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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
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russ69's avatar
russ69
3,453 posts
 
"...By the way, the lowest button on my left panel is 4” lower than it’s twin. Why do you think that is?..."

We don't really know why that is but the "buttons" are to control membrane vibrations/resonances we think. The mylar might have uneven tension and Magnepan might have a way to measure or find the areas and apply a button to control it. 
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,453 posts
 
"...As an aside, all ribbon tweeters have a Mylar plastic backing, to one extent or another, a solid metal aluminum ribbon would immediately deform upon flexation, because Aluminium has no stretch in it’s pure metal form; once stretched, it will never return to it’s past dimensions..."

True ribbons are solid metal and not on a substrate. And that makes them a little fragile. 
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lhasaguy's avatar
lhasaguy
335 posts
 
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
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