Hi - Have any of you ever changed out the standard nickel Midrange or Tweeter jumpers on your Maggie’s with something else. Or have you replaced or bypassed the tweeter/midrange fuses? The reason I’m asking is that I read a review on Absolute Sound where the reviewer did, well at least the jumpers. After looking on the internet I came across a site called Verastarr and they offer a Magnepan kit which includes jumpers and a fuse replacement. The jumpers are Cryo treated 10AWG Silver plated copper in PTFE dielectric. The fuse is replaced with a polished 99.7 pure solid silver hollow tube. I understand the warranty risk with the fuse but wanted to see if anyone has ever tried the above. Supposedly this tweak takes the Maggie’s to another level of performance. I purchased the kit on Audiogon but will most likely just use the jumpers. Please let me know if you have any experience with either.
The best way to improve Maggies is to bi-amp them with an external x/o, filtering the bass out of the amp driving the m/t drivers. But that can NOT be done on the .7 models, only the .6 and earlier. The old Maggies had parallel x/o designs and dual binding posts, the .7 x/o’s are series designs with single posts.
The new 30.7 does what the old Tympani models did---use separate panels for the bass and the m/t drivers. The Tympani’s were provided with external x/o boxes, but those did not automatically provide bi-amping (the x/o boxes were inserted between the power amp and the Tympanis, not between the pre-amp and dual power amps). Serious Tympani owners use a serious active x/o (the Pass is great, but not cheap. Nelson offered a nice little 2-way with his First Watt B4, currently out-of-production).
Jumpers? It's the fuses that screw things up, I bypass everything with Kimber 12VS. The only thing you risk doing is blowing a tweeter and they are easy to replace. Maggie has a great replacement program. Go for broke and really improve the current flow to those panels. You have not lived until you blow a Maggie tweeter!!
mikepowellaudio-duplicate38 posts02-20-2018 5:52pmHi Guys , thought I would weigh in quickly as I am the mod designer. As a point of reference I would not own nor use Magnepan in stock form, and soon I will have essentially removed the big panel and ribbon tweeter from what were new 3.7i, and chucked everything else. This was done more as an exercise than anything to see where we can go with these speakers, and what mods or experience I could pass on to my brother Maggie lovers. Ive used Maggie over 10 years, never using a fuse ever. Let me start by asking the readers, Ccn anybody reading this thread attest to a blown fuse ? Ive never even heard of it much less seen it. As a matter of fact, if you would like to see a 3.7i playing at over 90Db without even breaking a sweat then check out these vids I posted to the net.
Your concern is distortion not the fuse. My rig is low distortion, therefore smooth sailing. Bdp24 is right that whole fuse contraption degrades signal. The simple mod I posted as "instant" is exactly that. for people that just don’t want to tear in to their new Maggies. I’m one of those crazies that in the pursuit of knowledge will strip a new 3.7i bare to learn about it. Then I can offer mods or feedback on the nature of Magnepan as seen through the eyes of an OCD AudioFoil manufacturer and designer. These speakers are greatly misunderstood and Maggie keeps tight lips about what their real nature is most likely to keep an unbiased position on how to listen, or what to use, etc. First truth : Maggies are mid/high optimized. This means they will reproduce low frequency, sure, but removing low frequency from the Mag, and putting it to a sub, even in the case of 20 series, will exponentially increase your sonic experience. Finally the mids and highs are unimpeded by low freq vibration. I dont mean just adding subs, I mean high passing the Mags to REMOVE 80-90Hz and below. (with a slope of course) along with the subs. You will not believe the improvement it makes. Soon we be releasing an integrated stand with powered subwoofer so you will need no more floor space than you do now, and be able to add a sub and reap the benefits of bi amping and actively crossing over your Mags.
all the best and happy listening !
