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
When I heard the 20.7's at Magnepan and then again at Audio Emporium in Milwaukee (A beautiful store and extremely nice folks) I noticed right away a less bright sound. Avoiding any technical reasons could it be simply from the increased midrange and woofer areas on the in the panels?
According to Wendell, brightness in Maggies is usually a consequence of low midbass rather than excessive treble.

The thing is, each of their models is tuned for an average room. The larger a room, the less but smoother bass it tends to have -- and of course each room has different room modes/placement/etc. The larger ones have more panel area and this may be what you're hearing. They might also have more panel area to do the acoustic equalization that allows them to tailor the response of the woofers.
Another week with the 20.7's and all I can say is WOW!!! These things smoke my 3.6's like crazy. EVERYTHING is BETTER.

I am laying down a grid on the floor (per Jim Smith's instructions) so that I can tweak the speaker and listening position. I want to get these bad boys RIGHT!

Ray000, have you tried the resistors yet? Anyone tried these yet? My sound is so good now I haven't taken the time to test these out.
It's great to hear you're continuing to enjoy the 20.7s
I know I am!!!

At the moment I'm running jumpers in both tweeter and midrange. I'd had a 1 Ohm (Duelund) in the tweeter, which I felt with the 3.7s was needed.

I just at this point don't see the need of it or any attenuation in the midrange either.

I guess this could change as break-in continues, but I'm happy just the way things are at the moment.
Now that I have heard both the 3.7 and 20.7 in the same room with the same electronics, I have to say that the 20.7s better the 3.7s enough out of the box to warrant the upgrade.

The 3.7s are a great speaker and a steal at their price point but to my ears the 20.7s offer a fuller richer sound, above just "more bass".

Everyone needs to make their own decision on whether the price vs sound differences justify the upgrade, but for my part and situation, I have no hesitation saying yes.

Regardless, if you have the chance to hear these wonderful speakers, do yourself a favor and give them a listen

Unless they re-release a 3 panel Tympani type speaker, I cannot imagine ever looking to change them out