Wow, interesting and loaded post and responses. I have owned 3.7i for several years. Non-fatiguing and nothing matches speed, wide sound staging and imaging. That said i have a big room and have have added 2 Bass Panels to add fullness and warmth. I actually think the musical bass of these Maggies are one of their biggest strengths. To me most box speakers produce false or boomy lows. That said they still have trouble filling up the room.
Don't tell Wendall, but i now sometimes use the dual 6 inch woofers on my old towers with a spare amp running at maybe 50% volume.
Offering "upgrades" as many have suggested has its pros and cons. Obviously, if the demand warrants at the price offered, the company may find it beneficial and may decide to just upgrade the base product at the higher price. The downside is you are pointing out or even documenting the flaws and component compromises of your product. Magnepan and Wendell have to balance these things out. If there is and improvement to be had and even a moderate aftermarket for these improvements it would seem they should incorporate the upgrade.
I'm not a physicist, but I don't buy all this talk about the need for a stiffer structure. The need for a stiff structure on the higher frequencies is fairly low - even on box speakers. For planar designs on the low frequencies, we are dealing with a large, very low mass panel. It would seem to me the energy or torque being spread very evenly over a large area makes them entirely different than the woofer section of a box speaker where a super stiff cabinet is essential. On top of that it's a completely open back dipole design - the pressure on one side should be equal to the pressure on the other side. the structure is really just there to hold the panels and mylar in place. Magnepan's design allows them to save the expense of an elaborate and expensive enclosure. If you think Magnepan's would benefit from an acoustically tuned enclosure - non bipole design i disagree, but that's a whole different subject.
I was given Mye aftermarket stands with stiffening struts. i tried them and heard no benefit so they are boxed up.
Offering "upgrades" as many have suggested has its pros and cons. Obviously, if the demand warrants at the price offered, the company may find it beneficial and may decide to just upgrade the base product at the higher price. The downside is you are pointing out or even documenting the flaws and component compromises of your product. Magnepan and Wendell have to balance these things out. If there is and improvement to be had and even a moderate aftermarket for these improvements it would seem they should incorporate the upgrade.
I'm not a physicist, but I don't buy all this talk about the need for a stiffer structure. The need for a stiff structure on the higher frequencies is fairly low - even on box speakers. For planar designs on the low frequencies, we are dealing with a large, very low mass panel. It would seem to me the energy or torque being spread very evenly over a large area makes them entirely different than the woofer section of a box speaker where a super stiff cabinet is essential. On top of that it's a completely open back dipole design - the pressure on one side should be equal to the pressure on the other side. the structure is really just there to hold the panels and mylar in place. Magnepan's design allows them to save the expense of an elaborate and expensive enclosure. If you think Magnepan's would benefit from an acoustically tuned enclosure - non bipole design i disagree, but that's a whole different subject.
I was given Mye aftermarket stands with stiffening struts. i tried them and heard no benefit so they are boxed up.