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Opinions on Magnepans sales/marketing approach to

Is anyone else somewhat frustrated at the inability to audition the 20.7s except at a very very few locations in the country? The fly to MN to hear does not really appeal to me either because let's be real, an hour listening to decide on 14K speakers in a strange system is simply not enough and in MN they do not do a side by side with the 3.7s to allow auditioning both through same electronics any way.

I recently purchased Maggie 3.7s with the option to upgrade to 20.7s within 6 months . The 3.7s to my ear are a cut above the 3.6s when it comes to sounding like a single cohesive speaker versus the ribbon tweeter always drawing some attention to itself.

Problem is how do you tell if upgrade from 3.7 to 20.7 is worth it if the dealers do not have them on floor? The best would be to audition in you home on your equipment but at least if the dealers had both you could audition where the only variable is the speaker.

I have spoken wo Wendell about it and there is 1 dealer who Boston who will let you try and return but that is virtually an isolated approach..one which I applaud. Of course they have to really qualify the buyer but again, if you have 3.7s and want to upgrade, Magnepan and most dealers expect you to "buy on faith or reviews" which in my mind, in today's economy, is simply ridiculous. While I am sure some have bought them "blind", the argument that the 20.1s were better than the 3.6s so imagine how much better the 20.7s are the the 3.7s will not make me pull the trigger.

Long winded way of asking about others experience and opinion of how Magnepan and dealers are handling the 20.7s

MikeH
mn2hifi

Showing 2 responses by mechans

mechans
3,048 posts
 
This is going to be the type of buying we are going to be faced with in the near term future and it is only going to get worse -in audio and probably many other commodities. We have created this problem by insisting on the best possible deal and buying from some saavy person selling whatever it is, for less on the internet. The lure of lower price is difficult to resist for most people. As you said, in this economy, we can't afford a bad purchase decision.
The only salvation maybe the emergence of a new business plan/model where regional "Demo" stores somehow supported by the manufacturer will exist to audition before purchase. This has been done in a way with regional home based audition/sellers.
I haven't heard much about this since leaving my old home area where there was a home distributor audition person or two, and some brick and mortors that still survive.
It is only gonna get worse until we come up with some kind of solution.
Personally I had to go through several years worth of making a bad purchase for my taste and selling at a loss. I had to buy most of my components on faith. It is an expensive way to go. Strange all that in the name of buying for less actually costing more.
mechans
3,048 posts
 
Where is AC? "As in over at AC...."
I think we may be surprised when audio comes back some, and maybe even on Main Street. It seems people are indeed concerned about sound quality. I saw an ad featuring some "Beats" speakers on a tablet computer. I can't be sure that there won't just be a resurgence of a great mid-fi boom like there was in the 70s. That will still leave the more hardcore aficianados who are really into Hi-Fi where we are now, as a miniscule or so it seems, minority. As you said a guy cvan dream can't he?
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