Why the more expensive Magnepan is not better? Comparing 3 Magnepan speakers.

Hi Thomas, love your videos as always. I drive my LRS's with a vintage Phase Linear 400. At 4 ohms, it delivers 400 WPC. These amps take a bad rap from a lot of people, but with new filter capacitors and a cooling fan, they (I have 2 of them) deliver every time. Paired with a Bottlehead Moreplay preamp and any quality analog or digital source, I'm very pleased with the result. One fact that is commonly overlooked with these amps - their damping factor is 1,000!, producing a tight, controlled bass response that's very important in a ribbon speaker.

Great video Thomas ! Having worked around Magnepan speakers for more than 3 years, I can confirm you are 95 percent spot on with your comments. Lower Models are not technically "lower model" - Contrary to common belief. When Magnepan brought the LRS to market, they were very adamant about the fact that the LRS is a "true audiophile speaker" despite the cost. I called marketing BS right away but after many many hours of testing, I agreed fully; The LRS is actually harder to drive than the .7 and hence requires high quality high current amplifiers. (don't be mistaken, they all need high-current but LRS especially). Yes, according to them... they lost somewhere around $50 per unit sold. This forces the user to spend more money on the amplifiers. According to Magnepan (not my words) LRS was a "marketing product" where they were selling at a loss to put more magnepans in more rooms around the world. Imagine the profit magnepan would make if they sold a matching amplifier, a missed opportunity imho BUT I do respect the fact that they do not force to stretch their expertise for money grabs. Amplifier companies should be thankful to Magnepan LOL, they are money makers for amplifier companies.

There is my Magnepan upgrade guide! Thank you so much Thomas! Magnepans are not what I'd call difficult to drive speakers however -with their resistive load characteristics - they should be the easy to drive speakers! With a resistive type of load you systematically convert electricity into heat. The thing is that with their 4 ohms and low sensitivity - they need a constant supply of power.

Thank you for this very interesting comparison Thomas, as usual. Greetings to you and yours.

Wonderful comparison and so interesting that there are indeed clear differences and choices both for taste and room-size which you excellently describe! I have used smaller amps such as Cyrus 2 to drive SMGs in the past and although a Bryston really made them come alive, a Copland CTA 501 just sounded so much sweeter.

I owned the 1.7 and I now have the 3.7. I drove them both, first, with te IotaVX SA3 monoblocks (cheap, very good sound and good current). So you can totally make them sing with a $500 kit. I now drive the 3.7 with a pair of PS Audio BHK300, and the soundstage is insanely good. Love magenpan speakers.

I really appreciate that Thomas solicits the opinions of his friends to enhance the reviews it’s one of the strengths of these videos. Listening to a pair of properly driven Magnepans is definitely something that every audiophile should expedience at least once. The sense of space and depth can be intoxicating especially with a well made recording from a concert space. My come to Jesus moment came when I listened to Eivør “Live in Tórshavn” with the way her vocals sort of floated in the air.

Hi Thomas, really love your videos which provide a breath of fresh air all the time. I have the Magnepan 1.4 from the late 80s and still going strong and providing me with endless listening pleasure. My Classe 70 power amp is rated at 75 watt per channel and is high current capable. It drives my Maggies beautifuly and mated to a Classe 30 preamp. Both are from the mid 1990s. With vinyl playback from Linn LP12, the volume knob position at 7 o' clock is quite loud enough. Whereas with digital (CDs and high resolution files) playback 8 or 9 o' clock is pretty loud. No subwoofer is required. The sound emanating from the speakers is very musical, transparent, life like, and engaging with an amazing soundstage.Listening levels vary from 65db to 80db. The average being about 70db which is pretty loud. My room is 15'x 13'. I personally think a high current amp is more than adequate to drive them and thus no need for a 200 watt plus amp.

WOW. Ty for making this video Thomas. I've always been VERY interested in Magnepan, especially the LRS and now the new LRS+. But the amplifier requirement has always deterred me away

Great video! Decided to go for the 1.7i after a long hour listening to the different ones.

Another awesome video Thomas...keep them coming!

Hi Thomas, Yet another excellent review peppered with spot-on comments! I started with the .7 and added the 1.7i this year. After being floored by the much fuller presentation and extensive soundstage of the 1.7i, later on the more more analytical and forward .7 was quite appealing again. Dependung on the music/recording/my mood, I add a REL T7/X sub to the .7 to also add flesh to the soundstage. The .7 in my 35 square meter/375 square foot bedroom are powered by an old Nelson Pass designed Adcom GFA-555 II with 300 WPC into 4 ohms. Beefy Adcoms are cheap, easily modded and offer the current needed to properly drive and the high damping factor required to control Maggies and sound pretty good. After playing around with amps I decided against an excellent pairing with the Bryston 4B Cubed on the 1.7i in my living room and - God forbid - went with the Purifi module based NAD C298 after a try & buy audition. The amp is an excellent match and sweet for the money, but might be too analytical with the .7 You don't need to spend a bundle to have a nice match with Magenpans, but you better have a current-capable amp! As your other viewers wrote, placement and to a lesser extent, room treatment is everything! BTW Dirac Live can be real help if you listen to conventional and panel speakers in the same room! And yes, I too have tape on my floors and carpets after many, many hours of placement trials. ;-) Keep the great work up Thomas! All the best, Martin

Wow! That was the best sound demo I have ever heard. You are the master. And that was with my mobile gear (Fearless Freedom S8 and Hidizs S9 Pro). I'm going to listen again with my main gear and planar magnetics.

