Don, I don't know how many have shipped. I only know that they are coming off the assembly line.
Wendell is a friend, yes, but that doesn't make me a Magnepan shill. Rather, since we speak and email frequently, I hear a lot about what's going on at Magnepan and pass that information on when I can.
As you undoubtedly know, I'm also the Planar Asylum's informal go-between with Magnepan, since Wendell doesn't participate in the forums directly. Sometimes if he sees something he feels needs addressing he'll email me and ask me to do so. My responses are always my own unless I pass something on from him, in which case I say so.
I am glad to say that my $1600 rebuilt IVa's and cheap amps are sounding wonderful, thank you. Indeed, they rather make me feel sorry for those who spend $100,000 and get sound that in most cases isn't as good. That's the benefit of 50 years of experience as an audiophile and audio engineer; you know what to buy and how to get the most out of it.
I would point out, by the way, that my main amplifier, which drives the mids and highs, is rated Class A by Stereophile; that the monoblock version of my midbass amplifier is also rated Class A; and that my DAC was rated Class A+. There is no need to spend vast sums of money to get good sound: knowing what gear to buy and how to set it up and treat your room matters far more than cost.
Of course if you want to send me a pair of 30.7's and three Pass amps, I won't object. But if you think that after years spent building million dollar rooms, designing pro audio products, and listening to master tapes in the studio I'm doing this because I need to impress people with fancy faceplates, think again.
I have owned Maggies continuously since the late 70's, when I bought my Tympani 1-D's. Later, I had a pair of MMG's which I bought for my home office and used temporarily in my main system until I was able to score a pair of IVa's, which, unlike my 1-D's, fit in my current listening room. Which is to say that I've owned as many Maggies as you have for as long as you have, for whatever that's worth.
And of course I've heard many other models over the years.
I haven't yet heard the 30.7 but of course it's a step up from the 20.7, with a new high performance midrange, a four-way design, and much more bass radiating area. To assess the difference you would have to hear the 30.7 in good circumstances, which few have had a chance to do yet, hence this thread.
You would have to ask Wendell why you can't hear a pair yet in the Twin Cities. I know that there are three prototypes in circulation, one of which Wendell has with him on the tour, one of which is at the Absolute Sound, one of which last I heard was at a dealer's on the West Coast. I assume that initial production will be allocated to dealers, reviewers, and customers on the list but I have no idea in what order; again, you'd have to ask Magnepan. I honestly don't know why this matters; it's a new model and it will be in short supply for a while as the factory catches up with the backlog.
"The critics that reviewed the 30.7 only listened for a few hours."
That's incorrect, and a good example of why I take the time to make these posts. Julie Mullins of the Absolute Sound for example had a pair on long-term loan for their reviews, and last I heard she still has it.
"Magnepan said the 30.7 would ship in January of this year."
There were some production delays. The one I know about occurred because a supplier provided a metal part with curvature that was out of spec. This sort of issue is common when a new model goes into production, both at Magnepan and at other companies -- another major speaker manufacturer had a similar delay at the time Magnepan did.
Of course, it's understandable that people would want to hear about the experience of others before shelling out $30,000. In a case like this, I think the question isn't going to be so much "is it good" -- we already know that it is very, very good -- but rather "is it enough of an improvement to warrant spending the money, and is it a good match for my listening preferences?"
I understand that Magnepan will be making special arrangements so that prospective buyers can hear them under good circumstances, but details haven't been announced.
