20.7 audition underwelming

[audiot servant]

Welcome ztube,

You have great taste in speakers... Wilson, Rockport, Magnepan, Avantgarde and Vivid... Could live with any and all of the above. Look forward to your posts.

Graham

[ztube]

Originally Posted by audiot servant

Welcome ztube,

You have great taste in speakers... Wilson, Rockport, Magnepan, Avantgarde and Vivid... Could live with any and all of the above. Look forward to your posts.

Graham

So could I if they were priced like the Magnepans. Sold the Trios because I was just looking for a more coherent speaker. The bass was not seamless on the Trios. Time answers all questions in audio and change is fun. 8 years with the Avantgards' is dam good. The newer speakers have improved over the last 8 years.

[Rayooo]

Originally Posted by ztube

I own the 20.7. I also have owned Wilson speakers over the past 15 years. To be brief the 20.7 are worth the price increase over the 3.7s, if you have the room. The league to which the Magnepans belong to is a subjective opinion. My opinion is that the Magnepans are in the majors. I many ways I find them to be the most true to life speaker I have owned. I am new to this site and will not get into the specifics of their performance.
I enjoy them to no end and I also enjoy my Wilson system as well as my Harbeth system. Neither speaker is perfect but all 3 connect me to the music!

Welcome!! and it should come as no surprise that I completely agree with your assessment of 20.7s!

[cma29]

Originally Posted by ztube

Thanks for the welcome.
The 20.7s are fabulous. I had fully redone Apogee Divas, but never fully warmed up to the midrange. The Magnepan midrange was just a bit warmer and gave me the flexibility to use a solid state amplifier. After 30 years of tubes I needed a break no pun intended. The speakers I set out to buy were the Sashas, Rockports, or Vivids. I currently own the Sophia 2s and I have had many Wilson based systems. One listen to the Magnepan 3.7 and it was all over for me.
Price to performance made Magnepans 20.7s my next speakers case closed.They are total magic and fit my listening taste perfectly. My 110 db Rolling Stone blasting sessions came to an end about 5 years ago. What the 20.7s offer is a large sound stage at a very reasonable price. Everything else the 20.7s do is close to perfect IMO.
The funny part was I never liked Magnepans in the past. The new quasi ribbons removed that dark sound that I never was a fan of. The new Magnepans are now seamless to my ears for the first time. My reference for panels was multiple electrostatic systems (over 10 sets of ESLs). I gave up on ESLs due to the failure rate and the arching issues that wore me out.
If I had to rate the Maggies I would place them at near the top of the heap. The price vs performance makes them a best buy. My Avantgarde Trios ran 8 years. I think the Magnepans will beat that record. Only time will tell.
The 20.7s are better than the 3.7s if you have the room IMHO. I could have gotten either one and have been happy.
Box speakers have priced themselves out of reality for me as a main system. It took 28K in that field to satisfy what I was looking for.
I am satisfied for now running them with a Modright KWA150.I know that everyone says to use arc welders but I am more than happy already. I am sure there is more to be had but I enjoy my music as it is.
The ribbon top end his a hard act to beat.
The Sophias are now the fronts for my home theater.

I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. I also own the 20.7s driving them with Pass Labs amplification and I'm in love with the full, rich sound they produce.

(I did have some issues with initial set up for the 20.7s that I'm planning to share in a new thread.)

[anonymous]

Make certain the Magnepans are well broken in before auditioning. Few years ago I found the 3.6 ribbon tweeter to sound discontinuous vs. the other drivers, but later found the 3.6 had just not broken in yet.

[PlanarSpeakerFan]

Originally Posted by djcxxx

Saturday I drove to the local dealer who had a set of 20.7s set up for me. I had fully intended to make the purchase w/ a 10K deposit in the bank. They were using Classe amplifier and Ayre pre-amp w/ a server for their music and I brought some CDs and LPs but they don't demo LPs regularly and I forgot to ask. In any case after 2h listening I found myself rather perplexed. Overall the 20.7 delivered more than my 3.7s in every area (soundstage, bass, coherence, detail, air) but not so much more that I could honestly justify the purchase. I left rather deflated, but perhaps my expectations were unrealistic. I listened to music that I have known for more than 40 years on every system I've owned (Solti's Beethoven 3rd, Ansermet's Falla Tres Picos, and Lyontine Price's Blue Album of Puccini and Verdi arias, I have CDs and LPs). The strengths and flaws of these albums are second nature to me, so it was not a lack of familarity w/ the material. Their equipment was not "blank check" but neither is mine. So there you have it. Guess I'll keep listening to the 3.7s.

Hello Djcxxx,

I owned Magnepan 3.7's for over a year and also did a six hour audition of the 20.7's that were properly set up with well matched equipment in an adequately sized room. To summarize, the 20.7's sound hugely better in every way and in my honest opinion are well worth the extra price of admission. It might be worth a road trip to hear a properly set up pair of 20.7's. I think it will change your opinion of these speakers.

Best,
Ken

[PlanarSpeakerFan]

Originally Posted by cma29

I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. I also own the 20.7s driving them with Pass Labs amplification and I'm in love with the full, rich sound they produce.

(I did have some issues with initial set up for the 20.7s that I'm planning to share in a new thread.)

Hi Carlos,

The Magnepan 20.7's are by far my favorite planar speakers that I have auditioned. This includes Analysis Audio Omega and Quad ESL 2912. The 20.7 do everything extremely well and there are no weaknesses. They are one of the great value propositions in high-end audio. The 20.7's are also in my top four favorites of overall speakers along with the Raidho D3, Vandersteen 7 and Revel Salon 2. As you know, I currently own the D3 and the Salon 2. I might have gone for the 20.7 over the Salon 2 if it weren't for things like WAF.

Best,
Ken

[ehoove]

I have auditioned 20.7's twice, and the difference was staggering! Room size is very important for these speakers to show their true potential IMHO, and sadly my room is not big enough for them. :^(
Regards,
Jim

[harri009]

Originally Posted by ehoove

I have auditioned 20.7's twice, and the difference was staggering! Room size is very important for these speakers to show their true potential IMHO, and sadly my room is not big enough for them. :^( Regards, Jim

What size room do you think is needed? What size do you have?

[timm]

Originally Posted by PlanarSpeakerFan

Hi Carlos,

The Magnepan 20.7's are by far my favorite planar speakers that I have auditioned. This includes Analysis Audio Omega and Quad ESL 2912. The 20.7 do everything extremely well and there are no weaknesses. They are one of the great value propositions in high-end audio. The 20.7's are also in my top four favorites of overall speakers along with the Raidho D3, Vandersteen 7 and Revel Salon 2. As you know, I currently own the D3 and the Salon 2. I might have gone for the 20.7 over the Salon 2 if it weren't for things like WAF.

Best,
Ken

Interesting about the Omega Ken. I have had people tell me they were 'it'. But I heard the 20.7 and thought 'ain't no way'. The 20s are just special. I have not heard the analysis audio. Might you give your comparison between it and the 20.7?