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I had gotten upgraded crossovers from fellow Inmate Neolith around 5 years ago and finally got around to installing them. Yeah, I know, I'm not what you would call an early adopter :). These external crossovers replace the mid/high crossovers that are internal to the MGIII's. An active crossover is already used to separate the bass from the mid/high frequencies. I don't know much about crossovers and am somewhat squeamish about undressing the Maggies and messing around with the wiring. That said, the process was relatively straightforward and painless. Except for when I stabbed myself with a screwdriver when removing the staples...
As part of the surgery I got rid of the fuses and fuse holders and used upgraded binding posts that were part of the package from Neolith. New cables were added to connect the external boxes to the speakers. As Neolith advised, these crossovers were intended for the MG3A, which use a 2nd order design vs. the 1st order in the MGIII. To summarize, the changes are: upgraded crossover components, 2nd order vs. 1st order, removing the fuses and fuse holders, upgraded binding posts, and cables from the external crossover boxes to the speakers.
My immediate impressions were very positive, i.e. "wow, this is what I have been missing"! After several weeks and many hours of listening I would say that there may have been some burn in and the improvements have... improved. The instruments and vocals are more crisp and defined across the entire frequency range. Even the bass is improved, although I'm not sure why. It's as if the attack/sustain/decay of each note has been tightened and more realistic sounding. The placement of each instrument and vocals is more precise, with less blurring and improved fullness to the soundstage. The high end harshness is also gone, allowing me to listen longer at higher volumes (around 82 dB peak) without getting "listening fatigue". I'm not knowledgeable enough to determine the effect each modification had on the sound, but the overall effect is pretty impressive. All in all, for the cost and time spent this has been one of the most substantial and cost effective changes I have made to my system.
I've since been playing with streaming using Amazon Music HD. The Ultra HD music is quite impressive with the crossover changes that have been made. I bought these speaker new around 1984/1985, and had them rebuilt at the factory in 2008. It seems they still have some life in them!
Regards,
Steve
Follow Ups:
Very nice write up and great results.
There seems to be a number of Maggie mods that provide a noticeable improvement.
I replaced the passive mid to tweeter crossover, mostly to raise the crossover freq when I added the RD75's but I did upgrade the components.
As soon as the Venu360 returns from testing I will eliminate the external crossover and biamp.
Thanks. I had saved a post from AndyR from many years ago on recommended Maggie mods. I've done 4 out of the 5 by using Mye stands and the recent crossover update, which included fuse removal and speaker connector replacement. I have a friend who is a woodworker, so I may yet get to the hardwood frames. I'm also thinking of doing the razor mod.
I still have a long way to go on room treatment and speaker placement, although the Limage setup sounds really good in my small room, and the bass traps in the corners behind the speakers help a lot. The soundstage is really nice but doesn't typically extend beyond the width of the speakers.
I'm sure you'll have fun with your new toy!
Regards,
Steve
I have just done the razor mod...
My impressions after doing it are still developing. I can say, however, that I am noticing a huge increase in the clarity of the tweeter at high volume. It seems I also have more bass, especially at moderate levels. The tweeter seems to have benefitted the most, which seems counter intuitive until I started thinking about how much less movement/resonance there is in the whole panel at this point. Used kilmat and a paper cutter. 8 hour job.
the kilmat is easily chamfered after install with a flat edge like a butterknife.
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