chubz...the pin connectors that Celtic is referring to are usually a brass "U-bar" that connects the pre-out to the main-in rca jacks on the back...if you look at the back of your amp and and see these, you will know what I mean...I replaced the stock u-bars on my bryston integrated amp and there definitely was an improvement...the only jumper rca's I know of are the tara lab "missing link"
Way to go on this budget system, it's a low cost / high performance set up for sure! Try Mark Knopfler's Ragpicker's Dream, it's a great CD. Maybe some long heavy curtains on those windows too!
All kinds of music Ketchup, as long as it is recorded well. I've been going for the HDCD's lately. Most notably Paul Simon (The One), Mark Knopfler (Sailing...)Beck (Sea Change), among others. Other great recordings include Wilco (YHF), Yo-Yo Ma (Brazil), Bonnie Raitt (Best Of...),Eric Clapton (unplugged), Ultra Chilled Collection, etc...
Congratulations on achieving so much, for so little. A free tweak is to try soft cotton packing strings as slings to lift up your cables and interconnects from surfaces. The string can be held up, in turn, by attaching to your nearby window shade cords. Often, there is an improvement in clarity, and easy to quickly verify if any improvement audible, in your own system. It is great to see that giving careful thought to what we purchase can achieve more than merely opening wider our wallets.
You are proof to the point that one does not need to spend big money to get great sound! Many people spend that much on little toy all-in-one junk systems at Best Buy and Circut City just because they did not have someone like you to talk to before they spent their hard earned cash, Great job Chubz!
With any luck you will be able to swing a somewhat larger room in the future so the Maggies have a little more room to breath.
Spend a little and place brass cones and footers under the CD player. Cannot remember if C-350 has pre out/main in. If it does then toss pin connectors and replace with RCA jumpers for BIG improvement.
Don't see Target stand. Should be filled only halfway with sand/shot combination. Too much dampening kills the sound.
Corners need some dampening to kill bass loading and clean up midrange. Listen on.
