Opinions Please!
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New member Username: RichiehPost Number: 1 Registered: Dec-04 | I am fairly new to HT but like doing research. I have a budget of about $3000 for the audio portion of my HT (receiver, DVD, sub, satelites). If it were your $$$$$ how and with what would you put the system together. THANKS! Rich |
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Unregistered guest | I would put a system together with magnepan MMG-W's and MMG-C ($897 for the system). These are absolutly wonderful speakers that are only 3/4 of an inch thick, and mount on a wall. They fold flat to the wall when not in use. The center channel looks conventional, bue uses the same technology. The only way to describe the sound: You hear every nuance in your music and movies. Things that you never thought existed will be brought to life in a never before imagined way. The sound just FILLS the room. They are 5 ohm speakers with a frequency response of 100hz to 16khz. DO NOT let the frequency response scare you off, as they are designed to be mated with a sub, and have cleaner highs than some more expensive designs. The only way you can get the true picture of what these speakers can do is to purchase them direct from magnepan and audition them. I myself have the MMG-W's so I know what they sound like. A word of warning though, the break in time is legnthy, and before they break in, you might not be too pleased with what they sound like. Just give them time. For a subwoofer, I would recommend an SVS PB10-1SD, at the low price of $429. I have not heard this unit yet, but it has been getting rave reviews for its tight, musical, and very low (18hz) bass. SVS is one of the kings of subwoofers, and I can full heartedly reccomend one, even this new design, which I have not heard yet. It is supposedly fast enough (according to the reviews) to mate with a maggie, so that alone says something. For a reciever, the Denon AVR-2105 ($650) will drive these speakers with 90 full bandwidth watts. Full bandwidth is one spec that IS meaningful when comparing amps and/or recievers. This term means that instead of rating them at one particular frequency, (1-khz) which is common for lesser designs, you will get a sense of how much a manufacturer cares about their products. Full bandwith ratings = better guts, in turn can handle more power. This leads to high current capacity. However, one thing that specs CAN'T tell you is that these speakers are 5 ohm, and the reciever reccomends that you use a minimum of a 6 ohm speaker with them according to the drawing on the back panel. I can tell you that a well designed reciever should not have a problem with coping with a 1 ohm difference. I have done this myself with these speakers on my system. For a DVD player: if you act right now, you can get a Denon DVD-2900 from www.crutchfield.com for $700, which is $300 off of what it usually goes for. This is a very high end unit that I have been impressed to no end with. It playes DVD-Video, DVD-R & DVD-RW, Video CD, SACD, DVD-Audio, CD, CD-R & CD-RW, and MP3 CD-R & CD-RW. As you can see, it is an extremely versatile unit, and its CD, DVD, SACD, and DVD-Audio playback are outstanding. I auditioned this unit on my magnepans, and for that price, might purchase one for myself. The price is truly unbeatable for the performance, especially now. Instrument seperation is clearly defined and the picture is absolutly stunning. MMG-W and MMG-C speakers from www.magnepan.com ($897 factory direct) SVS PB10-1SD subwoofer from www.svsubwoofers.com ($429 factory direct) Denon AVR-2105 reciever ($650 from www.crutchfield.com) Denon DVD-2900 DVD/CD/SACD/DVD-Audio player ($700 from www.crutchfield.com) Gavin |
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gavincumm Unregistered guest | If you go with what I have posted above, you will come in at about $2675. That for a set of great audiophile quality speakers, a high end DVD player, a deep, tight sub, and a great reciever. That is under your budget. Mind you, this is without shipping, but crutchfield ships free if your order is over $199 for right now. Magnepan is really reasonable with their shipping, as is SVS. Gavin Hope I could help |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 2065 Registered: Dec-03 | check this one http://www.audioholics.com/showcase/systemguide/entry_system.php |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 2066 Registered: Dec-03 | Personally, I would go with Outlaw Audio 950 pre/pro with a 7100 power amp to power those wonderful Magnepans and I like the sub recommendation. |
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New member Username: BryanhFresno, CA Post Number: 4 Registered: Dec-04 | Pardon the slight thread drift... I had never heard of ribbon speakers like the Magnapans before. Seems like a neat idea! To those who recommend them: are there disadvantages to ribbon speakers compared to the traditional type? Seems most of the comments I've seen on Magnapans are based on classical/jazz music listening. Are they equally impressive for movies and rock/metal or do they sound too dull? I might have to make a mental note of these for the future when I build a more serious HT system. Fine audio gets very expensive very quickly, I'm finding...  |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 2078 Registered: Dec-03 | Very accurate sound reproduction, but not too much on the lower frequencies. You'd want to use a subwoofer. Speaker placement very critical and need powerful amplifiers. Not dull at all. |
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gavincumm Unregistered guest | I listen to all types of music on my maggies, from classical (very dynamic), jazz, rock, hard rock, opera, celtic, pop, folk, and some rap and hip-hop when I am in the mood. They play it all with gusto and grace. Do not pay attention to the nay sayers that harp that maggies can not rock. They just do it differently due to the different design. |
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New member Username: BryanhFresno, CA Post Number: 5 Registered: Dec-04 |
Hmm, can you expand on that? "Different" could mean any number of things. I am full of questions, hope you folks don't mind. I'm trying to be thorough in learning as much as I can before taking the plunge into HT. Are the Magnapans magnetically shielded? Their 'open' design has me wondering if it's possible. If not, how close can they be placed to a projection HDTV? SVS doesn't appear to mention whether the PB10-ISD is sheilded either, although one would imagine it is... |
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gavincumm Unregistered guest | Magnepan are a dipole speaker, hence part of the "different sound" designation. This means that they send sound both forward and directly behind the speaker, but out of phase. The other part of that designation is that they just plain will not be dynamic when fed current from an underpowered amp/reciever. However, when fed a good current, maggies are among the best speakers in the world. The good news is that you can get some good amps for not a lot of money. I will get back to you on the shielding of the maggies, but I KNOW that the SVS is not, and most subs ARENT due to the size of the drivers. |
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New member Username: AhbengSingapore, Singapore Singapore Post Number: 2 Registered: Dec-04 | Heard that the above-mentioned Maggies are quite hard to set up to sound their best. My room is rather small 15 x 11 x 10. I can only place them on the shorter side of the room (11 feet). It's a bedroom actually and the surrounds will have to be placed on the back wall about a foot from the listening position. Should I even entertain the idea of getting a set of these? Will the Denon 2805 or Marantz 7400 be OK? |
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