Can Magnepan survive Wendell Diller?


I bought my first set of Magnepans in 1976, and I currently have a pair of 1.7i's.

It is difficult for me to upgrade to the 3.7i's because their are so many things that the company can do to improve their product that they simply won't offer; upgraded crossover components, a solid wood/rigid frames and better stands are examples.

Other companies are now doing this, but Magnepan always says Wendell doesn't think that is a good idea.

Can a man who suggests using lamp cord for his speaker line really have that much control over an otherwise unique technological approach to speaker design? I must be missing something obvious when a product is hand assembled in MN and any of these upgrades would, in my mind, warrant factory upgrades. Who wouldn't spend an extra $1k for a 1.7i with a hardwood frame and an upgraded x-over? Adding a ribbon tweeter to the 1.7i would warrant an additional $1k, still bringing them in $2k under the 3.7i.

Is it common for one person to hold an entire company back in high end audio? 
128x128william53b
Post removed 
I am running 3.6 Maggie’s and two things stand out about them.  One, they crave power.  Until I bought mono block amps that put out real measured 750 WPC, the sounded thin.  The other is that room treatment is more important than ANY other tweak with regard to Maggie’s.   

I understand various comments regarding crossovers and other components, but at their price point, nothing in my experience compares, YMMV
Duder,   if the man needs to he will.   Magnepan is probably saying .  Why is this  Mr. big Nose talking about how i should be running the place.   Plus the Speaker company wants to let the 
upgrade / tweaker guys  also  make some money  
@russ69

Yes, you caught me. I mixed up film and foil while trying to make a point about the limitations of a true ribbon. Sorry. I have a bad habit of admitting my mistakes.
This isn't getting anywhere. I thought someone might lift a veil that helped me to understand why the company is so ridged regarding all of their customer base, but that hasn't happened.

Maybe It's Wendell or maybe it's part of his job is to take the heat for company decisions, apparently no one knows.

Several agree that they would like to have an upgrade option, and that would satisfy both the people that like the product as it is and those who would prefer to spend more on factory upgrades. But nothing has been accomplished and I didn't post this to bash the guy or the company; I do have their speakers in my system and that is a testament to their brand.

We are planning on expanding the listening room in the fall to enlarge it from 12x22x8 to 14x22x9 and with that additional space I can rotate the system 90 degrees to accommodate our furniture and our system and will then have the room for 3.7i's if they are needed/desired.

I don't expect the world to accommodate me, but if enough people left responses that encouraged them to offer factory upgrades, there may be enough public sentiment to institute a new policy at the company. I don't see that happening from this informal poll, so I will fiddle with expanding the upper range of mine and see what I can do without adding Maggie’s Little Helpers. Then if I'm successful I will post those plans and any XOver info info someone else might need if they would like to mod theirs.

Peace