# mounting a magnepan mmg flat on a wall?



## chim

I'm considering getting a pair of mmgs for my dorm room, and I was thinking of mounting them FLAT against the wall. Since they're so slim and what not, I was going to have my wall full of posters and just have the MMGs blend in with them. Completely stealth audio bliss. Will this work?


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## tennisets

The MMGs are not at all, not even the tiniest amount, designed to be anywhere even CLOSE to a wall. I've never heard them, but from what others have told me, they need three feet minimum, and four or five feet is better. But they are definitely not going to sound good mounted against the wall. They need room to breath.

 In fact, _almost_ every speaker I know of sounds loads better with at least a couple of feet to the rear and side walls. Speakers really need to be out in the open. Especially dipoles (which the Maggies are) need to have lots of room since they direct as much sound backward as they do forward. However, I know of one exception:

 Magnepan makes a speaker called the MMGW. It's designed to be mounted on the wall. It even has a bracket that swivels so that you can store it against the wall and swing it out when you want to listen. By all accounts they sound very good, and they're only $299 a pair. The only caveat: they only go down to about 100 Hz, so you'll need a sub to fill in the bottom end.

 But whatever you do, please don't mount the MMGs on the wall.


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## Phil Ramsay

I agree with tennisets. Quite right.


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## Aman

You want speakers that disapear in the room?
 Check out Ohm Acoustics speakers.


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## tennisets

Wow, I've never heard of those before, but I just googled them and look really interesting. The Micro Walshes also got a rave review on Six Moons (when you say "speakers that dissappear from the room, I assume you mean their omnipoles). Thanks for the heads up about such cool speakers (though I will never be able to use them, since the amp that I'm currently building puts out eight watts).

 Also, it just occurred to me that Chim said nothing about the speakers dissappearing from the room sonically (which is what I _think_ you meant). He wants the speakers to dissappear from the room visually, and not take up much space. Unfortunately, I highly doubt you can position the Ohm Walshes close to a wall, due to their omnipole nature (correct me if I'm wrong). As such, I don't think they'll really work for his situation and needs, no matter how good they sound.


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## chim

when i say disappear from the room, i meant visually. The Mmg's would just look like two black rectangles on the wall along with all the other posters. Would the sound of the MMGs get totally distorted if i did that? Kinda like "press your hands against the outside of grados" type hollow tin sound? Its kind of impossible to have "perfect audio conditions" in the dorms, but If I could get good quality sound and not have speakers take up any floorspace, i'd be all over some magnepans


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## bln

I agree it's a cool idea, but as tennisets already said, the answer is a resounding no if you want good sound.


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## tennisets

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *chim* 
_when i say disappear from the room, i meant visually. The Mmg's would just look like two black rectangles on the wall along with all the other posters. Would the sound of the MMGs get totally distorted if i did that? Kinda like "press your hands against the outside of grados" type hollow tin sound? Its kind of impossible to have "perfect audio conditions" in the dorms, but If I could get good quality sound and not have speakers take up any floorspace, i'd be all over some magnepans_

 

Did you not read my first post? I reccommended another pair of Magnepans that would be perfect for your situation if you just shove a suboofer in there somewhere. It's as good as you're gonna get for you're situation.

*[size=small]MAGNEPAN MMG-W[/size]*


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## jjcapurro

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *tennisets* 
_Did you not read my first post? I reccommended another pair of Magnepans that would be perfect for your situation if you just shove a suboofer in there somewhere. It's as good as you're gonna get for you're situation.

*[size=small]MAGNEPAN MMG-W[/size]*_

 

Listen to the man... This is your best bet. $300 for the pair + something like this (SVS) and you're golden for dorm listening - decent sound WELL under $1000.

 Cheers,
 Jeremy


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## Aman

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *chim* 
_when i say disappear from the room, i meant visually. The Mmg's would just look like two black rectangles on the wall along with all the other posters. Would the sound of the MMGs get totally distorted if i did that? Kinda like "press your hands against the outside of grados" type hollow tin sound? Its kind of impossible to have "perfect audio conditions" in the dorms, but If I could get good quality sound and not have speakers take up any floorspace, i'd be all over some magnepans_

 

The speakers are tiny and create sound that speakers twice/thrice their size could only BEGIN to attempt to rival.

 I meant that they dissapear visually as well. They are so small - because of their design, they don't have to be positioned accurately to receive an accurate stereo image. The walsh drivers are 360-directional sound, so as long as they aren't in corners of the room, they'll sound great.

 They run on 15 watts in 6ohms ... they run VERY WELL on that much power ... as long as you have that much, you'll have blissful audio that you will forget is even physically there in the room.


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## jpelg

Aman,

 Do you know how much of a performance hit you hear when using the "short" Micro Walshes compared to the "talls" (assuming both are standing on the floor)?


