New Magnepan "Concept Speaker" introduced at Audio Connection

We were asked how seamless the mid/lower base integrated with the ribbon speaker.  From my listening I thought the concept speaker system did a very good job.  I could not hear a disconnect that one would hear with other speakers.  As always the maggies had a sense of realism.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/a-note-from-magnepan-about-the-30-7-for-condos-tour/post?highlight=magnepan%2Bob%2Bdipole&postid=1849208#1849208

I was there, and it was just like Steve said -- they’re the best speakers I’ve ever heard. Stunningly realistic.

I didn’t have a real idea of what they could do until they played the last track, after most of the guys had left. Someone asked them to play Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Jesus, they did everything, from the most delicate detail to orchestra hits that made you jump. They seemed to combine the detail and imaging of panels with the slam of dynamics.

I told Wendell Diller that he should have played that cut first, and he said he puts on classical music when he wants to get people to leave the room. :-)

Does anyone know what amp and how much power was driving these? When I went to the 30.7 demo they sounded very good as they were powered by Mark Levinson No. 53 Monoblocks (500w into 8 ohms 1000w into 4).

I attended Mr. Diller’s Magnepan 30.7 demo in Indy a few months ago and those speakers are excellent but are priced at about $30K. I asked Wendell if he ever thought about combining and offering a 4-sub distributed bass array system (DBA) with a high quality pair of Magnepan panels for the mids and treble for a more reasonable price.
Unfortunately based on his reaction, I don’t believe he has ever heard of the DBA concept and how effective it has been proven to work in virtually any room both scientifically and anecdotally.
I knew at the time that I didn’t need to wait for Wendell to become enlightened to the DBA concept with Magnepans because I’d already been using an Audio Kinesis Debra 4-sub complete DBA system kit with an older pair of Magnepan 2.7QR speakers for about 4 years with excellent results; providing bass that is powerful, dynamic, smooth, fast, seemingly effortless that seamlessly integrates with the main speakers.
The $3K Swarm or Debra kit consists of four relatively small 4 ohm subs (14"w x 12"d x 24"h and 44 lbs that each contain a 10" aluminum long-throw driver and four port plugs for the choice of either ported or sealed sub operation) and a 1K watt class AB amp/control unit for powering all four subs in mono and setting the volume, crossover frequency and phase of all four subs as a group.
Knowing a mini Magnepan 30.7 system was a very good concept and for anyone else who thinks they may want to approximate this type of overall sound quality in their home, I believe I’ve discovered a method to achieve this; I replaced my older pair of 2.7QR with a preowned pair of Magnepan 3.7i speakers and combined it with my AK 4-sub DBA system. I’m using a Synology 20 TB NAS feeding a Lumin D2 dac/streamer a combination of FLAC, WAV and DSD music files with the output sent via balanced cables to the balanced inputs on a Levinson 326S preamp and on to the balanced inputs of a pair of D-Sonic M3-600-M class D mono-blocks. The D-Sonic amps provide 1,200 watts to the 4 ohm 3.7is which drive them very well.
The 3.7i have more midrange and treble energy than my former 2.7QR, with a much newer and improved quasi-ribbon mid-range section and a true ribbon treble section that allows for a very smooth, detailed, neutral and natural midrange/treble presentation that’s never harsh or bright and has a very high quality sound. Combined with the near state of the art bass performance provided by the AK’s 4-sub DBA system that seamlessly integrates, the result is an overall high quality sound from top to bottom that I perceive as very similar to a mini version of the Magnepan 30.7’s traditional open, natural Magnepan sound but with significantly better bass quality and a more dynamic quality overall.

But hey, we all know how subjective this whole home audio hobby can be. My main point is that the combo of a pair of 3.7i with high quality mid/treble and imaging performance paired with a 4-sub DBA system with high quality bass performance, in my opinion, already represents a legitimate mini 30.7 system at a fraction of the price. I paid less than $7,500 for a preowned pair of 3.7is and a new AK 4-sub DBA system.
I can certainly confirm that my custom mini 30.7 system combo sounds spectacular and definitely exceeded my expectations.

Tim