Planar Speaker Asylum

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Planar Speaker Asylum

Probably one of the easiest and best Magneoan mods

67.183.242.220

In Reply to: RE: An impactful but inexpensive tweak posted by dawit98 on May 20, 2010 at 22:01:21

I have to thank Dawnrazor for this simple, but incredibly effective mod. I tried it on my wood framed MG10s and it made an amazing difference. My father was over a few weeks ago and was amazed at the difference it made. He immediately said "This is the best I have every heard this system sound." I am now taking apart my stock 2.7s and give it a try on that. So far I have both hooked up and the 2.7 with the damplifier and the 2.7 without are a nigh and day difference. My wife came over and said the exact same thing. I am using Damplifier for my mod instead of Dynamat.

Follow Ups:

You are welcome!! - Dawnrazor 15:29:19 05/22/10 (4)
Hey Accurus,

Thanks for trying that!!!!

Are you saying that you redid your 10s with real wood and then put the Dynamat (dnamplifier in your case) in the driver frame and pole pieces???

And heard an improvement?

Anyhow I am so glad if my insanity can help some improve their systems. I am a bit shocked that the 10 benefited. Mart kept saying how the 10 is laser image compared to the other mags and I thought this was because of limited vibrations due to the lacking of bass...but if it mad a differnce on yours than it shows me that any mag can benefit from the dynamat treatment.

By the way I am not using dynamat these days...but this product that is a bit easier to work with and is black so cosmetically it works better. I needed 2 orders for both mmgs using it for the mylar/frame side and the pole pieces. ALso it was easier to cut.
- http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=268- (Open in New Window)
- Yeap I am the MG10 guy - Accurus 09:02:12 05/23/10 (3)
  I can tell you that any Magnepan even ones with wood frames can enjoy the benefits of this mod. I just tore apart my 2.7s that I was going to restore and tried this out of them and to be honest I am doubting the need to do a wood frame. I am either getting 100% or 90% of the difference for about 2% of the effort. Back to the MG10s the imaging and bass response on these speakers has greatly improved. I think many folks underestimate these speakers and what they can do. They can produce usable bass down to 60hz or less if properly setup.
  
  My theory is that if the pole piece vibration is being reduced, which on my speakers it is, than the mylar is even more controlled so that when the mylar moves it is only the mylar that moves. I can only imagine the type of distortion introduced when the ripple effect of the magnet moving is introduced. Technically as the magnet is resonating from the last note a new note is being played by the mylar but since the magnet is slightly out of position the mylar is moving back and forth in the wrong position. (Hopefully that reads well.) Imaging is greatly improved and for the first time I am noticing that when I get close to my Magnepans that I don't hear a type of distortion that I also assumed Magnepans had. I have never heard a Magnepan sound so crystal clear it reminds me of the clarity of a cone speaker when you get up close. My wife who is no audio nut listened and said that the difference was dramatic. This only confirmed what I was hearing.
  
  In regards to real frequency response changes I can say that this mod did some great stuff to my MG10s. It actually extended their usable frequency response from about 75hz down to 60hz in my room with a nice gentle roll off from there. That is a 15hz gain. Additionally I had a -5db null at around 160hz to 180hz that this mod removed. I had this in both my apartment and my new house. I assumed it was just the speakers. My theory is that the resonating of the magnet was producing null waves at various frequencies and this happened to be one of them. Now that it is not moving it can't great canceling waves. I can't say enough things about this mod in terms of cost to performance it can't be beat and it fixes what I think is a fundamental issue with all Magnepans which is properly dampening the magnet structure which vibrates far too much and must introduce some amount of distortion into the speakers.
  - RE: Yeap I am the MG10 guy - Dawnrazor 09:53:50 05/23/10 (2)
    Accurus,
    
    Thanks for such a detailed report!!
    
    I can tell you that any Magnepan even ones with wood frames can enjoy the benefits of this mod. I just tore apart my 2.7s that I was going to restore and tried this out of them and to be honest I am doubting the need to do a wood frame
    
    That is great, and mirrors my own thinking. On my own stand project, I had planned to just leave the stock mdf frame in place because the dynamat made such a big difference. But I do have the wood because i figured that some inmates would tell me I was still missing the benefit of the wood. I wish I had heard of your comparison before I ordered it :)
    
    I am either getting 100% or 90% of the difference for about 2% of the effort.
    
