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RE: Magnepan future

64.252.137.175

In Reply to: RE: Magnepan future posted by JLindborg on January 21, 2011 at 16:44:03

I'm not sure what you're saying here. If you mean that there could be someone lurking here with all the planar knowledge in the world, sure, I agree, which is why I said is much. For all I know, Jim Winey himself is spending his retirement reading every single post. But I haven't seen any evidence of that. The only planar expert I've seen come around here is Jim Smith, and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, I have no reason to assume that the expertise exists.

As to Graz, he has his own company, and his own forum. I don't dispute his expertise, in fact, I mentioned his company only four posts back. But he's gone pro, and even then, he isn't manufacturing speakers on a large scale, as opposed to running a boutique operation.

I won't say there's nothing new under the sun, but I have yet to see one innovation here that isn't, as the patent law says, obvious to someone versed in the state of the art. That's no insult to my fellow tweakers. One thing you learn as an engineer is that most of the solutions you come up with have already been thought of by someone else. So if someone does have a magic weapon unknown to Magnepan, I wish them all the luck in the world, but I'd have to see evidence of it. And even if they did, that wouldn't be the same as the knowledge needed to mass produce a practical planar that matches Magnepan's price/performance ratio.

Follow Ups:

RE: Magnepan future - JLindborg 17:36:11 01/21/11 (3)
In some way Magnepan is somewhat cornered in their own design and business policy.
So they can't really do any major changes in their process to do things that are .... let's say better.
It's already been explained from the message, and that the larger masses would not appreciate the upgrade in the same extent as the risen cost of changing the manufacturing process.
And yes, they have a pair of Apogee's at hand to compare to. ;)
The question is... have they yet dismantled it??

The one who succeeded was the one who didn't know it was impossible.

Edits: 01/21/11 01/21/11 01/21/11
- RE: Magnepan future - josh358 18:00:06 01/21/11 (2)
  The thing is, the original Apogee went out of business, Magnepan didn't. And at least one former Apogee employee blamed it on the excessive manufacturing cost of the Grand. The Apogees tended to be less practical speakers than Maggies -- heavier, costlier to manufacture, in some cases difficult to drive. They were also less consistent in their tuning, sometimes inconsistent even within a production run. So while they certainly had advantages and many say they were better speakers, I don't think Magnepan is eager to imitate all their features.
  
  It seems to me that Magnepan is more threatened by the sort of stuff that the BG/Wisdom crowd are doing. There hasn't been direct competition between Magnepan and those companies, since their focus is on in-wall speakers and hybrids. But what happens if some company starts manufacturing beautiful push-pull neo magnet dipoles made in China? Magnepan could duplicate the tech, sure, it isn't exactly a state secret, but how could they match the low cost of Chinese labor?
  
  Also, I don't see any Jim Winey-level innovations coming down the pike, just refinements of what's there. I'd love to see them make full use of newer technology, but it doesn't seem to be in the cards. No dipole manufacturer is. Graz, the Greek guys, Eminent, Magnepan, Quad, Martin-Logan, etc. -- they all seem stuck in the past.
  - The "Greek guys" are Analysis Audio, BTW. (nt) - esande 23:42:00 01/21/11 (1)
    - RE: The "Greek guys" are Analysis Audio - josh358 05:57:59 01/23/11 (0)
      Thanks, I was too senile to remember the name and too lazy to look it up.
      
      Getting old really is a bore. If they hadn't invented search engines, I'd probably be drooling in an asylum somewhere.

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