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Hehe ... have I got a plan 4 U!! :-)) (looong)

Posted by andyr (M) on April 28, 2007 at 02:38:06

In Reply to: To: Andyr "help" posted by Bullfrogg on April 28, 2007 at 00:27:27:

Hi bullfrog,

That's a pretty heavy thing you're laying on me, mate ... I mean, I don't know whether you have a modicum of DIY or are ham-fisted ... and how familiar you are with electronics concepts (can you read XO schematics and can you solder?) ... and how big is your wallet!!?? :-))

That being said, I'd be delighted to help you get the best out of your IIIas. Feel free to email/PM me with any Qs.

I've been playing around with mine for getting on 15 years and they sing more sweetly now than they ever did! :-)) Sure, if I made the same improvements to a pair of 3.6s they would sound better ... but that would involve a big expense, to say nothing about effort (which would eat into my "listening" time! :-)) ). And personally, I think there's only a marginal difference between IIIas and 3.3s/3.5s ... only with the 3.6 and its "quasi-ribbon" mid-range did Magnepan produce a substantial improvement.

BTW, according to "urban myth", Magnepan staff regard the IIIa as their favourite workhorse! :-))

Having said that though, I feel I need to point out that 3-way Maggies require a relatively large room to give their best. Yes, you might have bought your IIIas for a steal but, if you only have a small listening space, perhaps it would be better to trade/swap them for some smaller Maggies which would fit the room better?

My own room is 27' x 17' with a pitched ceiling which gets to about 14' down the centre, so my IIIas have plenty of room to breathe ... a mate of mine has Maggie IIIs in a room about 16' x 13' and I really feel his listening suffers! :-(( IE. he should really move to smaller Maggies! :-((

I presume you've just got hold of a pair of IIIas? The first thing to do IMO is remove the socks, so you can inspect them closely and see if any wires are becoming unstuck from the mylar or whether there are any corroded wires ... or whether the ribbon is firmly fixed by its dobs of blue glue or is flapping freely (the ribbon can tear around the glue dobs - this doesn't damage the ribbon but it means it's not anchored correctly). Never mind if you destroy the socks in the process - it's not a big expense to buy another pair from Magnepan and I believe Peter Gunn on this Forum can provide you with socks for less.

If you do have some damage (lifted/corroded wires), you might want to send them back to the factory for repair. Or you can do it yourself - certainly a number of MUG members have done this and there are plenty of posts in the archives about repairing/glueing wires.

If they're AOK then I suggest you do the following:

* read my "Ultimate IIIa Tweaks" article in the MUG "Tweaks" section. That'll give you an idea of the options available to you. :-))

* think about how far along the spectrum you want to go:
- upgrade the external passive XO but not the internal XO. You might do this so you can passively bi-amp your IIIas as a result.
- upgrade the internal XO as well.
- replace the external passive XO (which is a POS IMO!) with an active XO and bi-amp.
- rip out all the passive XOs (rather than upgrading them) and go 3-way active. This is what I've done and IMO, the result delivers better sound than when I upgraded all the passive XOs ... but you need 3 x stereo amps for this, plus the active XO!!

* add braced Mye stands or an equivalent.

* do a number of structural mods (which are explained in my "Tweaks" article). In particular:
- remove the mid-range fuse.
- remove the ribbon fuse, if you a) have an amp which will not clip, no matter how much you turn up the wick! and b) you live in the US, where getting replacement ribbons is a relatively simple procedure. Otherwise, replace the Magnepan fuseholder, like I've done.
- replace the Magnepan speaker cable connectors.

Good luck!! :-))

Regards,

Andy

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