Magnepan “X” upgrade program

after years of debate, Magnepan is offering upgraded crossovers connectors and wiring as well as offering upgrade stands...awesome...

I'm eager to hear customer experience with this program. I suppose it will be awhile before we do learn how it actually works.

After years of poo-pooing the significance or various upgrades, Magnepan is now marketing and selling them.   Were they wrong all this time and finally saw the error of their thinking, or are they now just seeking additional profit?  Have they in any way addressed this turn about?  By the way. I am a big maggie fan.

I’m curious as what they could be upgrading as to almost double the cost of the speaker?

abnerjack

144 posts

03-24-2024 at 11:34am 

After years of poo-pooing the significance or various upgrades, Magnepan is now marketing and selling them.   Were they wrong all this time and finally saw the error of their thinking, or are they now just seeking additional profit?  Have they in any way addressed this turn about?  By the way. I am a big maggie fan

They're just finally going to take money from the most gullible people on earth.

@arnold_h 

I’m curious as what they could be upgrading as to almost double the cost of the speaker?

The MG___x program

The general idea is to take the existing design of a given speaker, and simply, almost one-for-one, replace all of the components leading up to the driver, with superior ones.   This yields a noticeable, graphable, and customer-awing improvement.   Up to this point, every person who has received an “X” upgraded speaker, or even their unmarked predecessors and early partial upgrades and tests, has provided glowing reviews. Thus far the program has been unanimously well received across the board.  There are certain model-specific features, but the MG___X Upgrade Program is at its core characterized by the following factors:

Better Capacitors:

            All capacitors that aren’t already, are replaced with high quality, copper-rich, polypropylene capacitors [banks].   Each capacitor [and bank] used is individually tested to the hundredth such that left and right crossovers’ capacitances are within five thousandths.   With the increased level of testing and decrease in tolerance, minor value tweaks are employed in some models resulting in fewer capacitors used and a smoother response overall.

Better Coils (Inductors):

            All coils that aren’t already, are replaced with high-gauge, copper wire, air-core, bobbin wound coils [arrays].  Each coil [array] used is individually tested to the hundredth such that left and right crossovers’ inductances are within one tenth.  Model depended: with the above capacitance changes in mind, some values are minorly adjusted for smoother response overall.

Better Wiring:

            All wiring (aside from the green (+) and yellow (-) wires for True Ribbon Tweeters) is replaced with 15ga or higher solid copper wire.  Excess wire (for ease of assembly, for instance) is completely removed.  Careful attention is paid to design, layout, and pathing of the crossover components such that wire lengths are short and the overall wire-mass is significantly reduced.   Left and right crossover and nameplate impedances are ensured to be equivalent for ideal balance.

Better Connections:

            All connections within the circuit, from the solder lug attached to the terminal screw on the nameplate, to the crossover board, to the driver terminal block, and back are soldered connections.  Besides the terminal screw, solder lug, and jam nut connection on the nameplate, there are no mechanical connections used

Better Inputs:

            All nameplate components are gold rather than nickel.

Appearance:

            The appearance of an MG___X is not intended to be visually really any different from that of its non-X counterpart (aside from the gold nameplate components in situations where that wouldn’t already be stock).  The crossover of some models may be visible, such as with the MG1.7x, and as such that will be noticeably different in a side-by-side test.  The nameplate will also have a small red “X” after the model to denote that it is a part of the X Upgrade program.

Peter at Magna stand was doing this far superior many years ago 

with beautiful hardwood frames ,custom wiring, and a very good quality Xternal Xover miles better then anything maggi can offer .

Curious if one could send in a pair of LRS’s for the x upgrade or if it only applies to newly purchased speakers?

This still seems very high to me. I mean how many capacitors and coils do they have, several hundred? Even adding wire and connections, they are not adding 100 feet of wire.

I'm a little foggy on why the X program would cost the same across all the models? Or do I have that wrong? How can the upgraded parts possibly exceed $500.00? I get labor and profit margin, but wouldn't parts be more expensive as you move up the range?

Why would you want a magneplanar (stock or modded) when you can make an inexpensive Dipole two way speaker that is superior for very ittle money? Use the 12 inch woofs used in the Caladan and Spatial X4 and use GRS planars above them...crossed over at 400hz. Way more dynamic....way more sensitive.....way more exciting. Please listen to the sound on this Youtube video about the Spatial X4.......however this Beyma AMT that you hear in the video is crossed somewhere around 1K......now imagine a dipole planar crossed at 400hz......same woofs. The X4 in this video is the older one.....now updated with better xover parts and now costs $9800. The speaker you can build will not cost more than $2K. Listen to the bass on these tracks. 2 12 inch great woofs on an open baffle are seriously good. I will have my version up and running some time this week.....this is getting exciting!

SPAM ALERT!

ricevs

1,454 posts

04-15-2024 at 06:18pm 

Why would you want a magneplanar (stock or modded) when you can make an inexpensive Dipole two way speaker that is superior for very ittle money? Use the 12 inch woofs used in the Caladan and Spatial X4 and use GRS planars above them...crossed over at 400hz. Way more dynamic....way more sensitive.....way more exciting. Please listen to the sound on this Youtube video about the Spatial X4.......however this Beyma AMT that you hear in the video is crossed somewhere around 1K......now imagine a dipole planar crossed at 400hz......same woofs. The X4 in this video is the older one.....now updated with better xover parts and now costs $9800. The speaker you can build will not cost more than $2K. Listen to the bass on these tracks. 2 12 inch great woofs on an open baffle are seriously good. I will have my version up and running some time this week.....this is getting exciting!

 

This thread originally posted while I was incommunicado.

For he who is willing and able to do the work him or herself, GR Research offers an upgrade kit for far less than $4000. The kit also includes a cross-over that "corrects" the frequency response imbalances Maggies are inflicted with, which the X upgrade leaves uncorrected. The GRR kit also bypasses the fuse block (with all it’s ferrous parts), which I assume the X upgrade leaves intact. The GRR kit obviates the need for the fuse, even on the Maggie ribbon tweeter.

Let it be known that I am no Maggie hater; I bought my first pair in 1973 (Tympani T-I), and currently own a pair of Tympani T-IVa.

bdp24,

You lay things out very clearly, addressing the questions I'd been ruminating on.

I would think Magnepan would prefer to do the X mods before they close up the speakers? If done after they are built, that might explain the $4K used mostly for labor?

If and when I get a pair, I'd most likely go down the GR-Research path.

If I don't get them, I will order the GR-Research kit for my 1.7i's.

Anyway, it's good to have something to dream about. And options.