Heh, well, you might be surprised. Stereophile's measurements of planars are just plain wrong, e.g., they measure the LF response in the near field which you just can't do with a dipole, you'll see an absurdly rising bass response (see the interesting letters appended to their 3.6 review --...
Heh, I liked the blue. But it wasn't actually a production color, those are more traditional. The feet were because their newer base wouldn't work with the speaker. But I think you're right that they could have done better with the feet. I like the idea of a weighted triangular base on the rear...
I remember reading years ago Jim Winey responding to a reporter's question about baffle materials that yes, metal would be better, but it would be too expensive. But that was years ago. Their products are designed for maximum bang for the buck, which suits the fading middle class market but not...
I just thought "a nice hifi sound" was a good way of expressing my own experience -- that I like the sound, but it doesn't convince me the way a planar line source can. I think these measurements, from Stereophile's review, are part of the reason:
It's tipped up in the midbass and treble, which...
Multiple driver line sources will always change balance as you move from the sweet spot because the crossover lobes are lateral, whereas with a box, they're vertical so the changes occur as you stand up. But that does make a difference when you're listening off axis since you're usually seated...
That's a very perceptive review.
I question whether the tour made sense, because too many people heard them in bad acoustics or being driven by the wrong equipment, and concluded that that was the fault of the speakers. Wendell Diller is thinking of taking the new speaker on tour, and if he...
The acoustics at many of the demos were terrible. No different really than an audio show where you hear everybody's flagship speakers sound like crap. I was fortunate to hear the 30.7's in a good room and they were amazing. As Jonathan Valin said, you'd have to spend more than $100,000 to equal...
Curious, how would you say the sound of Alsyvox stands up? I'd love to hear them, but have never had the chance.
BTW, if you haven't seen them, the "Maggie for Condos" that I mentioned is Magnepan's answer to the space issue. Panels only 12" wide and compact dynamic dipole woofers that have...
Sadly, too much of this is true, although I don't think of the 30.7 as a failure -- they didn't even know if they were going to break even on it and I gather that they made money, and that the "halo effect" increased sales. The sense I got from them is that they were pleased by the results.
But...
The essential purpose for the 30.7 is the "halo effect." The sales of big $30,000 speakers will never be huge. I think they've made some money from it, but of greater interest, there was an uptick in 20.7 sales. It never hurts to share The Absolute Sound's "product of the year" award (with a...
Those who have compared say a four sub swarm sounds as good as dipole bass. But it's really apples and oranges in this case, since the Maggie woofer is designed to be hidden -- this was designed to be the proverbial "wife-friendly Maggie." As always, different solutions will suit different needs!
The larger Maggies are no less efficient than the LRS. If there's a difference, it's that they play *louder* without sounding distorted, so you'd likely want a bigger amp for that reason. On the other hand, the Mini 30.7 will come with a dedicated woofer amp, and that will take some load off the...
I suspect you're right. I do know that Wendell likes to listen with the lights out when evaluating equipment, but the effect of that would I suspect be different than the effect of seeing a visible scrim.
Guess he likes doing that. :-) I think he may be trying to keep visual cues from interfering with the audio experience. Or maybe he just wants everything to be a surprise.
When I heard the 30.7's and the LRS, there was nothing in the way (it would be kind of hard to hide 30.7's . . . )
Heh, I asked Wendell about that and he said what's to look at? It's a lab prototype that's draped in black cloth and has boxes hanging off the rear. He said that people would have an opportunity to look after the presentation.
Yep, he says he's never heard a hybrid that had the realism of planar bass. I think what changed here was the technology. A sealed or ported woofer has an omnidirectional radiation pattern and excites more room modes than a dipole.
A dynamic dipole woofer doesn't suffer from these issues, but...
It's quite a departure, isn't it? The challenge was to equal the naturalism of planar bass with dynamic drivers and from what I heard, they've pulled it off.
Magnepan's Wendell Diller asked me to pass this on:
No, Magnepan's tour is not scientific market research
Dear Press and Future Attendee,
Last night, I had the privilege to talk to Robert Deutsch of Stereophile at the "30.7 for Condos" event at Audio Excellence in Toronto. Robert was there to...
Troy posted some pix on the Planar Asylum -- there are also some pictures on Six Moons:
https://6moons.com/industry_articles/magnepan-winter-tour/
And some video here:
Thanks Troy -- it was looking better then than it is now, it's all ripped apart because I had to have the ceiling repaired! I think I'll move the amps to the right when I put everything back together, and try the new Vicoustic diffusers. But that's not going to happen for a while, since there...
That I've done -- the problem is that when I put a diffuser there, it blocks the window (midrange/tweeter panels are on the inside):
Versus
I like having the window because I've taken to doing a lot of my work on the small computer monitor in the second photo so I can listen to music while I...
True 'nuf, and there are always going to be some rooms and people for whom a planar just isn't the best solution. However, I'd forgotten another trick, the one they use for their on-wall speakers -- just put the speakers against the wall and angle them in, so that the backwave goes skittering...
That is a problem. The best solution I know is to put diffusion at the first reflection points between the speakers -- but not everyone wants diffusers in their living room!
Do they use more magnets? I didn't know that.
I've heard some horror stories about working with neodynium magnets! I remember Wendell saying once (not to me -- in print?) that they'd have to place them by machine.
In any case, while he says they'd love to have stronger magnets, it seems that...