Magnepan LRS

[admin]

Very nice. What do you think of the Magnarisers? Do they help over stock feet?

[AnotherJohnson]

http://magnarisers.com/index.html

[SteveFord]

They're really good.
I just wanted them up in the air a bit because they're so short but the first thing I thought was they sound more substantial, almost like a box speaker.
They're working up some for the 20.X line so get ready to flex your muscles!
A set for the 3.7s should be here in another few weeks so that's something to look forward to.

[SteveFord]

Got to do one of my least favorite things today: bias brand new tubes.

With the way things are going in Russia I bought the bullet and replaced the mystery Groove Tubes in that little VTL with E-H C6A7.
The Groove Tubes were probably relabled JJ or Sovtek EL34s, these Electro-Harmonix are a step up, you can hear the improvement even on brand new tubes.

[AnotherJohnson]

Cool!

[admin]

I can't wait for this tube shortage to pass. I wonder how long it will last after the war is over. Will new supplies flood the market as embargo's are lifted or will those manufacturing plants simply go out of business? Who knows. Glad you got a good set.

[SteveFord]

Thanks.
A buddy pushed me off the fence with "the Groove Tubes will be fine until they red plate (and they will)"...
I have enough problems without that!

Who knows with the Russians, they've lost their marbles.

[SteveFord]

I got on the list for the new LRS+ speakers, ETA maybe October or November they say.

[admin]

That's awesome. How did you go about getting on the list?

[AnotherJohnson]

That's awesome. How did you go about getting on the list?

And … why is there a list? Is it just routine preorder or backorder? Or is this a limited edition?

[AnotherJohnson]

Looked it up. Looks like preorder/backorder together.

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2022/04/ ... -2022/?amp

At $995 a pair, they’re probably a HUGE bang for the buck.

Surely you can get on the list by talking to your dealer.

[admin]

I remember listening to the LRS speakers a number of years ago at a dealer. I think they were around $600 or so at that time. For the price, I was completely blown away. They needed a little help on the low end (IMHO), but I have never heard anything near as good in the mid and high range in that price vicinity. I think even at $1k they would have been an amazing bargain and I'm sure they will be making some improvements on the previous model.

[AnotherJohnson]

Yes, at $695/ pair for the LRS, they were a true loss leader.

At $995/pair for the LRS+, they’re still a loss leader. The motivation has to be to introduce entry level listeners to Maggie sound, with the expectation that they’ll get hooked.

[SteveFord]

The dreaded list: I had to call them up and say I want a pair in black, please.
They're not even in production yet, they have to finish the outstanding LRS orders and then they'll switch over to the Plus model.
I've been hearing about the Plus model since maybe last Winter when they did the first trial pair and everybody was really floored when they heard them.
Being Magnepan it took them forever to decide to go ahead and build them.
I plan on keeping the original LRS speakers and it looks like I just sold my Sonic Frontiers preamp so I'm thinking a C-J ET-3 is probably in my future.
I've heard so many good things about the ET-3 so I think one of those will wind up here by Christmas.
That will be something to look forward to.

[admin]

CJ pairs so well with magnepans. You'll have no regrets. Keep us informed about what happens (with both the LRS+ and the potential ET-3).

[SteveFord]

The LRS+ speakers showed up today.
They're going to sell a gazillion of these.
The LRS were good for the price, these are just plain really good.

[admin]

The LRS+ speakers showed up today.
They're going to sell a gazillion of these.
The LRS were good for the price, these are just plain really good.

Nice. Any issues with setup or positioning?

[SteveFord]

I just put them the same place as the LRS' were with a little less toe in.
Same height as the LRS but about 1.25" narrower.

The only change that I made to that system was to stick a 3.5" platform under each speaker to get them up in the air a bit more. My wife was throwing out a dining room table so I used that as a donor and picked up some wooden sofa buns from Home Depot
https://www.homedepot.com/p/American-Pr ... /300437996
stained them to match, cut down the threaded rod a bit, drilled the table sections and glued them into place.

Wider and taller soundstage, better dynamics and more detail. They brought out a hidden vocal track that none of the other Magnepans (or Stax headphones) ever brought to the surface.
Eventually they'll do this Plus bit to the other models but right now they're concentrating on dipole subwoofers(!) with a projected cheap, medium and super expensive line.

Last I looked the LRS+ isn't on their web site, I'm sure they have quite a backlog of orders to fill right now.

[AnotherJohnson]

Sounds like a great upgrade!

[SteveFord]

They did a good job, the previous LRS had a bit of a bass bloat which I suspect they did to make them sound larger and do a better job of playing in a large room.
They took that out of the LRS+ which took me a little bit to realize.
With the LRS I had to go from Rega Saturn down to Rega Apollo to cut back on the bass.
The LRS+ sounded like they weren't ever going to break in so I put the Saturn back into the system and they were broken in, I was hearing the Apollo!
Now things sound just right.