Is Maggie 20.1 still overall better than 3.7?


Hi Folks, is Maggie 20.1 (or even the older version, 20) still overall better than 3.7(i)?

Second question: are the 20.7s on a totally another level compared with 20.1s?
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Showing 4 responses by bdp24

I’m surprised how few magnetic-planar lovers (which I am, having bought Tympani I’s back in ’73, and currently owning Tympani IV’s) have heard (or even heard OF) the Eminent Technology LFT-8b. Definitely superior to the 1.6/7 (and perhaps even the 3.7) in a number of ways, for those curious, and only a couple hundred bucks more ($2499).

Yep Marty, the ET’s woofer is it’s weakness all right (as is the woofer in any and all planar/cone woofer hybrids---with one exception. Read on!). I don’t use it, just leaving the woofer jumpers on the x/o unconnected, running only the panels down to the factory x/o frequency of 180Hz. I use the GR Research OB/Dipole sub in it’s place. The OB sub can x/o as high as 300Hz (though I cross it over at 180, same as the stock ET), and puts out bass with the same sound quality and character as the panels (no, really!) but goes lower and plays louder. True pure dipole sound from 20Hz to 20kHz!

The sub can be added to any planar, and I would even if I had 3.7i’s (or even 20.7’s). It even blends seamlessly with ultra-transparent ESL’s (I used it first with my Quad 57’s). I’m gonna sell one of vintage drum kits to finance another pair, stacking the OB H-frames two high. They’ll be 5’ tall, exactly the same as the ET panels. Four 12" Servo-Feedback OB/Dipole woofers and the ET magnetic-planar panels (whose main driver covers 180Hz-10kHz, with no x/o and in true push/pull balanced operation, unlike the single-ended Maggies) per side.....like the Infinity RS-1b (which I owned for a few years, Brooks Berdan’s personal pair), only much better!

That's how I felt Don. So I bought a pair of Magneplanar Tympani T-IV's to use as (sub)woofers for my Quad 57's (I had a big room ;-). Then I got a pair of the OB/Dipole Subs from GR Research. Wanna buy a pair of Tympani IV's? I don't need 'em anymore! 
Danny Richie (GR Research) just took in a customers Maggies (I think the SMG’s) to redo the x/o with better parts. While he was at it, he took measurements, and found a simple way to improve the speaker’s response by adding a part to the x/o’s low-pass leg, which resulted in a reduction of the lower-range panel’s excess output above the x/o frequency, ridding the speaker of a hump in it’s frequency response. Danny is quite the x/o authority, being hired by other speaker companies to design x/o’s for their products. Anyone wanting their Maggies improved, call or email him and see what he says.