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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
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,501 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
336 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
twoch
429 posts
 
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  
william53b's avatar
william53b OP
211 posts
 
@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.
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