Magnepan in Delhi

Dear Rahul,

What time are you going? Do give me a call and let me see if I can join you.

Where exactly is this showroom in City Select Walk?

Please do write about the Maggie Experiance;
How were they set up ? Sound ? Accompanying Gear ?
Room ? etc. Thanks

Their homepage suggests they are dealing with Wilson Audio as well. Did you get a chance to listen to the Wilson MAXX by any chance?

Not yet.That day they had only the Maggies set up for Panditr's sake;they have not yet got the place going fully.

Hi All,

It's been long since I posted anything. Have been busy in life & work.

Today I happened to walk into:

A2V
Audio Vision India Showroom
S-09, 2nd floor, Select City Walk, A-3 District Center, Saket, New Delhi -17
Ph - 40548884/5/6
Contact Person - Siddharth

I listened to the following setup:
-Rotel RCD 06 CD Player (Rs 36,900)
-Nuforce IA-7V2 Integrated Amp 100x2 (Rs 94,000)
-B&W 703 Floorstander Speakers (Rs 204,500)
-Kimberkable ICs & Skpr Cables
-Sound treated demo room

Music I heard (what they had - I didn't carry mine as it was unplanned visit):
-Diana Krall
-Deep Purple
-Burmeister CD-3
-Madonna Ray of Light

My impression - good all round system with transparent & open soundstage. Good frequency response, imaging & quite musically involving. The setup did live up to it's price.

The showroom manager Siddharth is a very friendly person (although technically not too knowledgeable).

I also met there another budding audiophile Ashutosh Sharma who probably would soon join this forum.

I do plan to go there again at leisure with my own CDs to do a relaxed audition.

Hi

I did go to A2V last Sunday to hear the Magneplanars MG 1.6 (Rs. 1,33,000 inclusive of tax and discount)

The gear was the same as Sanjay mentioned with the MG 1.6 being used instead of the B&Ws. Siddharth first played it with a Rotel RMB 1070 (130 watts) and then changed it to the Nu Force IA-7V2 ....Huge difference in the overall sound and the soundstage....The NuForce amps took the Maggies to a totally different level...With the Rotel amp I was listening with a B&W sub (Rs 99,000 can't remember the model)...but the Nuforce amp made all the difference without the sub being turned on...The imaging was spot on and the sound became brighter(I like bright sounding amps)and fuller...I heard the MG 12s also but the 1.6s beat them hollow...With a good amp the 1.6s do not need the sub whereas the MG 12s can't do without a sub...Overall excellent speakers with a smooth midrange and excellent highs....bass lovers need to look elsewhere though....

I also listened to the B&W 800D with all Classe equipment but came out disappointed...They were good no doubt but just not worth the price...Since I had heard the Maggies with Nu force amplification (mid range NuForce) and entry level Rotel source, the difference between the 2 setups was not very much...atleast I would'nt pay more thn 1.5 times more than the former's setup....However I was told that the 800Ds were not broken in so therefore need another listen to it...Sanjay do let me know what you think when you listen to it again...I can tag along with you if you say so....Kamal sir can also join in..

panditr schrieb:

I also listened to the B&W 800D with all Classe equipment but came out disappointed...They were good no doubt but just not worth the price...Since I had heard the Maggies with Nu force amplification (mid range NuForce) and entry level Rotel source, the difference between the 2 setups was not very much...atleast I would'nt pay more thn 1.5 times more than the former's setup....However I was told that the 800Ds were not broken in so therefore need another listen to it...Sanjay do let me know what you think when you listen to it again...I can tag along with you if you say so....Kamal sir can also join in..

Is this a TYPO ?

It may be 15 times more expensive......imho.

The B & W 800D is listed @ 20 K US $'s & @ 1200 K INR + I think......

While the Maggie is @ 133/- K I think.

particleman schrieb:

Their homepage suggests they are dealing with Wilson Audio as well. Did you get a chance to listen to the Wilson MAXX by any chance?

This is there in the Mumbai Showroom.
Driven with Theta Digital Citadel Amplifiers.

They also have the Duets set up & running.

Do drop by @ Juhu - PVR Building for a listen.

