Frogman, those are very good ideas. I have owned planar speakers since I bought two of the first Magneplanar Tympani 1a speakers, December 1973. Talk about "WOW". Everyone agreed. Everyone. The apex for that kind of speaker, IMO, were the Tympani IVa’s from the 1980’s. They come up from time to time. Room filling, superb midrange, more than decent bass, easy to listen to for hours and hours. WOW **2.
I was on my way to doing that when I diverted myself into ESL’s (Quad 2905). Cottguy, be aware that Magnepan seemed to take a perverse delight in naming their speakers: Tympani 1 (3 panels per side); Tympani II (2 panels); Tympani III (4 panels), Tympani IV (3 panels). Not to be confused with the MG1, MG2, MG3 (all 1 panel). Confused yet? The best sounding Tympani 1’s were the 1a and 1d, and the better sounding IV’s were the IVa. Since they’re old, they’re cheap cheap.
Caveat - if you buy them, they CANNOT have sunlight on the back, otherwise the wires delaminate from the diaphragms. Make sure that you address that with the vendor - delamination or other deterioration presents as a rattle or no sound at all from a panel, when driven at highish volume.
Check with Magnepan if they still service them, though I’ll bet they do. Service consists of removing the old wire and glue with acetone and gluing new wire directly to the diaphragm. It needs a jig and dedication and is definitely not a DIY project.
But VERY WOW if you get the right pair.
Good luck!!! And good suggestion, frogman.
I was on my way to doing that when I diverted myself into ESL’s (Quad 2905). Cottguy, be aware that Magnepan seemed to take a perverse delight in naming their speakers: Tympani 1 (3 panels per side); Tympani II (2 panels); Tympani III (4 panels), Tympani IV (3 panels). Not to be confused with the MG1, MG2, MG3 (all 1 panel). Confused yet? The best sounding Tympani 1’s were the 1a and 1d, and the better sounding IV’s were the IVa. Since they’re old, they’re cheap cheap.
Caveat - if you buy them, they CANNOT have sunlight on the back, otherwise the wires delaminate from the diaphragms. Make sure that you address that with the vendor - delamination or other deterioration presents as a rattle or no sound at all from a panel, when driven at highish volume.
Check with Magnepan if they still service them, though I’ll bet they do. Service consists of removing the old wire and glue with acetone and gluing new wire directly to the diaphragm. It needs a jig and dedication and is definitely not a DIY project.
But VERY WOW if you get the right pair.
Good luck!!! And good suggestion, frogman.