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RE: 3.6R Repair

Posted by ColinB (A) on January 5, 2021 at 16:58:39

In Reply to: 3.6R Repair posted by skypop on January 3, 2021 at 20:57:23:

This buzz issue probably is delamination due to miloxane failure but on the very slim chance it isn't the first thing I would do is check your serial no with Magnepan to find out the manufacturing date. You can email Gary at production@magnepan.com with your serial no. The 3.6R and 20.1 are different to other 3 and 20 series Magnepan speakers as the earlier ones used miloxane and the later ones used the better lasting 30NF. The changeover date was Sept 2005. Shelia at Magnepan gave me this info when she worked there. On the slim chance it's a later model you might be hearing clipping in the midrange. This can happen quite easily with a solid state amp on a Maggie if it hasn't got enough power. What amp do you use?

Assuming it isn't that though and is delam, if the panels are all working ok you should hopefully only have to do some delam repairs. Taking out all the sock staples is half the job! I did this repair on two pairs of Maggie 3 series that had lifting wires on the bass panels at the ends. If your 3.6 uses miloxane glue you might have this issues on the bass panel as well as some midrange wires being lose. Lifting at the ends of the bass panel is very common. Often doesn't buzz. Mine didn't, but it can progress so it needs fixing.

Carefully clean the affected area with some cotton wool soaked in acetone. Then you can use a glue of your choice. The DAP seems extreme. I instead used evo stick contact adhesive. Put a little on the cleaned Mylar in the place where you will lay the wires at slight intervals. Let it dry a little then push down the wire and it should stick. After it's dried for a day then use some 30NF on the top. 1-2 coats after drying. It's also called scotchgrip 30 IIRC. Using a foam brush is better than a paint brush. as it does not use too much (another tip from Shelia), the excess is soaked up. I would probably not use 3M 77. Contact adhesive is more precise and reliable.

Check around all over the midrange panels for places the wires that could be are loose. It might be obvious and might not be.

As I say, if you have an earlier model serial 3.6R definitely go inside and the bass panel might need some glueing down too. If it's a later model try a more power amp on problematic material first, just in case.

A total rewire if necessary is also doable (I did it on all bass and mids of a set of Tympani IVa) but it's a lot more time consuming. I didn't find too much of an issue with wires being off place like Andy did. Can explain the technique to get straight if you need it. It might be better applying the current as Andy describes although I didn't use that and it was fine.

When I last checked Magnepan didn't have the exact gauge of aluminium midrange wires available that was used in the MGIII and MGIIIa midranges and in the tweeter of some early smaller models. They only had one gauge smaller, which might possibly partly explain some volume discrepancy (although I guess badly laid wires won't help too). I once replaced the tweeter wire on one side of some friend's MG1bs with the new thinner gauge wire and it sounded different to the other side, even after run in. Eventually the other tweeter stoped working and I did the other side. Sounded perfect again. XO points are slightly affected by the different gauge wire too.

Some people have replaced those midrange wires with the aluminium QR foil. It's a mod and might change the volume level ans XO points of the mid a bit as the resistance of the foil is different (can't remember how). Need some researching but it could bring improvement. I wanted to try it on some MGIIIas but never got around to it.

Anyway good luck and hoping it's a simple repair. Post some pics!

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