Magnepan LRS+ resistors on the tweeters… which?


I have a pair of LRS+ and after playing with the set-up positioning for a while I have finally found the spot where everything aspect of the sound is right apart from the treble: it is simply too high, and is tiresome after a couple of records.

But Magnepan knows it and fit a pair of sockets to allow the user to play with 10W resistors, ranged from 1 to 2 Ohm.

The resistors that come with the speakers are not the best and some users refer that they affect the sound too much.

So I wonder, what are the best resistors to fit in the LRS+ ?

audiofilo123

You can ALWAYS use resistors of a higher wattage value here. Just don’t go for a lower wattage. A higher wattage resistor will better dissipate the heat.

The downside it that you typically pay more and if the extra "capacity" is not necessary, why pay for it? They can also be larger.

The Mills 12-watters are just their "better" version of most everyone else’s 10-watter. It’s too bad you can’t get them for reasonable coin in your parts.

Something else to think about...,

If you can find resistors that have a bit of inductance, they will change the "character" of the highs, and you may like the results. I use modified Heil AMTs with Mills resistors, but at one point I came across a pair of 20 ohm, 1% TRW 7.5 watt resistors. I wanted to increase the volume of the Heil by ~1/2 dB and had 3.2 ohms in series. The TRW resistors reduced this to 2.75 ohms and I picked up the ~1/2 dB. But the Heils lost some of their "edge/graininess".

When I checked the TRWs, I found they had 0.007mH of inductance which seems to tame this edge, at least to some extent.

BTW, one would think that changing the value of the resistors would also change the slope of the crossover.  However, in the case of a 2nd order, or higher, crossover, resistors placed before the "initial" capacitor will change the volume with negligible effect on the crossover point or slope.  I actually take advantage of this phenomenon in my crossovers.

@toddalin, thanks a lot for the suggestions and detailed information.

Perhaps I can buy the Mills resistors in the UK :)

Hiya,

LRS+ user here from EU. These are the tweeks I made with them:

- my friend made me custom made very sturdy stands very similar to Magnarisers. I use some schematics from some American who made them and they work excellent. I still have schematics pics on my PC at home if needed. I can not find his webpage at the moment to share.

- I added 1R Mills 12W resistor - i bought them at Hifi Collective UK. You can also get them from some distributor from Poland but they are about 20€ so a bit more expensive. Mills are good and they give a bit of sweetness, warmth and also put the edge from the highs. You might also try 1R2, 1R5 as you have now or maybe even try Pathaudio resistors if you really want to experiment and see if they better the Mills. But they are expensive about 35€ a piece. I’m also curious a little bit about that to play with different values of resistors up or down and see what it brings or take away. But this is a bit expensive if you really want to try different combos.

- I bought high purity copper rod from the Aliexpress to bypass the fuse. And they cut me in a size that I needed. This link was actually made for me as I requested 32mm long ones and they fit perfectly :) https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005702709030.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.25.2c291802BTVv5M . I gained more clarity with that, but yeah do that if you know what you are doing.

- I changed the speaker wires for these which also made much smoother top end. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004369101541.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.55.2c291802BTVv5M

In my opinion the best speaker wires I ever had no matter the price. Bafore I had also some very expensive brand name so I sold those. You can wait for 11.11. sales on AE and they will be discounted for sure for about 1/3 less.

Each of these tweeks brought me bit to make LRS+ almost a perfect speakers.

BTW I drive them with Gryphon Callisto 2200 and for DAC I use Denafrips Ares II. They are supported with two REL B2 subs which they give a missing bottom end. I like them and I listen to the music the most even though in the past I had much more expensive speakers.

If you want to make a bit more full boddied presentation add some Cardas Golden Cross XLR or RCA cable in the game. But that is already a bit more costly and you need to seek for them on the second hand market as they are not produced anymore.

With best wishes, Davor.

 

@delfincek thanks for the suggestions.

I few weeks ago I have already contacted Hifi Collective UK and now have the full price of the Mills, including custom taxes. Meanwhile, I already have 1R, 1R5 and 2R2 Mundorf 10W resistors to try… the 1R5 is doing such a good job smoothing the treble that I am proceeding with the room positioning set-up… until my mind blow up!…

As for AliExpress, well don’t mind me saying but that is a route I don’t want to take, for many reasons. Those speaker cables, for example, are the type of product that I fail to be interested: a copy of the Nordost. I feel that is the looks that they are after without having the materials and technology… Sure, the price of the original is absurd, not only to my financial capacity, but in general, but some way it kind of reflects the R&D, technology and materials used, I can’t believe that someone offered something similar at 1/20 of the price…

I am not saying that they sound bad (or good), just that I can’t invest in that kind of product.

Also I am uncomfortable to bypass the fuse. Sure, it must do more harm than good but it is there for a purpose: safety. I have bought an AMR fuse designed especially for the Magnepan, but I will only tested after finding the correct LRS+ position in the room.

One interesting thing about speaker cables: when looking inside some good high current amplifiers (Plinius, Perreaux, Muse) we can find the same type of cable design - connecting the binding posts to the main board - of the Van Damme L-OFC 4mm that I use. That makes me stick with it :)

Hiya,

interested to hear a feedback if you get Mills and compare it with Mundorf resistors. Also pretty much interested for feedback when you get AMR fuses and you try to upgrade the default ones.

Van Damme is used in various applications. Also Harbeth use them have their speakers too. Btw I use Van Damme Hi-Fi L-OFC on my subs connected to High Level inputs.

Best wishes, D.