Magnepan lrs help.

[Audiolover4]

Hello good people. I'll try to keep this short and sweet. I have a friend whose moving away and doesnt feel like taking some of his audio stuff so he offered it to me since he knows I love my music. Anyway, one of the things he's selling was a pair of magnepan lrs` hes offering them to me for half price. Thing is I've had the itch for a while it buy Maggie's I just dont think I have a reciever that would match well with it. I'm currently using a mid 90s Yamaha rxv 990 ac reciever, it outputs 100 watts into 8 ohms but I dont see any specs for 4 ohms, even in the manual..I've heard quite a. It that these speakers are very fussy when it comes to pairing with an amp. So my question would be as far as what I have now should I take a gamble on the Maggie's or pass thanks in advance for any feedback in advance

 

[shadyJ]

I think the Magnapan LRS will probably work fine with the Yamaha as long as you aren't planning on rocking out hard with them. Magnapans aren't rocking out speakers anyway.

 

[Audiolover4]

I think the Magnapan LRS will probably work fine with the Yamaha as long as you aren't planning on rocking out hard with them. Magnapans aren't rocking out speakers anyway.

Thanks for the reply. While I love rock music I rarely ever turn them up loud at all even with the jbls I have now which can rock out if I wanted to crank them I never do, maybe a favorite part of a song I might turn it up to 5 for a few seconds but that's about it so that works out for me I guess

 

[lp85253]

Thanks for the reply. While I love rock music I rarely ever turn them up loud at all even with the jbls I have now which can rock out if I wanted to crank them I never do, maybe a favorite part of a song I might turn it up to 5 for a few seconds but that's about it so that works out for me I guess

Those magnapans are reportedly a bit hard to drive , at low volume it probably won't matter much though..the issue you may have( or not, don't let me talk you into anything) is dynamics from those speakers at low volume.. They aren't known as "rock out" type speakers...

 

[cpp]

Those magnapans are reportedly a bit hard to drive , at low volume it probably won't matter much though..the issue you may have( or not, don't let me talk you into anything) is dynamics from those speakers at low volume.. They aren't known as "rock out" type speakers...

Maybe the LRS aren't for rocking out, but the 1.7. 3.7, 20.7 driven by some amps that can handle 4 ohms, and with a sub(s) they do pretty darn good. , of course I'm not talking about metal, since I don't listen to metal. But Blues, Classic Rock, Jazz and Classical not bad at all.

 

[highfigh]

If you want to use the Magnapans for loud, you'll need a sub but that doesn't mean it can't happen. The load may not make most receivers happy, though. I knew someone who had a set that were run with a separate power amp (Hafler, IIRC) and a sub- he liked Punk and harder-edged music, so they're not necessarily only good for more polite music. Crossed over properly, they should be able to handle almost anything.

 

[Eppie]

Found the manual:
usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/1/334201/RX-V990.pdf
While the power rating is at 8 ohms (8 and 6 U.S. model) the peak power ratings are at 8/6/4/2 ohms which suggests that the amp can handle 2 ohm peaks. I would be tempted to open the case and look at the A/B switch wiring for the speakers. If the A and B speakers at 8 ohms are wired in parallel, that is effectively a 4 ohm load, so a single 4 ohm pair would be ok, but not 2 pairs at 4 ohms. Some high powered bass can drop the load to 2 ohms, but if they rate the amp at 310W peak into 2 ohms I think you'll be ok. It then becomes a matter of how hard you plan to drive them. Other consideration is whether you have the room to move them far enough away from the back wall.
The manual shows a low pass filter for a subwoofer, but from what I see in the manual it does not filter out the bass going to the mains, which would be preferred in your situation if concerned about low impedance or lack of power. (The LRS is rated down to only 50Hz so a sub is a good addition.) If the price is good, ask your friend if he would mind if you tried them and if not to your liking sold them again. I don't imagine you'd have much trouble at half of retail.

 

[Audioluvr!]

I think your JBL's will be your best bet with what you have. Maggies are more of a "critical listening" speaker. Now if that's what you are wanting to pursue then like others here have suggested get them and find a good quality sub pair to match (like SVS1000's or something) and plan on replacing the Yammy AVR with a dedicated tube pre and maybe a pair of high current monoblocks. Just remember "watts" isn't everything as I've heard 35 watt class A amps that sound FAR better than 350 watt whatevers. It's a sickness. Welcome.

