Driving Miss Maggie, Chapter 1

In this quest to quench our thirst in this infinitely insatiable hobby of ours aka itchy back side syndrome I have embarked into a journey to improve the 'bottom end' of young Missy... Not that end my friend, know what u r thinking..

The evening started with a bang, well almost, more like a bzzzzzzttt followed by a smell of something burning.. I had a Wyred 4 Sound Pre and SX1000 monos delivered personally by the owner, Harris (mucho mucho gracias mi amigo) for an audition. Accidentally Plugged my 120v Esoteric SA60 into the local line while shifting and sorting out the powercords for the Wyred Monos!! Shock horror.. So came down my venerable Marantz S7001KI to do the spinning duties...

Anyway, invited two forummers first and just trying out pm-ing others and by good fortune, the evening ended with :

Chang, Joki, KN Wong, Moderneagle, Mugen Foo, Sting and VS126!! And ended till the wee hour of this morning, about 2am actually for some of us...

I'll start off this post with special thanks to KN Wong, who managed to squeeze time to drop by and of course to the great guru, Joki, for his advice and get this, setting my Maggies on the right placement ..

A very very special thank to the poison miester, Chang who started the ball rolling to the rest of the kakis.. To be continued...

Cheers,

zeebee

Hope can share some exciting photos of the evening.

the chocolate cornflake balls were delicious.

Sounds like you guys had a great Saturday night party!!

Hmmmm..... this MF fella, supposed to go listen, end up talking about food. Talking about chocolate... now where did I keep that dark chocolate bar.....

ZB, I was surprised/shocked at how difficult the Maggie is to drive. Your passlab meter was shooting beyond the 3/4 point with some of the music and they were not particularly demanding too.

ZB, You welcome. No poison how to improve? What are friends for...

Sigh ....

Sujesh, why you so sad, no one poisoning you for a long time already kah ? When you getting the Kismet ?

No Kismet for me ...I feel Khartago Extreme SE is better. maybe mono bloc version later. And I want my VW Golf ...

Golf GTi ? Nice car. Personally I'd prefer the FD2R though I am sure you won't be surprised coming from me. I thought you already have a Khartago already ? So you want to monobloc it ? Having seen a confirmation of how difficult the Maggie is to drive, I think that would be a very good move indeed....

I have had absolutely no problems driving my Maggies with my Khartago Extreme SE ...the amp doesn't even work up a sweat, even with the Apogees...but i think u know that already ...Mono bloc only because itchy ...now got spider rack so even better ...

WongKN wrote:Sujesh, why you so sad, no one poisoning you for a long time already kah ? When you getting the Kismet ?

Looks like Sujesh already got poisoned, deeply but already found the antidote. Spider rack!!

WongKN wrote:Hmmmm..... this MF fella, supposed to go listen, end up talking about food. Talking about chocolate... now where did I keep that dark chocolate bar.....

ZB, I was surprised/shocked at how difficult the Maggie is to drive. Your passlab meter was shooting beyond the 3/4 point with some of the music and they were not particularly demanding too.

KN,
You are most welcomed.. That's why having the itchy backside and as you wisely advised... scratch it . Yes, the little Missy is a real power sucker, I did note that the Passlab shoots up, especially when you run some bass heavy passages.

But then again, based on last nights consensus, it didn't fare that badly. The Wyred did very well too, IMHO, they were more upfront and perhaps not really properly set up.. And of course the interconnects not at par to their capabilities. Thanks VS126.. you keep poisoning me

Sifu Joki's placement of the panels has really given more space and as he mentioned, to let them breathe and with bigger soundstage. I'm clearing up the clutter and may experiment a bit with the cables. Thanks Sifu.. it is Awesome..

Mugen, if you enjoyed the chocolate, there's more... the quickie at your place was a revelation.. dragging in the Miss Maggie into the fray may be a real possibility.. looking forward to it. Thanks for bringing over your Krell, can't wait for the real thing..

Car_O_ Scope,
The party would have been a real ball if the belly dancers turned up, despite the the promise of fortune and fame, none of them turned up. So each gentlemen had their turn on the Miss Maggie one at a time with the occasional group action..

Samn,
Didn't take any photos during session but I will post a 'before and after' photos as I can't upload using Google Chrome, later. Nothing really special with the setting up as I'm using a typical terrace house living room with no special treatment to enjoy the music. All these guys are really helping out to get the best where possible to enjoy the music..

Sujesh,
Another session... will need your poison too, last nite didn't hook up the P7, but I do have a bit of query. Yep, the Kismet beckons mate

Had a quick trip to Amcorp this afternoon before dropping of my fried Esoteric at Dr Oh in OUG.. Saw another MM 1.7 ready for a new owner (I presumed), Mr Ong wasn't around but I'm sure there will someone grinning broadly soon with these babies.

Before I forget, apologies in general to others on behalf of this crowd... we forgot about 'Earth's Hour' and instead of no electricity for the hour, we increased our carbon footprint by the hectares in our quest to drive Miss Maggie

Cheers..

