Magnepan 30.7 Demo

Kingrex said:
Nicoff, what do you drive them with? Do they perform better with one source over another?
Thanks Rex
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I drive the 20.7 with Classe M600 monoblocks. Previously I used to drive the 20.1 with Classe CAM350 monoblocks. The Classes and the Maggies work well together.

Long ago I used to have not so powerful amps and the ribbon tweeters kept breaking. Magnepans work best with driven by powerful high current amps.

By source, do you mean type of music?
 
nicoff said:
I drive the 20.7 with Classe M600 monoblocks. Previously I used to drive the 20.1 with Classe CAM350 monoblocks. The Classes and the Maggies work well together.

Long ago I used to have not so powerful amps and the ribbon tweeters kept breaking. Magnepans work best with driven by powerful high current amps.

By source, do you mean type of music?
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Phono, digital, tapes? Do they like a source.
 
Kingrex said:
Phono, digital, tapes? Do they like a source.
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The Magnepans can play music from all three sources very well; no discrimination there. The type of music is where there is a difference. They excel at acoustic music (jazz and female voices are great examples). They are also very good at playing classical music (ensembles, chamber, lieder). A full orchestra playing loud (Mahler for example) can make it reach its limits. They are not the ideal speakers for bass-heavy rock music (although this can be adjusted by adding one or two subs).
 
Mike said:
Yes, absolutely true. They love power/current, but the smaller models can't play loud, a bit of a conundrum indeed. Like I said, I've owned 5 pairs (MMG, 1.6, 1.7, 3.6 and lastly, 3.7's). I enjoyed my time, but I went nuts constantly adjusting them due to the tiny sweet spot. Bass has a bit of a "plastic" sound I always found as well.

But look, setup right, playing classical music perhaps, in the right room, right electronics, the 30.7's can do some things very well I'm sure. I just think it's best to demo speakers in a proper seating position. Everyone can share the sweet spot, it's ok, they'll live.

I know Jim Smith advocates finding the best seating position FIRST, then dial in the speakers. I do too. When the demo is "no chairs allowed, go walk around", I don't know if that's the best approach. Reflections off the ceiling are a real problem and actually create time delay issues. I tried to explain this to the powers that be at the demo, but was told, "if you want a use a chair to stand on, that would be ok, but not to sit on." I'm not sure what the point was. It's so hard to focus on what's going on when the high frequencies are reflecting off the ceiling and singeing your ears off. As you can see by the picture, I'm not a good listener. In the chair, I was able to get a much better idea of what the speakers can do and not do. I had a hard time with the very over sized imaging, as others have mentioned above. Again, could be setup, don't know.
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Speakers were way too far apart , no chairs was to avoid listening to the odd imaging and sound.

BTW , Line-source speakers have way less ceiling and floor bounce than point source speakers, quite possibly it was side wall reflections more so than ceiling reflections you were experiencing ...
 
a.wayne said:
Speakers were way too far apart , no chairs was to avoid listening to the odd imaging and sound.

BTW , Line-source speakers have way less ceiling and floor bounce than point source speakers, quite possibly it was side wall reflections more so than ceiling reflections you were experiencing ...
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Not according to the study in HiFi News.


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a.wayne said:
My measurement mic and ears work pretty well , HiFi news can borrow both when they are ready ..
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Line arrays have issues with ceiling reflections and time domain issues.


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I don't know how Maggies are to be positioned when installed so my observation may not apply.

I have had a number of electrostatic speakers Accoustat and Martin Logan.

The vertical positioning in relation to each other and the listening seat is paramount. My approach is that the center, top to bottom of the panel needs to be pointing at a 90 degree angle to you ears when seated. This allows for the sound waves from the panel to reach your ear at evenly as possible. If the panels are leaning forward or backward in relation to your ears, making the waves arrive at vastly different timing it does nothing but degrade the sound.

This doesn't even address the toe in on the speakers for the room seating positioning.

One of the things I looked at at the demo was the speakers in relation to each other from the side. They were pointing in 4 different directions and all were leaning backward. I would think this may have been a reason that the imaging was an issue.
 
a.wayne said:
Speakers were way too far apart , no chairs was to avoid listening to the odd imaging and sound.

