Just received shipment of my Magnepan LRS’s

"I'm not saying you are wrong". That's good, because it was not I who said it, but rather Wendell Diller, in a press release. Have you bothered to read it? Don't blame the messenger!

Whether I or anyone else agrees or disagrees with what Wendell said is not the point, and should be of no concern to you. But I would think what Wendell---the Marketing Manager of Magnepan---has to say on the subject would be of some interest to the owner of an LRS. I don't own the LRS', and it is to me.

The real best choice of subs for the LRS would be the bass panels of the Magneplanar Tympani loudspeakers. But they are long-out-of-production, huge (each of the two bass panels of the T-IVa is 6' H x 19" W. A pair is over 3' W! And that's just for one channel!), need LOTS of power (one Tympani owner on the Planar Speaker Asylum powers his T-IVa bass panels with 2,000 watts a side), and are rarely available for sale.

@gammonit_2000: BS? On whose part? Have you bothered going to The Planar Speaker Asylum and reading Wendell’s quote for yourself? If you don’t believe it, you can give Magnepan a call and ask them. I don’t know if you can get Wendell himself on the phone, but it’s worth a try. Josh has no affiliation with any maker of an OB/Dipole sub, and doesn’t own them himself. Duke of "Swarm" renown himself gave the same advice to the owner of a planar who called him for advice regarding subs to use with his speakers. Planar owners have for decades bemoaned the lack of success they have had in getting any sealed/ported/IB sub to blend seamlessly with their speakers. This is NOT a new issue!

When Wendell says only an OB/Diploe sub can be successfully mated with a planar, he’s not saying you can’t use a sealed/ported/IB sub with the LRS, only that the OB/Dipole alone will meet the most stringent definition of "successful". The reason for him saying that (he’s not alone, or the first to say it) is a technical matter, too complicated to be answered here. The info on the subject is available, for anyone willing to put in the time and effort to find it. I mean, I and other long-time planar fans have known about it for years. Finnish company Gradient made an OB/Dipole sub for both Quads, the 57 and 63, which were met with some enthusiasm. You should be able to find reviews of them in TAS, which may include the technical rational for the design's use with planar speakers.

Wendell was asked for his advice on the best sub to use with the LRS, and he gave it. If you don’t like his answer, you are free to ignore it, or even disregard it.

Because of the limited bass output of the LRS, Magnepan has been asked for their opinion on the subject of adding a subwoofer or two to the loudspeaker. In a post today on The Planar Speaker Asylum, Wendell Diller's PSA spokesperson Josh related the following info on that subject:

Wendell (and therefore presumably Magnepan) is of the opinion that a "normal" subwoofer (sealed, ported, or infinite baffle) simply can not be successfully integrated with any planar loudspeaker, even if implemented in a "Swarm". There are technical reasons why this is so, but you can read all about that elsewhere. This is not a new thought; plenty of long-time planar speaker owners have felt that way for decades.

What IS news is that Wendell is recommending one sub design---and one sub design only---for use with any Magneplanar: an OB/Dipole. I've posted about the Rythmik Audio/GR Research OB/Dipole here on Audiogon many times, and it is remarkable. Unfortunately, a pair of them costs far more than does a pair of LRS! And then there is the fact that it is available only as a kit, and you can't hear one before buying, requiring a leap of faith. So does the LRS, right? ;-)