The 30.7’s are a great sounding speaker, IF-- you have a big enough room for them, you have amps that can drive them ( probably at least 250 watts/ch) and you have room acoustic treatments to buttress them,.
When I heard the 30.7 demo, Wendell had set them up so that they were ok, luckily he let our club adjust them and agreed to a different placement, which let them really shine. I suspect most folks who have heard the 30.7’s have unfortunately never heard what the speaker can do, which is a real shame. |
@william53b Wendell is all about saving hobbyists money. I like this approach! He once told me that he likes the fact that Magnepan builds its gear for the less well heeled enthusiast, and not for the mega millionaire who buys with his eyes and wallet only. I agree that he misses out on cables, as we both know they do make an enormous difference, but his philosophy is admirable! IMHO we need more like him in this hobby, although this is probably not a popular stance given the current state of the audiophile world. |
@william53b I think you are missing Wendell’s point about affordability. I believe what he is stating is that Magnepan could make more complex and higher quality speakers, but that is not where they want to go, as the price points that they would have to charge would not allow them to be affordable to a majority. He believes ( as do I guess the rest of the folks at the factory), that what they are making is good enough for the job that their followers are expecting. I would suspect that this would be hard to argue with, given their success.
I used to own Maggies, way back in the day, I owned them because as a newbie in the hobby I thought they were great sounding and their price was easy on my pocketbook. I still think this appeal works for a very large number of folks who really don’t want to fork over mega bucks to get good sound. IF you want a better speaker with better quality and parts and maybe better SQ, there are a lot of more expensive options to choose from, but I see no reason to dump on Wendell, or Magnepan. |
I don't get your point. Sure, no one is really advocating that the parts quality in Maggies could not be improved upon! ( and maybe vastly so); but what has this to do with your dislike of Wendell Diller?
My point was simply that he has a business plan that precludes wanting to charge mega kilo bucks for a product and thereby minimize his potential audience for said product...what is wrong in that?
If you are arguing that you are not getting your monies worth in the current Maggie line, then that is one thing; but it appears that you are arguing that Wendell is inadvertently behind the poor quality ( in your opinion--and I’m not disagreeing about the parts quality) of the parts and design, whereas I am stating that he is building the product to a price point, which you seem to fail to comprehend. |
OP, you seem to keep on missing the point that Magnepan are trying to offer a ’value for money’ product...and NOT a high cost ’bling’ product. They are appealing to the entry level hobbyist with their entry level models by not requiring the new hobbyist to dig too deep into their pocket. This allows the newbie to buy a high end product at not much more than a mid-fi mass produced big box product. If that consumer wants to spend more and go up the ladder a little, they offer higher priced products, but none that will be getting away from the basic ’value for money’ area. Let me ask you how many folk who are happy to shell out Wilson Chronosonic money would ever consider Magnepans ( regardless of their parts quality)?? Maybe your answer will also answer your point about what the market will bear? |
When I first started in this hobby, I bought a pair of Maggie 1’s improved. They were, at least to me, not only a spectacular sounding speaker at the time, but compared to anything else I could buy for the same money ( or even considerably more), a real eye opener. At the time, i had a choice between a big box stores' Magnavox speaker or the Maggies...the choice was easy. I remember thinking at the time that the sales person must have misquoted me on the price of the Maggie’s, and was expecting something not even close to my budget. As a twenty something year old novice, it was a pleasure to have a speaker like these available to me. Today, i continue to applaud Magnepan for their ongoing value in the market. I would suspect that there are a lot of folks on this forum, and others, that are in the hobby solely due to their products, and the value that they offer. Just as an aside, i have a very good a’phile friend who happens to be a pro audio reviewer....and yes- he uses Maggies as his reference! |
I have a question for the OP...why do you own Maggie's?? Seems like you hate the company so much along with their philosophy, that they should not be playing in your system. I say this, and I don't even own their products, LOL. |
Have to laugh at the post above. Not sure it will last before mods, but it does seem to well describe a lot of the 'characters' that are attracted to this industry! I agree that Wendell does seem to be one of the very few exceptions, and therefore a breath of fresh air. |
@ps The OP's reply to my inquiry explains everything. Your post above should be the end of this thread...therefore, +1000! |
OP, you stated this: "and they can buy these back from me". Interesting comment! Have you somehow approached Wendell, or anyone at Magnepan, and they have turned down your offer to "improve' their product-- at a price! This would explain a lot of where you are coming from, inquiring minds and all that...hmmm. |