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## chim

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *tennisets* 
_Did you not read my first post? I reccommended another pair of Magnepans that would be perfect for your situation if you just shove a suboofer in there somewhere. It's as good as you're gonna get for you're situation.

*[size=small]MAGNEPAN MMG-W[/size]*_

 

i have an old optimus sub from way back in the day. It was part of a radioshack set, I don't think I can afford an SVS sub for the dorms. Do you think that the sound would sound terribly distorted? It was designed as a home theater sub, last time I checked it was decent. I have an SVS 16-46 at home that absolutely destroys it though, but there's no way I can take a huge cylindrical downward firing sub to school


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## jjcapurro

The SVS sub i linked is their low end box mounted, rather than the tube model and is reasonably small and fairly cheap (429). I figured with a drop in price on the speakers i could recomend a decent sub to go with.

 Since the Maggies only have response down to 100hz you will want to have a reasonable quality sub because it will be handling some of the mids, all of the midbass, as well as all of the low bass.

 Not being familier with Radio Shack's offerings (although as I recall, Optimus often will rebrand other companies offerings), I cannot make comment on your sub. BUT... I'd say start with it, and if you are unhappy then give yourself some time to save and move up later. I'm always a proponant of saving and buying the equipment you REALLY want.

 Cheers,
 Jeremy


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## chim

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *jjcapurro* 
_The SVS sub i linked is their low end box mounted, rather than the tube model and is reasonably small and fairly cheap (429). I figured with a drop in price on the speakers i could recomend a decent sub to go with.

 Since the Maggies only have response down to 100hz you will want to have a reasonable quality sub because it will be handling some of the mids, all of the midbass, as well as all of the low bass.

 Not being familier with Radio Shack's offerings (although as I recall, Optimus often will rebrand other companies offerings), I cannot make comment on your sub. BUT... I'd say start with it, and if you are unhappy then give yourself some time to save and move up later. I'm always a proponant of saving and buying the equipment you REALLY want.

 Cheers,
 Jeremy_

 


 sounds like i'm going to go with a pair of MMG-Ws. Anybody have a good link to a dealer, or should I just order from them direct (by email, I think?)


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## tennisets

Here's Magnepan's Dealer List. If you can find a store local to you that has them, that's great, because you can go and listen to the speakers before you buy them. If there is no store local to you that carries Magnepan, then just order direct. Magnepan has a 60 day satisfaction guarantee on the MMG series. If you decide you don't like the speakers within 60 days of purchasing them, just send them back.


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## jjcapurro

MMG-W's as well as MMG's are not sold at dealers. Everything else is. You need to order them direct and use the 30 day money back guarantee if they dont work for you.


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## peter braun

I would also recommend the MMG-Ws. They are pretty much exactly what you are looking for and only cost $300. Can't go wrong with that!


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## longslong

I'll chime in to represent a different view- I have a set of 1.6QRs which are not exactly mounted on the wall but on the edge of bookcases/cabinets tangental to the wall so there's about 3' of space behind them and about the same from the outer edge to the side wall.  I have the speakers tilted out at about a 60 angle and have to say, it sounds (and measures) great.  MMGs lack base so you can try them mounted on the wall by one edge and tilted out at least 60 degrees- less of an angle will result in their sounding not as full as they might- more like "regular" speakers and much less dynamic in the mid range with too much muddiness.  If you have REW or a measurement system you'll see what I mean- the mid-bass will go up and the midrange / treble will have large phase differences.
   
  I also have MMGWs are surround sound and they are fine for ambient music while studying or, as you might guess, surround sound they are in no way "full range" so don't expect an audiophile experience from them. I gave a used set to my daughter for her dorm room and she uses and loves them as her only speakers- no complaint and she loves the interest she gets from other men (and women) regarding them- everyone seems to love the sound and the look. Also don't forget MIA (made in America) which is how I originally found and started using Magnepan- I went to great lengths to keep my equipment as domestically grown as possible. FYI- Adcom, Emotiva, Magnepan, AB International.  Behringer and now mini-dsp are the only "immigrants" in my stack.
   
  Just give it a shot (mount  on a swinging pivot along one edge, I use two metal poles with plastic mounts which I screw into the wooden bottom of the speaker) .  This test does no damage beyond two tiny unnoticable screwholes to the speakers and wall and will give you an idea of how they will sound.  As long as they are at a decent angle I think you'll be please with the result.  When I'm not listening I often push the speakers flat against the wall so they are out of the way. I got new sock material from Magnepan which matched the beige walls of our room so they really disappear until you light them up


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## Taowolf51

Agreed with everything here. Also, make sure your amp can drive them, maggies aren't the easiest to drive.


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