Announcing the 3.7i

[cma29]

Originally Posted by PlanarSpeakerFan

Thanks Carlos! The Salon 2 are terrific speakers for sure but I honestly don't think you're missing a thing with the 20.7. They are right there with them and in some ways better (soundstage and piano). I would consider the Vandersteen 7 a step up from both but at $52K they should be.

Best,
Ken

Originally Posted by harri009

I have a buddy who has heard Vandy 7's and drooled over them for a while now. He also owned Revel Studio 2's and "Upgraded" to the 3.7's. He says that the Magnepans disappear better than the Studios ever did... Let's just say he told me he would probably not buy anything other Magnepan's unless the vandy 7's became about 30k cheaper. I would agree that your sitting pretty with the 20.7's

Thanks for the anecdotes guys. I love my 20.7s and I will try more solo piano music on them. Their transparency on complex orchestral music is excellent if the recording has the info and the upstream equipment can extract it and transmit it.

[wildcat82]

The other thing to consider in this equation is what is in front of the speakers (20.7s)? The better the amp the better the 20.7s sound, I found this out for sure
when i replaced my MC452 with a Sanders Magtech, the difference was/is amazing! One of my friends came over for a blind listening session, in this case
with 2 MC601s. He did not know which amps we in use, the 601s or the Magtech and blindly he chose the Magtech as the superior amp saying that MC
amps sounded "dry and compressed" compared to the Magtech.

Brett

[mgard]

Brett,

I sure would have liked to have been a part of your test panel. I have read the comments of others that give Magtech high marks. I don't want to part with my 601's so maybe it was good that I wasn't there.

~Mike

[wildcat82]

Hi Mike,

I understand your desire to keep the 601s, I felt the same with my 452 and was prepared to step up to the 601s to get the most out of the 20.7s. The Mc's and their
big blue dials are very cool BUT, if you really want your Maggies to sing, to hear everything they are capable of take Roger up on his 30 day trial. I would also sugest you call Sanders, chances are Roger will answer, I can't tell you how much I learned from him and based upon what I hear (from the Maggies) he knows what he is talking about! Think of Sanders as the Magnepan of amps, its a great product, with great value at a fair price.

Brett

[harri009]

I owned the magtech amp at one point. After doing a direct AB against a pair of Bryston 7bsst2's on 3.7's I sold the magtech. The Brystons bested it in every category to my ears. I currently own a Pass X350 which I haven't AB'd to either of those amps but I am enjoying the Pass quite a bit.

[Sceptic]

Originally Posted by harri009

I owned the magtech amp at one point. After doing a direct AB against a pair of Bryston 7bsst2's on 3.7's I sold the magtech. The Brystons bested it in every category to my ears. I currently own a Pass X350 which I haven't AB'd to either of those amps but I am enjoying the Pass quite a bit.

Soundwise how does Bryston differ from Pass, more similar than different?

[harri009]

Originally Posted by Sceptic

Soundwise how does Bryston differ from Pass, more similar than different?

I haven't compared the pass and bryston 7b's directly. What I can remember the Brystons seemed to have more control or power than the pass displays and they were a little more detailed. I would say the bryston is probably the better amp in comparison, but the pass is a little smoother/liquid which was an attribute I personally was looking for. Mind you this is off memory of the Brystons. The comparison of the magtech and bryston was done at a friends home who owns magnepan 3.7's, esoteric K03, VPI classic 3, CAT pre, and 7bsst2's. He sold a Pass Labs X350.5 to purchase the Brystons and via his opinion he would never go back to pass after hearing the difference in his system. I enjoy my X350 very much though and will probably stay within the pass line.


I guess we have gotten pretty off topic though. Has anyone decided to take the mystery plunge into the upgrade?

[harri009]

Big news from dealer. He said that if your Magnepans are fairly new you probably already have the i in place. He said basically they were tensioning the mylar tighter initially and about 6 months or so ago they stated producing them a little looser so that they sounded a little more natural with a little more umph in the bass. They decided to mark them as i to differentiate them. So he said the upgrade is that they loosen the mylar slightly. That's why they are not making a big deal out of it and why they haven't said much. That's what the dealer said anyways. He also said that he isn't planning to send any of his older ones in because they are played enough that the Mylar has loosened a little anyways with break-in. Bottom line, enjoy your speakers.

[cma29]

Originally Posted by harri009

Big news from dealer. He said that if your Magnepans are fairly new you probably already have the i in place. He said basically they were tensioning the mylar tighter initially and about 6 months or so ago they stated producing them a little looser so that they sounded a little more natural with a little more umph in the bass. They decided to mark them as i to differentiate them. So he said the upgrade is that they loosen the mylar slightly. That's why they are not making a big deal out of it and why they haven't said much. That's what the dealer said anyways. He also said that he isn't planning to send any of his older ones in because they are played enough that the Mylar has loosened a little anyways with break-in. Bottom line, enjoy your speakers.

Thanks for the explanation. That makes sense.

[BlueFox]

Originally Posted by harri009

So he said the upgrade is that they loosen the mylar slightly. That's why they are not making a big deal out of it and why they haven't said much. That's what the dealer said anyways. He also said that he isn't planning to send any of his older ones in because they are played enough that the Mylar has loosened a little anyways with break-in.

On the other hand, I wonder if when the 'i' model breaks in will they get sloppy by being a bit to loose?