Magnepan 30.7 Loudspeaker

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

Interesting - when Mark and I heard them Wednesday night they didn't sound quite like that, and didn't impress. I wonder if they did some tweaking or changed the setup today.

Right... The bass was weak at best. I was only impressed by the detail and soundstage size. Everything else was lacking to me, yesterday.

[The Trace]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

Interesting - when Marc and I heard them Wednesday night they didn't sound quite like that, and didn't impress. I wonder if they did some tweaking or changed the setup today.

I was there Thursday night and tweeking was mentioned but comments were all favorable.

[nicoff]

I saw that someone said that the ribbon in the 30.7 is the same as the 20.7. So does that mean that the treble panel is the same?
Is the midrange also the same?
It looks like they doubled the size bass section, but is the technology of the bass panels the same as in the 20.7?
Just trying to understand what are the changes between the two.

PS. If the technology is the same, then is 30.7 = 20.7 + SUB ?

[nicoff]

Originally Posted by nicoff

PS. If the technology is the same, then is 30.7 = 20.7 + SUB ?

Answering my own question: no it is not. After reading JV’s article from TAS, it looks like in addition to the changes in the bass section there are changes in the midrange as well. Magnepan has not shared much about those changes.

[cma29]

Here is a report from Part-Time Audiophile on the Magnepan 30.7 Demo Event at Hifi Centre in Vancouver, BC.

Timbre, and tone from wood-bodied string instruments was tonally rich, percussion, and bass impact had density, (but perhaps not the slam many are used to from traditional-driver speakers) midrange juice was there, as were clear vocal inflections, upper-register air, detailed decay on piano, and woodwinds too – wherever you were standing in the room, even way in the back corner directly behind the 30.7s, it sounded pretty damn good.

In particular the 30.7s were capable of speed, and resolution. Attack on notes, and transients was lightning-quick, crystal clear, with no smearing, real point-source coherence, and a liquidity to the midrange that put in me mind of another box-less design: The Quad ESL-57 electrostatic speaker, albeit with much more bottom end from these huge Maggies.

[nicoff]

Originally Posted by cma29

Here is a report from Part-Time Audiophile on the Magnepan 30.7 Demo Event at Hifi Centre in Vancouver, BC.

Thank you for sharing. As the author of the article says, I don’t know of anyone who listens to speakers while sitting standing so it is a bit odd that Magnepan is purposefully doing this.
Are there any owners of the 30.7 in this group that can share their own experience with it?

[cma29]

Originally Posted by nicoff

Thank you for sharing. As the author of the article says, I don’t know of anyone who listens to speakers while sitting standing so it is a bit odd that Magnepan is purposefully doing this.
Are there any owners of the 30.7 in this group that can share their own experience with it?

I don't think anyone here at AA owns the 30.7s yet.

I think the point of the demo described in the post was to show that the sound of the speakers does not vary much regardless where the listener is sitting or standing in the room.

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by cma29

I don't think anyone here at AA owns the 30.7s yet...

FYI. Wendell announced at Definitive Audio's Music Matters that the 30.7 was not yet in full production.

[ylee]

Magnepans, especially the upper level models, have an enveloping sound that is rarely matched by other speakers on the market. They offer a luxurious and tonally appealing sound, especially for people who consider the term analytical as a pejorative. I have the pleasure of listening to the 20.7s at my local dealer who also sells Vandersteens. The only weakness I see with the design is with time coherence, which can affect soundstaging. Like all speaker designs, it comes down to qualities one values in music reproduction. If I could make another dedicated listening room in my house, it would be with Maggies as transducers as they give a uniquely beautiful presentation of music.

The 30.7s must be something special, especially in a room that allows them to breath.

[cma29]