    I am sorry, I dont understand this line. DO you mean the difference a wood frame makes- you can get 100% or 90% of that, and if so how does that relate to the "even ones with wood frames can enjoy the benefits of this mod" comment??
    
    Asked another way, If one has wood frames already, will adding dynamat or similar improve the sound?? You seem to say that it will.
    
    Anyhow, I did this tweak because believe it or not doing a frame in wood is going to be a huge endeavor for me, but adding strips to the magnets and frame, I CAN do that.
    
    My theory is that if the pole piece vibration is being reduced, which on my speakers it is, than the mylar is even more controlled so that when the mylar moves it is only the mylar that moves. I can only imagine the type of distortion introduced when the ripple effect of the magnet moving is introduced.
    
    I totally agree on this and it just makes sense that if the magnets are vibrating, this will throw off the mylar. I think PG was dead on in this that the mdf helps send the vibes back to the driver, and that controlling those vibes can have dramatic effects on the sound.
    
    I have never heard a Magnepan sound so crystal clear it reminds me of the clarity of a cone speaker when you get up close. My wife who is no audio nut listened and said that the difference was dramatic. This only confirmed what I was hearing.
    
    YES!! This mod throw my audio world upside down. See I was saying that the maggies were real sounding because they werent crystal clear...one never gets that in a live performance...but I think I was pretty wrong on that. The crystal clarity helps things sound live! Removing the distortions I can see that now. And if it makes the wife happy that is a good thing!
    
    In regards to real frequency response changes I can say that this mod did some great stuff to my MG10s. It actually extended their usable frequency response from about 75hz down to 60hz in my room with a nice gentle roll off from there. That is a 15hz gain. Additionally I had a -5db null at around 160hz to 180hz that this mod removed. I had this in both my apartment and my new house. I assumed it was just the speakers. My theory is that the resonating of the magnet was producing null waves at various frequencies and this happened to be one of them. Now that it is not moving it can't great canceling waves.
    
    Wow, I never saw that happening. Though it makes sense in that if the magnet vibration is reduced then the mylar's movements will be more precise and accurate.
    
    I can't say enough things about this mod in terms of cost to performance it can't be beat and it fixes what I think is a fundamental issue with all Magnepans which is properly dampening the magnet structure which vibrates far too much and must introduce some amount of distortion into the speakers.
    
    Totally agree, and thanks again to those you have tried it. If you can take off the socks, anyone can do this tweak and it is pretty cheap and super easy. And thanks Accurus, your dampliner might just be the best thing to use. It is black and thicker than the one I linked and it is more affordable I think. Thanks for showing us that.
    
    With some easy work one can transform this speaker!
    
    And, one of my biggest regrets is not getting the 10. Given where my system ended up...with 2 killer subs, I would have loved to have one of those. I also missed out on getting a 2.6 years ago...but the mmgs with this mod and my soon to be active setup will be something I can be happy with.
    
    D
    - RE: Yeap I am the MG10 guy - Accurus 11:09:18 05/23/10 (1)
      Sorry my prior statement was a bit confusing. My MG10s with the wood frames and damplifier vs the 2.7s with just damplifier are pretty close in terms of performance. I am probably getting 90% of the performance difference of the wood and damplifier vs MDF and damplifier. I think the wood is better than MDF, but most of the vibrations are absorbed before it gets to the MDF. I think that the 10% difference is between the wood vs mdf frame. And it makes sense since the damplifier is being directly adhered to the magnet frame. It should get most if not all of the vibrations before the MDF or wood frame does it work.
      - RE: Yeap I am the MG10 guy - Dawnrazor 13:52:20 05/23/10 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Yeap I am the MG10 guy posted by Accurus on May 23, 2010 at 11:09:18
        
        Thanks for clearing that up.
        
        Yeah, my idea was to get the vibrations as soon as you can so they have less time to muck things up.
        
        I am assuming you are using damplifier on the mylar side too around the driver frame as well.
        
        FWIW, my last iteration of this adds some ropecaulk crammed into the space between the mdf and the driver frame. the idea is to get even more from driver frame before it reaches the mdf.
        
        It is cheap and easy to do so I did it, and tried just the ropecaulk. Dynamat is better but for the cheapies out there they could do rope caulk for say $6, but I had a tougher time getting it all off than I did the dynamat :) Both came off, but I think once you place it there, you wont be removing it anytime soon even with wood frames.
        
        Based on yours and the other post, I canceled my appointment with the shrink...

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