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? 
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Of course you can bitch about whatever you want. It just looks ridiculous on the face of it, bitching about Wendell not offering mods or whatever when the guy is a saint compared to just about any other sleaze ball sales douchebag in this industry. I think personally attacking someone like Wendell over something so inherently mentally ill, says a lot about your perception of what people should be doing to somehow make you happy.
Have to laugh at the post above. Not sure it will last before mods, but it does seem to well describe a lot of the 'characters' that are attracted to this industry! I agree that Wendell does seem to be one of the very few exceptions, and therefore a breath of fresh air.
@ironlung,

Give me a break. My 1.7i's arrived with the one inductor in the x-over wired in series at the end of the circuit between the x-over and the ground.

They sounded brilliant up to about 3khz. Do you want to defend the nimrod that soldered that up, or Magnepan's QC department? And how do we know mine were an anomaly?

So yeah, I have earned the right to criticize Magnepan by being abused by them.