AndrewLyles said:
Thanks for the feed back.
"You ARE figuring on a subwoofer also, aren't ya? "
Yes, infact Jax has me spot on, I am considering a subwoofer from Dr. Hsu, I am waiting on the release of the new 12" model to augment my speaker seletion.
Jax:
I have listened to the Maggies and were quite pleased with their sound. I plan on doing another round of auditioning with a more intensive focus on movies before I make my purchase though. As far as space is concerned I plan on placing them between 12"-18" off of the front wall, I am not sure if this is enough though they will be next to a pair of shelves on each side.
I have auditioned Mirage Omnisat's, Def. Tech's Super Towers, JM Labs entry level floor speakers(Chorus? I think), and the normal array you would expect to find, Klipsch, Polk and Cerwan Vega FLoor speakers. I left a pair of Infinity 15" floorstanding loudspeakers with matching center and surrounds behind when I moved. Anything else you think I should seek out and listen to before I make my final selection? Reccomendations are much appreciated.
Mark:
I'm not trying to second guess the guys at Pioneer, I just wanted to make sure I have all the facts as I know customer support doesn't always tell the true power behind their products... sometimes less, sometimes more.
Also, do you think I would be better off getting a 4 ohm receiver or purchasing a seperate powered amplifier and using my current reciever as a controller? I have a couple CROWN amplifiers lying around which are rated I think around 200 watts into 8ohms x 2 channels. Is it worth trying to use these at all? Suggestions?
Thanks a million gents!
The others have told you correctly. The 1.6's are a 4 Ohm speaker and they "must" be driven by an amplifier capable of driving a 4 Ohm load. The good news is that although the 1.6's are rated at 4 Ohms, they present a fairly consistant load and do dip much below this point so they aren't nearly as hard to drive as some other speakers. They're also very inefficient and need all the power you can give them. I have a five channel Outlaw model-750 and it does very well. How much power will depend on your room size and how loud you listen.
I disagree they don't have any usable bass, because they do and on allot of music they actually sound better without a sub if you have sufficient power. If memory serves their -3dB point is 40Hz, which isn't bad. As you know they have a sound unlike any other and for most music are very hard to beat. The bass is not as deep and powerful as many speakers, but it has the unique Maggie sound with great detail and realism. Acoustic bass is just unreal on these.
Placement is critical, but you don't really have to get them 3' into the room before they come alive. It all depends on the room. In my room they actually sound better about 2' from the rear walls. Getting them out from the side walls seems to be more important in my room. I also have a very large entertainment center between the speakers and they sit next to the front edges of the cabinet. Of course I lose some of the depth, but the wide soundstage is still there and cabinet acually helps to reinforce the bass. IMO they can be made to sound good in most situations, maybe not optimum, but still very good with the Maggie magic in-tact.
I must also tell you that I have been looking for replacments and will be putting mine on the block. Yes, they are great for music and they are also very good for HT, but in a differenct and subtle way. However, the one area they are not really good at is dynamic's and this is what HT is all about IMO, especially for the action movies which are my favorites. I probably use my system for HT 90% of the time so I've decided to shift to a speaker better suited to HT than music. If it were the other way around there is no way I would part with the Maggie's, but I'm getting older and just don't listen to music nearly as much as I used to. YMMV.
Just some things for you to consider, hope this helps. Good luck, let us know how things turn out.