With the appearance of those belly dancers, the whole group would be too busy to pay attention to your Miss Maggie. Then, you have to start playing the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"

bassraptor wrote:I have had absolutely no problems driving my Maggies with my Khartago Extreme SE ...the amp doesn't even work up a sweat, even with the Apogees...but i think u know that already ...Mono bloc only because itchy ...now got spider rack so even better ...

Confused says "when bekside itchy, it is best to scratch"....

ZB,

Each combo - wyred, krell 300i, passlab pre-power, they have characteristics of their own. A lot depends on your personal preference and how they match to those characteristics. It is worthwhile to consider experiences of other maggie owners as well.

Regretably I didn't try those chocolate cupcake thingies.

bassraptor wrote:No Kismet for me ...I feel Khartago Extreme SE is better. maybe mono bloc version later. And I want my VW Golf ...

So fast itchy butt already

The party would have been a real ball if the belly dancers turned up, despite the the promise of fortune and fame, none of them turned up. Laughing So each gentlemen had their turn on the Miss Maggie one at a time with the occasional group action..

Hi-fi orgy then

Mugen, if you enjoyed the chocolate, there's more... the quickie at your place was a revelation..

now chocolate. Later, probably 'black and white'. You know, 'black and white' quite popular nowadays

Confused says "when bekside itchy, it is best to scratch".... Razz

Wong Suk, I had always thought 'it is best to spend'. No?

Me neither. I had the soggy peanuts instead. Thanks Zeebee for the hospitality. The maggies are sex. And like sex I imagine it's often times hard to drive but when the mood's right, like after Joki fondled the positioning, man... Btw Joki looks even better in person.

Pardon me, am using layman language to express my feelings about maggie and how she sounded to my ears. This was my first ever listening party and I can't think of a better way to be unflowered.

Yours, had a great time, moderneagle.

Actually, for me, I think I'm almost done with the Magnepan 1.6 challenge, ie, getting the best bass from them without spending too much. Now must plan to move to higher challenges .... like making a Wilson Sasha or Thiel 3.7 or Odeon work well in my room. But first, have to get them! Or maybe a 3.7, better value ... let's see ...

As you have now found out, Maggies are difficult to drive. My first experience of them were some 22 years ago when I listened to a pair of MG III's and made a friend for life with the owner of that pair of Maggies. Since then, I have had the privilege of knowing other Hifi enthusiasts who have owned or still own Maggies in their various iterations and have listened to their speakers.

That first experience to pure ribbon tweeters is an experience never to be forgotten nor replicated. After that I was hooked only on panel speakers and cannot now stand box colourations.


Anyway, here's a tip; a cheap and cheerful way to drive Maggies as was adopted by my friend was to disconnect the stock passive crossover and to use an active crossover and to then run separate amps from the active crossovers. ie teh preamp feeds the crossover and the crossover feeds 2 power amps. The bass was powered from a humble Audiolab 8000p and that was sufficient.

The mids and highs were driven by an ARC D115 and later by a 845 monoblocks.

Try this option before going down the expensive amplification route.

Incidentally, if you are not averse to DIY, check out the moskido on DIYaudio.com. The guy who started the thread is running the moskido on his Maggies and he raves about the diy moskido asserting that it is superior to kilobuck amps like Jeff Rowland.

See particularly post 40+ onwards where he has refined the moskido to a direct coupled design, where its is said that the new refined design is even better than the original one at the beginning of the threads.

My 2 cents worth

Thanks

Hi Zeebee,

Thanks for the great evening with yr maggies.

Not trying to poison you with the wyred monoblock, but for the price of less than RM9500, must be the best value in town for a kilowatt plus monoblock.

Also like to thank the owner of the wyred for the loan of his amp. Although not much justice done to it coz it is sitting on thick floor carpets and as ZB mentioned, interconnects and CD player not up to the mark, it does sound wonderful. Too bad we did not have time to audition with it after the new speaker placement.

All in all, great evening with great friends. And yeah, nice meeting new and old HIFI kakis. Best 1.7 setup I have heard so far.

Dear Zeebee,

Thank you for having me and I hope I did not take up too much space when there was already a crowd.

Despite listening in your living room, it has a nice shape and a good size for your Maggie. While I understand your home minister's requirement, I think you could jiggled a bit to make Maggie sounded more at ease. What I did was simply allowing sound from your Maggie to be heard more instead of your room by allowing the former to project into the listening position more freely. I hope it suits your listening requirement.

Thank you for the hospitality, and my pleasure in meeting you.

JoKi

moderneagle wrote:Me neither. I had the soggy peanuts instead. Thanks Zeebee for the hospitality. The maggies are sex. And like sex I imagine it's often times hard to drive but when the mood's right, like after Joki fondled the positioning, man... Btw Joki looks even better in person.

Pardon me, am using layman language to express my feelings about maggie and how she sounded to my ears. This was my first ever listening party and I can't think of a better way to be unflowered.

Yours, had a great time, moderneagle.

