Buconero117, I agree completely. Magnepan has just let itself evolve at its own pace but has not kept an eye to the times. They are set up so they can not deal with repairs in a timely manner but don't seem to recognize the problem with that. They could easily charge a little more for the speakers and add staff to deal with repairs. Just saying they are a small family owned business doesn't necessarily cut it in today's world.
I have a Merlin VSM-MXe based system which is extremely good. The only reason I was contemplating going back to Magnepan as my last system was due to my infatuation with Magnepan that started in 1975. I have only owned two pairs of conventional speakers in over 35 years of doing this. The Merlins and the Quadrature DSP-5a's. Lots of Magnepans, Soundlabs, Martin Logans and Acoustats in my past.
Magnepan told me on the phone that their primary shipping damage problems were with the 3.7's and 20.7's. The speakers have gotten progressive heavier over the years and IMHO the factory packing is not sufficient. I don't know why they just don't ship both the larger speakers in a reusable wood crate like Soundlabs? It could not cost that much more to have someone make them in Minn.
Never thought I would be this ticked with Magnepan.
To the person that asked why I just did not make the seller deal with this I don't have a good answer. I was just so stunned when we unpacked them to find the top speaker damaged that I was looking for the most expedient path to getting them 100% and really did not want to undo the deal. But, I knew after it registered that the box had been dropped and at least one speaker was damaged that I was looking at a long and aggravating process. It took a couple hours that night for it to sink in. In over 35 years of doing this I have never received damaged items until now.
