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RE: Heard a reference level planar speaker last Saturday

Berni, you accuse me of talking like George W. Bush, then misrepresent what I have said. Which leads me to wonder which of us, really, is talking like George W. Bush.

*Nowhere have I suggested that Maggies are the only, or best, speakers in the world.* What I have said on that topic, repeatedly, is that they generally outperform other speakers at their price point, for those who have certain priorities. I do not think I really have to argue on that point. There is a reason they've sold 200,000 of them.

To set the record straight: The delamination issue has been solved with new adhesives. The adhesives have been in the field for almost a decade now and Magnepan reports that delamination is no longer occurring.

I saw a lot of Maggies in various states of completion at the factory, and I saw no evidence whatsoever of shoddy workmanship, by which I mean workmanship that would degrade the sound, reduce reliability, or lead to cosmetic flaws. Elizabeth's stripped screw seems to be about as bad as it gets. Complaints about workmanship seem to come from people who look at old speakers from the era when delamination was still occurring, or who don't understand production tolerances. If it has no effect on the sound, it matters only to the marketing department. There's lots of high end equipment that is designed to what one might call marketing tolerances -- fit and finish that has no effect on sonics. Those who want sound for the buck will look elsewhere.

It makes no difference how expensive magnets are. What matters is whether they do the job. Wendell points out that it costs less to use a high power amplifier than it does to use neodynium magnets. Neodynium magnets are used only where there it's necessary to the design, e.g., in small planar speakers like the Neo-8's, or in planars that have to achieve very high SPL's. Otherwise, you'd be pouring money down the drain.

No one has ever heard wire in a speaker. Even some manufacturers who use fancy wire in their speakers admit that they just do it because of audiophile beliefs. The wires are too short to make a difference.

The connectors suck, certainly. If you want better ones, they're easily changed. If you keep your connections clean with deoxit, they shouldn't affect the sound.

If the feet change the sound, it's news to me. You'd have to go to a more elaborate frame to improve the sound, or use Mye stands.

I didn't say planars don't have resonances, that would be ridiculous. They use the buttons, and diaphragm tension, to tune the resonances. This is planar 101. If you look at the in-room frequency response, you'll see that many Apogees have one-note bass. Here is a measurement of the Duetta Signature. Case closed.




Bass depends on size. Most would say that the Tympanis have the best midbass of any speaker. At the opposite extreme, the MMG's need a sub. In this, they are no different from dynamics and ESL's, which have varying degrees of bass extension and slam. Like any dipole, they have smoother bass than an omni. Some of the smaller Apogees have deeper bass than Maggies of equal size. But they have that one-note peak. Pick your poison.

Maggies, like most planars, have limited dynamic range. But the dynamics depend on the specific design. Satie gets his Tympanis to 120 dB. My MMG's start to sound strained in the 90's. For $100,000, the Wisdom will do 130 dB SPL's at the listener's seat. One chooses the speaker one needs. As Peter Walker said, 90% of listeners will be happy with the output levels of Quads. Again, you choose the speaker that fits your needs. I went for dynamic range, more than I use these days, and got a pair of Tympani IVa's. But I wouldn't force my choice on anyone else.

Some people put SMALL amps on Maggies and then claim that they have limited dynamic range. These are inefficient speakers and if you want to hear what they can do, you need a megapower amp. You may not choose to listen at those levels, most don't, but one shouldn't make claims about the dynamic capabilities of an underpowered speaker.

Ditto the QR. Those who can fit them go for the true ribbon models. No one, including Magnepan, has ever suggested that quasi ribbon drivers can equal a true ribbon.


Edits: 05/14/12 05/14/12 05/14/12
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