I have the 1.7i and is using a Classe amp to drive my Maggies. Started with the .7i but within couple of weeks moved up to the 1.7i. Great sounding speakers!

Thank you for this review! I was waffling between the LRS+ and the .7 but this has helped make my mind. I am using an old Adcom 100wpc amp with a pair of SMGa and it sounds great at lower volumes. I have a small apartment and don't listen loud anyways, so I am at the low wattage sweet spot. Having said that, I'm going with the LRS+ as soon as the backorder delays go down to a month or so (according to my dealer, they are still at 3 months as of 2 weeks ago) paired with a McIntosh Ma252 so I think it will sound much better for my listening taste. I still don't expect high volume, but it would be nice to get more dynamics and let them breathe so to speak. If I could afford the Ma325 I would but that's on wish list for now. Thank you for the Magnepan reviews!

Another great video, Thomas. Great comparison - that's more useful than just an outright review of one or the other.

Hi Thomas. Great video! I am a former owner of Magnepan 1.7i. First I must tell you that I, for a long time, was in denial over whether the 1.7i needs a sub. I resisted and resisted. Finally I added a pair of REL T/9i subs to my 1.7is. OMG! They were revolutionary with the Maggies! Maggies without subs don’t have any percussion to them. There is no bass slam and they don’t move any air. But with the RELs. OMG, the combo of 1.7i and REL. T/9i became full range monsters! Totally outstanding. PLEASE, get yourself a pair of subs and add them to a set of Maggies. You will see what I mean. Bottom line: IMO Maggie 1.7i and lower need subs. They just do. The benefits are enormous. Next: amps. I initially started using a pair of Schiit Vidars with the 1.7i. No good. I played Jeff Beck loud and one of them went into thermal protection. I then replaced the Schiit with a pair of Bryston 4B3 set in bridge mode to use as monoblocks. They matched up well with the 1.7i and no problems. Those are probably good enough. I later came upon a deal to upgrade to a pair of Bryston 28B3 monoblocks. Those are end game for any Maggies. Unlimited headroom and dynamics are no issue. So I sold my Maggies because I had two rigs and needed to downsize. The speakers that stayed are a pair of Magico A3. But I miss the Maggies. So I was thinking of getting either a pair of LRS+ or a pair of the 0.7 because they are smaller than the 1.7i and I could easily move them into position and then out of the way when not in use. I like the detailed sound and it sounded like for that you preferred the 0.7 for that. But it sounded like the differences over the LRS were tiny. This leads me to believe that for a new pair of Maggies to be occasional speakers and not my main speakers that the LRS+ might be the better choice. My room is smallish too. So maybe the LRS+might be then better choice. Plus I have the subs to pair with them. Does this make sense to you? Thanks!

While I am still a newbie audiophile in general, I have been lucky to have a few pairs of maggies in the last 10 years. Craigslist find of an old Magnepan 1.4 set I refinished and drove with a thrift store Bob Carver integrated amp is probably what got me hooked on the sound journey. My wife bought me a pair of 1.7's after years of hearing me reminisce of my old maggies (was at the time running a pair of B&W Silver Signatures) I plugged the new maggies into a Mark Levinson 331 and they kicked the B&W's a** immediately. I am now running the maggies on a pair of Emotiva XPA-DR1 monoblocks through a Schiit Freya preamp and am more than happy. Great for easy listening sessions, can blow my ears off if I want it to. I throw in a sub when we are having a party. Think I'll stick with most of this for a long time, maybe play around with some more preamp's. Great video, I appreciate how most of the components you discuss, especially the speakers, are all actually attainable, both financially and inventory wise.

I use Parasound JC5 with my 1.7i. Still waiting to buy a new house someday with the space these would like. When I switch out the 1.7i for a while and come back to it after few months, the switch is so impressive.

Saw a comparison video once, between stock standalone LRS and LRS with servo subs & an external active crossover. Taking all the bass frequencies from the LRS and handing them to a properly controlled sub really clears the LRS up and elevates it from an already great speaker to mind blowing. It really speaks to the difference when you can hear it over Youtube (with all it's crappy compression) and cheap headphones with a USB dongle dac/amp. I'm saving for the LRS Plus, an active crossover, GR Research servo subs, a Hegel H95 or 120, and a Fluance RT85N. I still wish the LRS Plus had a separate tweeter strip, like Magnepan's 3.7 & up models though.