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In Reply to: RE: Why bi-amp Mags? posted by JBen on July 21, 2017 at 19:22:50
Hay JBen,
Thanks. Delicious is the rite on description of what I need. I suffer greatly from dullness. Maybe Magnepan made the ones U'r talking about non-bi-ampable cause they know it can B $$ wasted. So is one(1) single balls out super spectacular amp the way 2 go. I had active X-over B4 & it all in all sucked.
Thx,
Steve
Follow Ups:
Steve, Magnepan, in the 3.7/i, put together really tangible improvements that showed with no need for an "imperfect" multi-amping option. It's like you got one of those original CTS-V Caddies and thought, "why would I add the unofficial computer performance tweaks, after all? This sucker is already top fun and will break my neck even now!"That's kind of what 3.7i's can do, properly powered and located . Not "boring" at all once they break in for a few hundred hours. For me, they were the first Maggies to ever do planar-only slammy dynamics perhaps better than what I get at home, and do so in a dealer's setting, no mean feat! The same large room never helped the 20.1's do much for me. In addition, the 3.7 delivered there the 3D imaged sound stage that I can only achieve with PLLXO-based biamping at home and only after much tweaking. That was with the Magtech. Impressively, although with a very different presentation, they can still dance to the tune of less watts. Like less than 80wpc from McIntosh tubes. Not that I preferred it to Magtech's job, but it had great charm.
Then again, if I ever bought them...my mutant DNA would prevail :) There is upside potential left in the 3.7i if a proper line-level xover is used in bi/tri amp mode. Not easy but it could be done. It is what we mean. Properly matched, and crossed, even a $30 passive line-level xover and decent power amps can take Maggies further beyond factory performance. The beauty for you is that there may be no rush or even need to go there AT ALL...it is just potential.
Edits: 07/22/17
JBen,What is different on the 3.7i over the 3.6's ? From what I have read:
- Flat wire instead of round wire on the Mylar.
- Series XO.
- Can't biamp.
- Super tweeter
- What ever the "i" adds
- Still has single plane of magnets, not dual plane like in the 20.x series.Anything else ?
Edits: 07/22/17
ETim, other than there being no "super tweeter" (AFAIK) your list is complete. A few comments (and opinions for which I will be sent to the Inquisition).
1. The genius is in the details and they orchestrated this 3.7/i baby very very well. I have always liked the 3.7/i when listened to anywhere, and even at its worst (green, right out of the box) it has charms.
2. With one single doubt, I am sure that a well-tweaked 3.6R with a line-level xover/multi-amping config and other mods could humble an UNMODDED 3.7i. The single doubt? I do not know if the superb ribbon/Mylar integration of the 3.7i could be matched.
OTOH, driving after an audition, remembering well-known musical passages, I keep having this nagging "feeling" that the darn 3.6R tweeters are sweeter-sounding and more extended. (I will burn at the stake for saying this.:) That said, it may just be a matter of tuning...
You hit the nail on the one-sided pole issue, which both share and the 20.x is not affected by. Since only a few people can get 20.x in their rooms, I'll just provide a positive. On the "lesser" Maggies, flip speaker polarity during some albums and get a nice improvement. At home, in the dedicated music PC, I configured Foobar2k to do this for me from my seat. Not earthshaking but it can be a pleasing option to recover better music from some recordings.
Anyway, one of these days I may snatch a set of 3.6R and start doing some surgery. I am in no rush and I fear that Magnepan's job with the 3.7i may not be beat on every single count. However, there's a ton of fun to be had in trying. OR...Perhaps you already did and are keeping it a secret? LOL
{Oh, BTW, please see if you can edit your post with a much smaller version of the schematics. On the PC monitor, it only distorts the thread view but in smaller devices it is murder.)
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