 

[muziekfreak]

Lots of "misinformation" going on here of people that clearly never owned maggies.

You do need a good amp to run them, and I do mean high current. In terms of impedance, they are actually less of a load than a point source (cone) driven speaker by a large margin. They are low sensitivity hence love power !

People tend to forget these are speakers that have a laid out voice "coil" and not a coil winding. Then we get into the far superior ways a maggie can sound over any box speaker.

Dipole, line source, no coloration of cabinets, there is not much out there that beats a esl or planar on accurateness. No cabinet coloration, however they lack dynamic low end. Subs are highly recommend! Once dialed in and set up right ?! They can handle stupid amounts of power.

I can tell you tons of good stories about maggie's I got 4 sets aside from the cone speakers I got. I will never give up my maggie's for any box speakers.

None of them will produce the sound field my maggie's can not even close.

 

[Pogre]

Lots of "misinformation" going on here of people that clearly never owned maggies.

What misinformation are you referring to? My takeaway from advice so far is that they do best with higher current amplification but for moderate or lower listening levels the receiver should be okay, especially if you cross the Maggies over to a sub...

 

[TLS Guy]

Those magnapans are reportedly a bit hard to drive , at low volume it probably won't matter much though..the issue you may have( or not, don't let me talk you into anything) is dynamics from those speakers at low volume.. They aren't known as "rock out" type speakers...

They are not that hard to drive. They are just below four ohms, but it is a purely resistive load. They are not very efficient though.

 

[muziekfreak]

What misinformation are you referring to? My takeaway from advice so far is that they do best with higher current amplification but for moderate or lower listening levels the receiver should be okay, especially if you cross the Maggies over to a sub...

Magnepans are not hard to drive at all... Look up a guy on youtube his name is joppe peelen, he builds magnepans from his apartment . Drives them with a mid level amplifier . Explains in detail even why there are so many old wives stories out there conserning their "needs"

They oppose no impedance conundrum like cone speakers do. The have a low sensitivity 84db ish that's all they like current. It is most certainly not a per definition must with them. Especially not with the size of a lrs (4ft or so)

And subs IMHO are always a must with such speakers. Not only that, I advice anyone even with box speakers to get a sub. No floorstander will dip near 20hz-25hz flat by itself. It adds so much to any system in terms of dynamic range

 

[muziekfreak]

They are not that hard to drive. They are just below four ohms, but it is a purely resistive load. They are not very efficient though.

Precisely!

 

[lovinthehd]

Aren't they more difficult to place in a room well rather than worry about amp?

 

[Eppie]

Aren't they more difficult to place in a room well rather than worry about amp?

Yes, in general they are because they are a dipole and radiate both forward and back. I would not expect wattage to be a big issue with the LRS though unless you want to really rock out hard at high SPL (as Shady mentioned). I bet my AVR at 105W/ch would drive them fine. I've always wanted to try electrostatics, but my system has a 20" wall on the left side and a full wall on the right side with about 16" of space between the side walls and the stereo cabinet that houses the components. That doesn't lend well to proper placement of maggies so I won't bother in this room.

I'm a bit confused by "You do need a good amp to run them, and I do mean high current." and "Magnepans are not hard to drive at all." and "They have a low sensitivity 84db ish that's all, they like current.". Isn't a speaker with low sensitivity that requires a high current amp the very definition of harder to drive? That would be true for the 6ft tall 3.7i; maybe not so much for the LRS.

 

[Kingnoob]

Low sensitivity needs a ton of wattage for reference level probably few 100rms
I’ve not heard Maggie’s before , some people say there amazing others ehhh not dynamic enough .

 

[Eppie]

Aren't they more difficult to place in a room well rather than worry about amp?

Learned something interesting in Gene's latest video on mono vs stereo speaker testing. Because of the dipole nature of electrostatic panels, they create a figure 8 pattern of sound. The front and rear sound emanations cancel out the side emanations. Little if any side wall treatments needed because there is significantly less sound reflected off of the side walls with panels.