Yes, an insightful review from RGA
Quote:
Originally Posted by abstracta
RGA,
Likely the best and most brutally correct review I've heard on the Maggies 1.6's.
....
I say this as an MG 1.6 owner and enthusiast. RGA has done an exceptional amount of comparative listening so I always consider his opinions. However I take issue with some of his comments:
- "... I'd say at least 10 feet from any side wall." No: two - three feet is adequate, (unless toe-in is extreme in which case another foot or two more is better).
- "... Once you rule out using the desired SETs they carried then it all just becomes a tier down. ... This store told me bryston was a terrible match". A matter of taste. My Bel Canto too might seem a dry and "sterile" to a SET user but ... who cares: if it matters to you, use a Musical Fidelity, Plinius, tubes or whatever.
- "... it isn't particularly a relaxing speaker either ... ". No, it tells it like it is. That's a good thing, not a bad thing; (beauty? or truth?).
- "The other thing is the speaker is more about the pomps and pipes of hi-fi (show off select recordings to firends) than it is about the music it seems." Now this egregious; totally the opposite of the truth, IMO!
- "I felt the speakers ultimately present a 2d image with a forced sense of 3d. As if the surface of the music was presented without the depth or insight of the music that I've heard from these musicians." I can't say I agree, but there is some basis for this sort of remark due to the nature of dipole speakers. Basically there is a trade-off between the best possible imaging and spatial precision, on the one hand, and the "air" and "in the room with you" sense on the other hand. This trade-off can largely be controlled by the user, viz. more than 5 feet from the wall and/or a sound absorbing or defusing wall treatment will tend to the former effect.