Interesting to listen to......

The B & W 800D is listed @ 20 K US $'s & @ 1200 K INR + I think......

US $ 20K Retail, by most Authorised dealers of other products would translate to Rs 39 x $20K = Rs 7,80,000 + Sales Tax. ( Most retailers accomodate the customs duty .. or most of it, in their 50% to 70% margins)

But at A2V its actually its Rs 13,65,000 + Sales Tax + Octroi.

In Mumbai, with its Absurd Tax + Octroi levies it sould sport a price tag of Rs 16,00,000

i.e Double of the US $ 20K.....

The Maggies in all their Avtars offer amongst the BEST VFM in Hi Fi.

Members will recall that msb-1 was offering a pair of eAR 1001 Class D monobloic amps, and I Think he was also toying with selling the Top of the line Maggies... at a Great price.

One thing about the Maggies, their sound can be VERY room dependent. Generally they need a lot of space BEHIND them to Really image well and sing. Best in larger rooms.

Great sound, Great looks and a Great conversation piece ...

Amp_Nut schrieb:

The Maggies in all their Avtars offer amongst the BEST VFM in Hi Fi. Members will recall that msb-1 was offering a pair of eAR 1001 Class D monobloic amps, and I Think he was also toying with selling the Top of the line Maggies... at a Great price. One thing about the Maggies, their sound can be VERY room dependent. Generally they need a lot of space BEHIND them to Really image well and sing. Best in larger rooms. Great sound, Great looks and a Great conversation piece ...

Sir,

The Maggie for sale was the 1.6 [I think].
Not the 20.1. [MSB i.e.]

Maggies have this trait of making everything too big. The Violin becomes a Chello [not a Viola].
The Singers mount is 6" to 12" wide.

Not exactly my kind of a sound.

Very Nice VFM for sure.

I am not so sure, if I like their looks either. They are very poorly built. Flimsy is what I would call them.

They sure work very well in large rooms and are the best @ 15' distance. Need 5' space behind them at least.
Strong Powerful amps are a must - Voltage Drive - imperative......

Bhagwan, I meant that as compared to the costs of the two setups I heard - Maggies with Nuforce amps and B&W 800Ds with Classe Equipment, the difference in sound was just not proportional to the prices. I would probably pay 1.5 times or twice the cost of the Maggies setup for the kind of sound B&Ws gave.....Just my humble opinion

The above comments were made listening to my choice of music - jazz (both smooth and old skool) and some chillout ambient music....

Hey Guys!
I'll add my 2 paisa worth on the Magneplanar 1.6 speakers. A friend of a friend used to own them & I've heard them at that friend's place. They were driven by a heavily modified Anthem tube amp. The CD player was an old California Audio Labs (CAL) transport & DAC. The preamp was a DIY passive TVC built using British Souter transformers.
The room was small/intimate - something like 17' X 17' with 8' ceilings. The walls were all unfinished hard-wood panelled.
The Maggies sure had a very transparent, you-are-there sound. The imaging was holographic. However, the music sounded the best when played at low to medium volume levels. It also sounded the best for Jazz & Classical - duets, trios, quartets & non-complex music. With Classical symphonic works the speakers got congested. When I requested some Reggae to be played, the whole system just fell apart sound-wise. The speaker did not have that "raw"/"rough" sound that was needed for Reggae - it ended up being rather polite. Also, for Reggae, I felt the severe need for a sub!
These Maggies were pulled out into the middle of the room so that there was plenty of space behind them. I believe that the ribbons are bipolar?
Like Amp_Nut said, they needed plenty of space in front & behind them to get the best out of them.
It's a good speaker in that it has the coherency (that many speakers in the market just do not have) but it is *not* an all-rounder speaker, IMHO.
One might need to go up the Maggie chain to the larger magnetic planars to achieve all-round sound??

I would like to add a one-liner here:

When I came back home & listened to my system, it sounded at least as good - in fact better in certain way - at about 2/3rd the price.

Viren, Sanjay,Rahul, lets try to get together on a sunday for an audition at A2V-God knows we have'nt met for quite some time now!

I'm on Kamal sir.