Can Magnepan survive Wendell Diller?

While I wish that Magnepan were better repped by dealers who believe in the product and are willing to really demo it to its full potential and not make it an also-ran, those dealers need to make a living too. As with most things "its complicated." The high end is a hard business to succeed in right now whether you’re a manufacturer, distributor or retailer. Its tempting to think that with "just the right personnel or strategy" Magnepan could expand its footprint. But largely I think this thread is a solution looking for a problem. Magnepan seems to be doing just fine with plenty of backorders on many of their designs. I’m listening right now to my 20.7’s powered by ARC electronics and its SUBLIME.  The .7 series is far and above the best thing they've ever done.  The LRS has gotten TREMENDOUS ATTENTION.  I'm really not sure they're doing anything wrong given the size of the market to begin with.

I hope the following will be regarded as a constructive contribution to this thread.

"The fallacy of begging the question occurs when an argument’s premises assume the truth of the conclusion, instead of supporting it. In other words, you assume without proof the stand/position, or a significant part of the stand, that is in question."

Wouw , many here that love it and a few that really hate it. 

So let's start with a story here , I got since 3 years now a completely rebuild Tympani I (magnepan rebuild it)   , aside from that a mgII I rebuild myself, a mgI I rebuild myself and I have a couple of mmgw. My past maggies, were smg and a mgI 

I saw someone post a rather lengthy "they are hard to drive and cheap blabla" no they are actually not hard to drive , at all. Planar speakers are a resistive load, many amplifiers out there will not have any issues running them. They don't dip in impedance that crazy much, and for sure do not "peak and valley" like cones do. 

That's okay, it's a generic misconception about magnepans in general. Then the crossover parts, you ever opened up a Revel ? Sonus faber? Klipsch ? A infinity (arnie nudell) ? You, think they have all polycaps and air gap inductors?! Keep thinking that😉

There is always, a cost saving factor present with ANY (not talking exotic here) speaker you can possibly think off. Magnepans, have been consistent with their friendly prices, a lrs performs way above it's $650 price tag. New ! 

"But I got a a speaker I bought of ebay and that one sounds better at the same price" well ya! As you bought a speaker, that's most likely vintage, and at the time was a good BIT MORE expensive ! So account for inflation, you're comparing a speaker that cost a good bit more than a new Maggie does. That's the apples and oranges comparison that holds, 0 merits imho. 

Magnepan 30.7 was not the speaker they intended to build. I spoke to Ryan (production service manager) he told me straight up "the whole idea was to make a Tympani again. But improved , they steered away from it and made the 30.7 which sells sporadically! From a commerical point of view it's indeed a fail. However, take a look at the specs a planar that specs 20hz at 3db or so , is a incredible design feat! He did tell me to never get rid of my Tympani, I won't it's by far the best speaker I got and this. 

Keeping in mind I have a infinity rs1b ,kappa 9 , kappa 6.1, renaissance 80 , rsII, rs4 ,QE, and tons of cone speakers to compare. None of them can produce the open soundfield the Tympani (caveat I use subs and active crossovers) does. It's not even close, and that doesn't mean I hate cone. 

Again I got plenty cone speakers and enjoy the. Just as well. So not being biased because I have so many maggies. I got more cone than maggies. 

Aside from their speakers being incredible, let's talk about their service ! I had mine rebuild,imagine that okay folks. A 1974 speaker ,being rebuild by the company that designed then is unheard off. Rebuild kits readily available they support their customers ! USA made , very competitive prices... .

They let you hear what your gear is doing, they guys that I heard saying "they sound thin or terrible" the second they throw a amp on there that FITS the speaker they are running. 

Wow.....it's a revelation, it really is key is equipment. These type of speakers don't color the sound field like cabinet speakers do. The quasi ribbon tweeter is more than capable to give you fantastic highs, their ribbon (true) is better but extremely fragile. 

I don't get the haters, but yet again I don't really care. Each to their own, but me going back to cone again ?! Is virtually proven to be impossible for me... I don't miss the boxiness of them . 

For more than 25 years I have used Maggies with true ribbon tweeter (MG 3.3, MG 20 and now 20.7) and not once has this driver failed. Even my old 3.3 with the protection fuse replaced by a copper bar could handle realistic sound levels without any problems. So don’t let their presumed fragile construction hold you back, just make sure the cleaning lady keeps the vacuum cleaner away!

I agree Maggies are not particularly hard to drive with their even 4 ohm load, but their low sensitivity does require sufficient power. But they have slightly improved on this over the years. The 20.7 now has push pull quasi ribbon bass panels, which are more of a kind with the push pull quasi ribbon mids. This made it possible to do away with that large outboard crossover box of the MG 20 and 20.1 which ate up lots of amp power. Still, don’t expect them to make music on a low powered SET.

The OP’s post is not really a question, but a statement. He already assumes/ BEGS the answer. Some of the subsequent posts are shameful ad hominem attacks on Wendell Diller.

Magnepan is a small American company that has been in existence for well over 40 years. It is a great company, and they sure as hell know what they’re doing. Mr. Diller, like all of us, will eventually pass from the scene. But I strongly suspect that Magnepan will be around longer than many of us.

Malcontents must surely lead a dreary life, and it seems that there are all too many in our wonderful hobby.