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Magnepan Full-range ribbon and planar speakers

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  #11  
Old 12-08-2014, 03:00 AM
BillK BillK is offline
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I had Apogee Caliper Signatures for a little over twenty years so I'm well aware of the way planar bass compares to dynamic driver bass.

My local Magnepan dealers always had their Maggies coupled to subwoofers, and if you shut the sub off there was just nothing there. I checked to make sure they weren't using a high pass filter for the Maggies, but no. At both dealers these were 3.7s pulled away from the wall in their listening room about 4 feet.

I haven't found a dealer willing to display 20.7s yet, so I can't speak to them.
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  #12  
Old 12-08-2014, 12:05 PM
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I had Apogee Caliper Signatures for a little over twenty years so I'm well aware of the way planar bass compares to dynamic driver bass. My local Magnepan dealers always had their Maggies coupled to subwoofers, and if you shut the sub off there was just nothing there. I checked to make sure they weren't using a high pass filter for the Maggies, but no. At both dealers these were 3.7s pulled away from the wall in their listening room about 4 feet. I haven't found a dealer willing to display 20.7s yet, so I can't speak to them.
I also owned the Duetta and the Stage - neither of which were bass gods. The Scintilla was very good but were gigantic and required massive and multiple amplifiers. Just like the Apogee's, Maggie's are dependent upon the type of amplifier to extract the best performance along with knowledgable room placement. I have also had many Magneplanar's through the years and tried several times to integrate subs - REL and Velodyne and invariably turned them off and ultimately sold them.

Look there are some people who really appreciate bass response and some types of music need it. I wouldn't recommend a pure planar or electrostat for those people. That being said, I am very happy with the 20.7's. I don't know who your dealer is but if there is truly NO bass from a 3.7 then something is wrong in the setup or choice of amplifier. If your dealer doesn't have a 20.7 they probably also won't have the Magneplanar DWM bass panels to try either. I used the 1.7's with the bass panels with great results. Give them a try if you really like the Maggie sound but want more bass power.
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  #13  
Old 12-08-2014, 12:07 PM
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I also owned the Duetta and the Stage - neither of which were bass gods. The Scintilla was very good but were gigantic and required massive and multiple amplifiers. Just like the Apogee's, Maggie's are dependent upon the type of amplifier to extract the best performance along with knowledgable room placement. I have also had many Magneplanar's through the years and tried several times to integrate subs - REL and Velodyne and invariably turned them off and ultimately sold them.

Look there are some people who really appreciate bass response and some types of music need it. I wouldn't recommend a pure planar or electrostat for those people. That being said, I am very happy with the 20.7's. I don't know who your dealer is but if there is truly NO bass from a 3.7 then something is wrong in the setup or choice of amplifier. If your dealer doesn't have a 20.7 they probably also won't have the Magneplanar DWM bass panels to try either. I used the 1.7's with the bass panels with great results. Give them a try if you really like the Maggie sound but want more bass power.
+1

Bill - Take a look at the 20.7 review in the Jan 2015 issue of TAS. The reviewer found the 20.7s to have surprisingly good mid-bass slam.

Last edited by cma29; 12-08-2014 at 12:10 PM.
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  #14  
Old 12-08-2014, 02:49 PM
David S. David S. is offline
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Originally Posted by CGabriel View Post
I also owned the Duetta and the Stage - neither of which were bass gods. The Scintilla was very good but were gigantic and required massive and multiple amplifiers. Just like the Apogee's, Maggie's are dependent upon the type of amplifier to extract the best performance along with knowledgable room placement.
Gonna partly disagree with you on 2 Apogee comments.

The Stage might not have had the deepest bass, but it was known to have some of the best mid-bass out there. My pair were certainly outstanding in that particular area when driven by an Innersound ESL-300 amplifier.

The Scintilla? Size wise, they really weren't much, if any, bigger than your Duettas. Bass wise? They were incredible - and they certainly could be driven well with a single stereo amplifier (such as a Krell KSA 200 or 250).