Ha.. very funny Moderneagle. At the given stance, I was only "watzing" with Maggies! Fondling? Maggies would have sounded more willing

But I must say, the great evening was partially from the meeting of so many fellow hifi friends. I literally make few friends in one meeting.

I must thank Wong KN for taking me but it was really a last minute! I would be more well behave in future and avoid uninvited fondling.

JoKi

Jo,

Once I get my listening room ready it would be an honor if you can come and fondle my Italian mistresses. The daughters of Franco Serblin await your magical touch. Won't you come caress these voluptuous Italian beauties? And while you're at it, could you also teach them how to sing?

Man, sounds like u guys had fun ... and zeebee didn't even invite me ...

jokiarch wrote:

moderneagle wrote:Me neither. I had the soggy peanuts instead. Thanks Zeebee for the hospitality. The maggies are sex. And like sex I imagine it's often times hard to drive but when the mood's right, like after Joki fondled the positioning, man... Btw Joki looks even better in person.

Pardon me, am using layman language to express my feelings about maggie and how she sounded to my ears. This was my first ever listening party and I can't think of a better way to be unflowered.

Yours, had a great time, moderneagle.

Ha.. very funny Moderneagle. At the given stance, I was only "watzing" with Maggies! Fondling? Maggies would have sounded more willing

But I must say, the great evening was partially from the meeting of so many fellow hifi friends. I literally make few friends in one meeting.

I must thank Wong KN for taking me but it was really a last minute! I would be more well behave in future and avoid uninvited fondling.

JoKi

Gents,

Been trying to upload pictures but the net extremely slow for some reason, will try to do soon.

Moderneagle,

Bro, very sorry about the soggy peanuts thought you're unaware of that when you're being deflowered

Joki,

Thanks again for your advice and help... great to meet fellow enthusiasts especially one with this uncanny gift for good sound. The crowd wasn't intended as everyone somehow happens to be able to be available at the same nite from that short pm-ing and sms-es. And yep, agreed with Moderneagle, you look better in person ... hmm must be the soggy peanuts.. Looks now that you're in demand for your 'fondling' abilities too

The new position for the Maggies is fine, my Home Minister is okayed it and in fact suggested to get a suitable 2-seater of her own choosing to replace my single seater to join me in a menage-a-troi with the Maggies . She actually enjoys listening to music too.

To be quiet honest, at the moment, I'm very happy with the set up, music listening is for me to relax and of course appreciate good sound reproduction. Any tips and advice are are most appreciated.. mllum88, I'd skip the DIY bit for the time being... hopeless when it comes to this; appreciated regardless.

Thanks again.

Cheers,

zeebee

bassraptor wrote:Man, sounds like u guys had fun ... and zeebee didn't even invite me ...

Bro, u shy ma... I sms u early but no reply still u owe me one.. sorry bro..

zeebee wrote:

bassraptor wrote:Man, sounds like u guys had fun ... and zeebee didn't even invite me ...

Bro, u shy ma... I sms u early but no reply still u owe me one.. sorry bro..

when, la, didn't get any sms from you last week ....

Maybe the sms went to holland already....

Hey Zeebee no apologies needed bro! Even though they were soggy I was committed to finishing once I started. I should apologise for wiping them out.

Ok back to maggies and positional fondling.

Yours, soggy peanuts and coke also can, moderneagle.

thats why , the choco balls still the best !

Hey! What Choco BALLS??

I got the Soggy Peanuts.

Anyway, Good Music and Great Company.

Too bad the belly dancers did not turn up. (I think yr wife cancelled it)

VS126 wrote:Hey! What Choco BALLS??

I got the Soggy Peanuts.

Anyway, Good Music and Great Company.

Too bad the belly dancers did not turn up. (I think yr wife cancelled it)

Choco balls n Soggy Peanuts... What else to serve a bunch of virile and good looking macho guys . The belly dancers didn't turn up coz they know I'm pokai oledi after the Passlabs and the Maggie's, no more money n can only serve soggy peanuts. Well it almost made one deflowered HUG into a MUG

Mugen, there's still more choco balls, maybe another session soon with another Krell

zeebee wrote:

VS126 wrote:Hey! What Choco BALLS??

I got the Soggy Peanuts.

Anyway, Good Music and Great Company.

Too bad the belly dancers did not turn up. (I think yr wife cancelled it)

Choco balls n Soggy Peanuts... What else to serve a bunch of virile and good looking macho guys . The belly dancers didn't turn up coz they know I'm pokai oledi after the Passlabs and the Maggie's, no more money n can only serve soggy peanuts. Well it almost made one deflowered HUG into a MUG

Mugen, there's still more choco balls, maybe another session soon with another Krell

The other one? You are referring to the audition at his place or at your place? The latter seems too much of a hassle to do so.

Choco balls n Soggy Peanuts... hmm.. Seems like Banana Split is missing from the menu.

Banana Split is not as "refreshing" as juicy papayas or sweet cherries!

Was given the opportunity to audition Ms Maggies 1.7 today by zeebee. Nice meeting zeebee, Chang and VS126. Have a fun time and I am amazed by the accessories that zeebee had in collection. Too bad that SJ could not join us.