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RE: My Magnepan 1.6QR DIY Upgrade Story

Posted by dumpingground (A) on March 21, 2011 at 10:49:22

In Reply to: My Magnepan 1.6QR DIY Upgrade Story posted by dumpingground on March 21, 2011 at 10:48:18:

Listening impressions:

I have a dedicated listening room for my system that is used for both 2 channel music and 5.1 hometheater listening. Other components in my system:

Panasonic BX-500 Digital Amp Receiver (that supports biamping the magnepans).
Magnepan 1.6QR front left/right
Mirage CC V2 center, Omni 50 rear left/right
HSU TN 1220 subwoofers (I have 2)
BFD1124 parameter EQ (for EQ the subwoofers)
Panasonic Blu-Ray Player (DMP-85k)
DIY HTPC
Squeezebox Duet
XBOX 360
Crown XLS 1000 Pro Amp (powers some buttkickers)
Crown XLS 1500 Pro Amp (powers the HSU subwoofers)
Realtraps drop ceiling tiles HF acoustical sound panels
GIK Acoustics QRD and GridFusor Diffusion panels (QRD's are behind the Magnepans to diffuse the rear wave)


Well I must admit that the speaker stands did not seem to add that much to my sound. I think that that is because of two things. First, because of room positioning the speakers plus stands are still on top of a piece of area throw rug with padding. So despite the weight and stability, there still is some speaker sway if I touch them with my hand. Also, I have a pair of HSU TN1220 subwoofer towers that I am using and normally play my magnepan 1.6 with a crossover frequency of 80hz to divert the lower frequencies to my subwoofers. I am happy with the upgrade, but I think that the crossover upgrade is more a substantial improvement.

The crossover upgrade is the big kahuna. I immediately noticed a much less glaring and less rough high notes especially in female vocals. I was also able to start to hear more details in the music especially in instrumentals that were not apparent before. I have never been a believer in “breakin” for electronic components. But just in case I left my stereo system turned on to a streaming JAZZ music station for 200 hours during the first 2 weeks after my upgrade. Possibly I did start to hear more detail after breakin, I don't know hard to compare the before and after. But since it is free, what the heck. Leave the system on and let it run to break in.

I am still listening to my upgrade system and will report back more details as they grow on me.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Sonic Craft

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