Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Acoustic Research MGC-1 loudspeaker Evaluation Material

Sidebar 1: MGC-1 Evaluation Material

Compact Disc:
West of Oz; A. McBroom & L. Mayorga; Sheffield CD-15
Jazz at the Pawn Shop; Various; Proprius CDP 7778/9
Night Train; O. Peterson Trio; Verve 821 724-2
Windham Hill Live; Various; Windham Hill WD-1026
Drum Record; Various; Sheffield CD-14
Track Record; Various; Sheffield CD-20
Court and Spark; Joni Mitchell; Asylum 1001-2
Remain in Light; Talking Heads; Sire 6095-2
Mister Heartbreak; Laurie Anderson; Warner 25077-2
Sampler 2; Various; Telarc CD-80102
Chants D'Auvergne; Kiri Te Kanawa; London 410 004-2
3 Concert Nach Vivaldi; Daniel Chorzempa; Philips 412 116-2
Utrecht Te Deum; Choir of Christ Church, Oxford; L'oisueau-Lyre 414 413-2
Schubert: Songs; D. Fischer-Dieskau & A. Brendel; Philips 411 421-2
Holst: The Planets; Lorin Maazel; CBS CD 37249
The Sound of Trumpets; NY Trumpet Ensemble; Delos D/CD 3002

LP:
Haydn: Flute Quartets; Wolfgang, Gerhard, Schulz; Telefunken 6.42903 AZ
Tug of War; Paul McCartney; Columbia TC 37462
The Missing Linc; Lincoln Mayorga; Sheffield S10
Crumb: Madrigals; Jan deGaetani; DGG 0654 085
Hollywood Town; L. Mayorga & A. McBroom; Sheffield 13
Interludes; Fresh Aire; A. Gramophone AG 373
Holst, Handel, Bach; Frederick Fennell; Telarc 5038
Dark Side of the Moon; Pink Floyd; Mobile Fidelity MFSL 1-017
Rhapsody in Blue; Cincinnati Symphony; Telarc DG-10058
Confederation; Larry McNeely; Sheffield 9
Vaughan-Williams; Saint Louis Symphony; Telarc DG-10059
Paradise and Lunch; Ry Cooder; Reprise MS 2179
Three Friends; Gentle Giant; Columbia KC 31649
Fragile; Yes; Atlantic SD 7211
Beethoven: Symphony #5; Carlos Kleiber; DG 2530 516

COMPANY INFO
Acoustic Research division of Audiovox/VOXX International
www.acoustic-research.com
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
contest's picture
Submitted by contest on September 15, 2015 - 5:45pm

I still have my AR 3a speakers from 1975. Still sound great.

corrective_unconscious's picture
Submitted by corrective_unco... on September 16, 2015 - 11:13am

Shades of the Concert Grand SI from ESP Loudspeakers? Even though those were more meant to derive from the Beveridge line source, rather than being a very low dispersion radiator with delayed ambience drivers, there are some similarities in terms of general form factor and how various drivers aim off from the central axis, imo.

I like some of the theoretical ideas at work here, and wonder what could be done with a modern implementation.

Dingus Mcgee's picture
Submitted by Dingus Mcgee on September 19, 2015 - 3:11pm

i have Ken's old pair of MGC-1's that i was able to restore with the help of a friend. i couldnt procure a working MGC-1e ambient controller, so i use an HT receiver to drive both driver arrays, using the front arrays as main speakers and the side firing array as surround speakers.

i also installed a center speaker and dedicated sub to outfit the system. this works quite well, but i do not employ a delay to the side arrays and instead rely on the receivers dsp abilities to reproduce stereo recordings in a 5.1 mode. surround recordings are reproduced in true 5.1 with glorious results.

i have yet to hear the MGC-1 as they were designed to be used, but my modern version of implementation is jaw-droppingly good.

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