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Planar speaker characteristics

I’m thinkIng of the possible advantages of going planar.  Here’s my situation:
I currently have Triangle Stratos Volante 260 speakers, and I love their sound. The issue with these are that they have poly switches in the crossovers that limit the volume they can achieve.  Rectification of this issue is a long story, I’ll spare everyone the details. Before I acquired these speakers, I briefly owned a pair of Magnepan MMG’s, and was quite impressed with them. Unfortunately, also at the time I didn’t have the amplifier power to drive them to potential, and after all, they are the smallest end of the Magnepan line.  After acquiring the Triangles, I also got a pair of Parasound JC 1’s.  As of right now, I really do love the sound of my system. But the memory of those Magnepan’s kind of haunts me, now that I have the power to drive a pair of the larger models. I’m thinking in the 3 something range. Can someone with Magnepan experience tell me what characteristics they love about their Maggie’s, and also what they don’t. What I love about the Triangles:  midrange detail and musicality, not clinical, but not too warm. The “jump factor” as a reviewer put it in a review of the Signature Deltas.  What I don’t like are the aforementioned volume issues, and that they are fairly lean in bass extension. High quality bass, but not as deep as I’d like. However, and this is an important however, the addition of a subwoofer has effectively solved that issue. What makes The Magnepan sound appealing, and also not?  Not interested in electrostats. Also, please try to stick to the question.  Not really looking for commentary on the Parasound’s. I love them, even as my greener sensibilities and my electric bill don’t. 
Much thanks in advance,

Dave
dprincipato
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,414 posts
 
If you are going with a planer you need clean power that dips below 3 ohms at least 200 wpc and if going with a maggis,stock Xover are very low grade That  applies to most , but 3.7 model on up the true ribbon is a very good ribbon Xover stil suck but lots of potential if keeping then plan on rebuilding the Xover, wiring , and buy a mye stand the stock frames flex which = distortion 
I owned several of them , I have  rebuilt mine and installed a xternal Xover . To behonest the New Spatial audio M5 or M3 
with the excellent Beyma AMT tweeter- mid driver open baffle is excellent, nota pig for power and very dynamic and open ,and you can ask, pay for a upgraded Xover , and a 45 day money back audition ,nobody else is offering that a exceptional value.
terry9
2,354 posts
 
Ever since first hearing Tympani 1a's, the first Stereophile Class A  speaker, I have owned only planars. T1a, SMGa, MGIIb, MGIIc, Martin Logan Prodigy, Quad ESL57, 2805, 2905.

A piano has a soundboard of 20 square feet or more. A cone speaker just can't sound like that with a fraction of one square foot. Look for soundstage. Clarity. Musicality. But unless it's a Quad, it's a good idea to work on that crossover.
aewarren
733 posts
 
The Parasound JC1s are a good match for Maggies, but as others have stated, that's just half of the equation. Be sure your listening room is large enough for the Maggies, otherwise you will be wasting both your time and your money.
dprincipato OP
53 posts
 
Thanks to all for your very informative responses.  It’s becoming very apparent the my listening room, which is also my living room, is a large factor in this. Jaytor, thanks for the GR Research info, they look like a considerable value, and, not being to familiar with open baffles, this will be a whole new adventure in reading more about these. I wish I had the opportunity to hear more open baffle systems, but as of yet I’ve only heard them at Axpona. And we all know the limitations regarding that kind of auditioning. Much to think about, and given the situation (recent COVID furlough) I’ll have time, if not the ready funds, to investigate!
Thanks!
sowndman
1 posts
 

Hi all.

I'm new here. I have owned and operated a small Pro Audio company in NZ since 1973. My forte is R and D and product manufacture but this became very difficult for any NZ Prosumer electronics company way back in 1985 when our govt moved the goal posts in a draconian manner, thus destroying manufacture as we had always known it. Such was their utter stupidity as they could have done things differently in a way that could have worked for everyone involved.

However, since then I have engineered a 6 neo magnet high frequency planar driver, primarily for high performance applications but shelved it prior to the Covid saga for various reasons, one of which were problems acquiring a suitable diaphragm material. We initially tried DuPonts Kaladex which although did tick some of the boxes, the mass was to high and the product rolled off at around 17kHz. I have since reviving this project, learned that ideally we should be testing polymer film, gluelessly laminated to aluminium foil, at 25 x 25 microns. Glue melts which is why its not wanted. High temperature resilience is essential to accommodate the very high SPL's these things produce. Can anyone collaborate this material type and point me in the direction of a suitable supplier for this or equivalent material please? Any assistance would be much appreciated. Please ignore this post if you haven't a clue what I'm talking about.

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