As to the Maggies? They may not have the DEEPEST bass, but from, say 50 Hz on up I've found them to be quite solid if driven by the right amplifier. Way back when, I had a pair of Magnepan SMGs that did a credible job of reproducing a closeup recording of a Huey helicopter landing & takeoff (think of the THWACK THWACK THWACK bass of the blades).
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Old 12-10-2014, 11:30 PM
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Hifisand Hifisand is offline
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I use the Maggie woofer panels with my 3.7's and sold my subs. The result is detailed in The Audio Beat Review of 3.7 and woofer panels. Driving mine with ARC D-150 tube amp for 3.7 and HK430 receiver for woofer panels till I get new SS amp.
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Old 12-13-2014, 11:19 PM
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I used the 1.7's with the bass panels with great results. Give them a try if you really like the Maggie sound but want more bass power.
Caelin and Hifisand that is cool to hear about your success with the bass panels. I don't have your listening experience but am very pleased how nicely my JL fathom 110's (I think) blends with my 3.7i's. I certainly agree about bass and room placement. I started out 8 feet from the front wall, then moved to 6 foot out and the bass really started to come alive. That is with my subs turned off. I also notice a big difference moving my listening chair from 6, 7 and then 8 feet away from my speakers. I know I'm not telling you anything you don't know. I have moved to a room where I can actually move my speakers around to find the best placement. I still have a lot of experimenting to do. And then there is room treatments. Caelin you mentioned about some jumpers you made for your 20.7's. Would those fit my 3.7i's and do you sell those? If yes, I'll get in touch with you.

~Mike

Last edited by mgard; 12-13-2014 at 11:22 PM.
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  #17  
Old 12-14-2014, 03:02 AM
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CGabriel CGabriel is offline
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Originally Posted by mgard View Post
Caelin and Hifisand that is cool to hear about your success with the bass panels. I don't have your listening experience but am very pleased how nicely my JL fathom 110's (I think) blends with my 3.7i's. I certainly agree about bass and room placement. I started out 8 feet from the front wall, then moved to 6 foot out and the bass really started to come alive. That is with my subs turned off. I also notice a big difference moving my listening chair from 6, 7 and then 8 feet away from my speakers. I know I'm not telling you anything you don't know. I have moved to a room where I can actually move my speakers around to find the best placement. I still have a lot of experimenting to do. And then there is room treatments. Caelin you mentioned about some jumpers you made for your 20.7's. Would those fit my 3.7i's and do you sell those? If yes, I'll get in touch with you. ~Mike
The jumpers are made from our VTX wire from our Python speaker cable. There are no connectors, just bare wire since they fit perfectly into the banana type connectors of the speakers. Warren Gehl has a set that he is using on his highly modified Maggie's with good results. Just drop me a private message.

I noticed that Magnepan has updated their website - boy did it need it - and they have a description how to integrate the bass panels with the larger speakers like the 3.7 and the 20.7. Instead of a resistor to limit the output of the bass panel they are inserting a 180uh coil inline with the panel to act as a low pass filter. This extends low frequency response and bass power of the speakers without muddying up the response of the main speakers. When I have some free time I am going to try this with my 20.7s.

I have never tried the JL's but have heard many people say that they can be integrated quite well.
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  #18  
Old 12-14-2014, 11:15 PM
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Thanks for the tip on Magnepan's website. That is a nice improvement and a good description how to set up and place the bass panels. We will be looking forward to your findings when you test the bass panels. It's not a bad price for two panels if it goes down into the 20 hertz range. Maybe that was when it was coupled with the 20.7's. I don't remember what model the reviewer was speaking about.

~Mike
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  #19  
Old 12-15-2014, 09:55 PM
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I'm confused about something. How can the panel decrease the low end frequency when I thought it only went down to 40hz? So, wouldn't you just get more bass loudness at the frequencies it produces??
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  #20  
Old 12-15-2014, 10:21 PM
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I'm confused about something. How can the panel decrease the low end frequency when I thought it only went down to 40hz? So, wouldn't you just get more bass loudness at the frequencies it produces??
Speaker response is not a vertical drop to zero output. There is a roll off, so as long as the speaker can produce actual output in the 20's it is possible to reinforce those frequencies with more panel area.

This is why they are using an inline coil to limit the bass panel's upper frequency response. This prevents reinforcement of the mid-bass while raising very low frequency response.
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