BTW , Line-source speakers have way less ceiling and floor bounce than point source speakers, quite possibly it was side wall reflections more so than ceiling reflections you were experiencing ...
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More speculation! The proof is in the pudding, and only in the pudding. Take a listen and report back. I think Magnepan is still in the area.
 
a.wayne said:
No speculation at all and what should i be listening for ....?
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Words like “quite possibly” sounds like speculation to me. If you have not heard the 30.7’s, then its all speculation. Or if you were not at that particular installation, again it’s all speculation. Or opinions on the compatability of the electronics mating with the speakers. Or the foilbles of the venue for that matter. I can’t believe so many people have opinions on speakers they have never heard. Why can’t they appreciate and learn from the observations of the audiophiles who were there. A simple “thank you” would suffice.
 
The review is to late. Everyone heard about a bad showing and decided that was the defining presentation. No second chances for a first good impression.:celebrate008_2:
 
Joseph R. said:
Words like “quite possibly” sounds like speculation to me. If you have not heard the 30.7’s, then its all speculation. Or if you were not at that particular installation, again it’s all speculation. Or opinions on the compatability of the electronics mating with the speakers. Or the foilbles of the venue for that matter. I can’t believe so many people have opinions on speakers they have never heard. Why can’t they appreciate and learn from the observations of the audiophiles who were there. A simple “thank you” would suffice.
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No specualtion as to roof reflections , quite possibly to side reflections means just that a high possibliity it was all side reflections , maybe you needed to attend to verify, Im good , mike only had to post the pics and zero comments and its all good ...


Now if Mike had said fantastic ..! Then for sure i would have to attend.. .. :)
 
I am Brian Rovinsky, the owner of Sweet Home Audio in Clearwater. I'm the guy responsible for putting on this Magnepan 30.7 speaker demonstration in the Tampa Bay Area. First, thank you all who took the time and trouble to attend this show. With very short notice, almost 50 people RSVP'd for the event and most of them did come in. It was very gratifying to see so many come in on a Monday afternoon/evening especially with so little notice. I know many more music lovers would have come in had the event taken place over the weekend. I'm sorry that that wasn't possible. I specifically want to thank the Suncoast Audiophile Society, the Sarasota Audiophile Society and the Space Coast Audiophile Society. You each did wonders in helping to get the word out about this event.

I've read the many comments made about this event and the Magnepan 30.7 speakers. I want you all to know that any deficit in the sound we were able to get in that room is my fault alone and not Wendell's or Magnepan's and certainly not the 30.7 speakers. It might be helpful to some to understand the reason compromises were made in the presentation of these amazing speakers. Fundamental is the listening space. My shop is way too small to host an event like this. You might find it hard to believe, but the Largo Community Center gave us the least acoustic compromise of all the event venues I was able to find willing to rent us their spaces for this event. I will spare you the details of my search for a better venue. But, if you have any interest in finding a location for a wedding or Bar Mitzva, I can refer you to a couple dozen locations in the Tampa Bay Area. As for a good location for a presentation of speakers intended for home use, not so much.

We were able to get into this event location, and Wendell saw it for the first time, just three hours before the event started on Monday afternoon. He instantly knew we were going to have trouble with the acoustics, as did I. It was what we had to work with, however, and we set the speakers and equipment up as well as we could with the belief that audiophiles would understand the problems with the room and listen critically with those compromises in mind. The choices were to present the speakers to our local audiophiles and music lovers in this far-from-ideal space, or don't present them at all. Perhaps it would have been a better service to the speakers and to the attendees to have forgone the event. Maybe, but I am, nonetheless, glad that I hosted the event if for no other reason than to have met so many people who care enough about music at home to take the time to come in. That, and to give those attending a taste of what these Magnepan 30.7 speakers are capable of even in a crappy room.

The venue was at least twice the size that we wanted. The room ate up the bass and presented other acoustic problems. My sincere apologies to any of you who found this unacceptable. We weren't too happy with it either. Should I ever do another such event, I will definitely take all the complaints about this presentation to heart. It does pain me that criticism that rightly belongs of me and my efforts are misplaced upon these magnificent Magnepan loudspeakers. I hope you get to hear them some day in a room appropriate for them.
 
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