@ps555
If this was just a cheap shot at Wendell and Magnepan, I would have left it at that. Well, actually I wouldn’t have posted it in the first place since the point to that would have been what to me? I have several legitimate beefs with the company, and it’s a crime to air them? And when it’s an individual in that company I should throw the company under the bus to protect their identity?
What’s more I have spent the intervening time researching and upgrading my Magnepan’s, putting my former knowledge from working in Design and Development to good use, and they can buy these back from me if they want to reasonably make significant upgrades to this series. So I have visibly placed the ball in their court, and time will if my assertions are valid or not.
Sorry, that’s why nothing ever gets done in the world. The only time it does on this level is when the problem is defined and then acted on. And apparently you haven’t read this thread, because many other people have the same issues with Magnepan, and wrote about them here.
Strip all of the side chatter out and you will find pertinent information on this post.
Since I posted this I have learned a lot about Magnepan. One of the prescient points is that all of the company is holding the company back, and there isn’t a lot of it left, so if it survives that rests on their shoulders, not one post on a single audiophile forum out of the hundreds available.
I and others have posted more here that is beneficial to the company and it’s product then any damage a single post could do, and if they don’t want to listen that’s their conscious decision and they will have to live with the results of that decision, just like they have been for a very long time.
Having stripped the panels down and having spent close to $1k on test equipment and crossover parts for comparison analysis, crossover points and blending first, second and third order crossover combinations that are not "conventional" I have gotten to the point where I have gotten a relatively flat curve from my 1.7i’s from 60hz to 11khz. Something the company cannot apparently do.
Right now I’m making changes to the panel geometry and wiring of that to smooth the curve even more, as well as changing the geometry of the face of the speaker to eliminate some inconsistencies in the curve caused by reflections from the mounting point relative to its MDF surround and the structural side supports, which don’t have to be as thick or forward of the radiating surface as they are, thereby allowing me to remove the "buttons" from the membrane and improve bass response.
I have also tested 3 amps while doing this work and can tell you the simple fact that, until recently with Class D amps, any amp worth buying to use with these speakers can be judged in one listening session, so the bs on their web site about them not having time to make a list of amps that people have had success with is disingenuous.
So from a Marketing standpoint, abdicating responsibility for recommendations of successful combinations of amp/speaker/etc is something that has always hurt their sales. And anyone could simply send an email to the retail stores that sell their product for a list of acceptable combinations, thereby putting that particular bugaboo to bed.
Of course there are other recommendations that could be gathered and published in a FAQ’s page on their site that deals with everything from speaker cable rec’s to subs that actually do work with their speakers. So 14awg lamp wire? No! 10 gauge single strand common house wire twisted together with a vice and electric drill? Oh Hell Yes!
I think the amount of time and money I have spent on proving that this post is prescient says more than any offhand quip someone may dash off, so to your point: yes, I posted a question.
