Lumoo's Not-Quite-High-End Audio System

suspended Maggies forming an arc with MGII-As flanking SMGs	audio rack & subwoofers
stage left	stage right
Pyramid Metronome Model 7 side speaker	this Maxell print depicts my intent & my wife's complaint

    I started with the MGII-A’s which date from about 1978.   I had purchased them from the second owner.   They came without the bases.   It seems the speakers where hung in a whore house as a kind of oriental screen.   The bases were lost and so too were the little wood strips that run parallel from top to bottom.   To add insult to injury the wife had removed the socks to wash them.   They of course shrunk.   Yet the speakers sound great, despite their great age.   It would never have occurred to me to string them up on chains but it works well (I have cats), although it's a lot of work to change their position.  

    I used to run a Yamaha DP-1 digital processor.   This employs 2 sets of front speakers, the extra one to produce the early reflections for the back of the stage from my That led me to acquire the SMG's (the shorter green Maggies).   I suppose they date from the early 80s.  

    Subsequently I moved the DP-1 out to the garage and eventually substituted 2 Lexicon CP-1s.   Since the Lexicon uses only one set of main speakers and I didn't want to get rid of either pair of Maggies, I decided to use all four for the front channels.   The MGII-A's are driven by a Dynaco 416 (about 235 watts pre channel) and the SMG's by a Parasound HCA 800II (about 100 per channel).  

    The Lexicons are sophisticated sound processing devices and date back to 1988.   One is linked to the 4 front Maggies to produce the Panorama mode, an effect akin to Carver's Sonic Holography, but much more flexible & sophisticated.   The Lexicon also has 2 other modes.   An Ambiance mode simulates reflections and sends them to side and rear speakers.   And a Reverb mode that provides a richer and smoother reverberant decay.

    Unfortunately the CP-1 can't do all of these things at once.   If you want Panorama you can't have Ambiance or Reverb.   Wanting it all, I decided to get a second Lexicon CP-1 to work with the side & rear speakers (Pyramid Metronome Model 7's & Klipsch KG.5, respectively).   The Klipsch are crossed over to the Pyramid Subwoofers to provide full range to the rear speakers should a 5.1 CD or DVD require it.   There are two more subwoofers(powered), a Infinity Servo Subwoofer and a JBL RX-V1200.   I use a Yamaha RX-V1200 A/V Receiver for the preamp because it had outputs for the external amps.  

    The speakers are carefully positioned, all the distances measured out to the 'sweet spot' and they are 3 and 4 feet from the back wall.   This explains why the Maggies form an arc.  

    I have also tried to create a 'live-end/dead-end' room.   All the screens off to the sides and in back of the speakers -- including the painting in the center -- contain acoustic absorbent panels.   They were manufactured by Corning Glass but unfortunately are no longer available.  

    So that is my system.   It is not high end and was cobbled together from things acquired through E-Bay, garage sales and the Recycler.   How does it sound? I have sat in high-end salons listening to beautifully finished $15,000 speakers attached to massive tube amp by cables as thick as my wrist.   I've walked away not all that impressed.   I wouldn't trade them for my system.   With well engineered recordings, such as those old Mercury Living Presence recordings from almost a half century ago, I feel very close to the real thing.   It doesn't get much better.