Mike
Good morning Mike,
I have the brand new .7 Magnepan speakers and have two choices of amplifiers that I can use and wanted your suggestion. I have the Jeff Rowland Model 12's Monoblock (4 Chassis design) 200 Watts 8 ohms & 350 Watts in 4 ohm load as well as the Cary Audio CAD 805 AE (Anniversary Eddition) Monoblock amplifier with a 211 output tube installed giving it 70 Watts of Pure Class A. I'm also looking to purchase your kit and the upgraded stands to experience the best sound possible.
Like anything the mod requires a little time to have noticeable effects; my 1.7i’s were brand new when I opted for Mike’s kit so a true “comparison” test of something I was long accustomed to and the “new” is somewhat inapplicable.
Although...
I’ve had MMG, .7, MGIIIA, so I’m very familiar with Maggies and their sonics. The most immediate aspect of the kit is the bass - right and right. The bass drum on Ginger Baker’s “Cyril Davis” sounds as good as it did on my Thiel 3.5’s - like a bass drum. No bloat, no bloom.
I received the upgrade kit -- I believe this has improved the overall clarity, but especially noticing the bass seems less boomy, and I thought I didn't have boom, haha. I'm using two Vandersteen 2Wq's with the Q set at 2, for those who know. IOW it's a tight setting, not loose or boomy. The kit is well worth the price -- not worried at all about the fuse, I've never blown a fuse in 6 years of owning 1.7.
I’ve never, and I mean never, blown a fuse on anything in my life, and unless I’m mistaken my Maggie 1.7i’s are the first loudspeakers I’ve had that employ fuses. I was somewhat hesitant to adhere to the whole megillah “upgrade” in Mike’s kit at first, but after considering how conservative my listening level is I thought that to NOT employ it as it is designed for would be downright silly.
Replaced the stock fuses with the hollow tubes, slipped in the black jumpers, hooked up the ribbon cables. Easy-peasey.
Yes, the upgrade, the “tweak”, the mod or whatever you want to describe it as, improves upon an already impressive loudspeaker. Methinks the details are more keenly etched when they should be, the bass articulation is taut, organic, without artifice or bloat, and the mids/highs are, as they were to begin with, magically life-like. I believe I’m also enjoying a better defined soundscape, particularly on live recordings.
I don’t know a mosfet from a misfit, don’t know an electronic microfad from a fashion micro-fad, (such as bell bottoms or man-buns) but I do know this makes a palpable improvement on my 1.7i’s. They’re just a few weeks old right now and I’m happy as hell.
I’m totally satisfied and elated with the openness and spacious results I got from the upgrade kit. Crystal clear highs, all the nasally sound is definitely gone. Thanks a lot and forever a fan and customer. I did the complete upgrade/ removed fuses.
Thanks everyone.. My goal was to offer an easy to install solution so not only the tweakers get to enjoy the spoils of a modded Maggie.. so I'm really glad to hear everyone seems to be enjoying the results.. The more enthusiasm you all give me the further I will go in the creations for Magnepan. Ive got a real doozy sitting on deck for the 3 series owners. But its not just a small tweak, its a transformative kit, but I will make it easy as possible for you all to perform at home.
Hey guys, there is a reason its called an "instant" upgrade. Because it takes no longer than 5 minutes to do both speakers and they don’t need to be moved an inch. Thats the whole idea behind the kit nothing more. Never in the history of Magnepan has there been something this quick and this effective. Not even close. For me, I’ll pull out some tools and strip a maggie to its bones, pull the tweeter and mid and throw the rest away. Why stop at steel fuse clips ? The crossover is junky, there is no frame to speak of and the baffle is horrible, not to mention the 3 layers of fabric over your drivers... so you will not go farther down the Rabbit Hole with Maggie than I will, But instead of expecting everyone to jump on the crazy boat with me, I recognize those that wish to join the mod fun, but do not have experience with electronics or even hand tools for that matter. I make the mod that everybody can play with and still reap a strong beneficial result. So go ahead and knock the $40 kit for being expensive...lol. There is not one recipient of this kit that did not appreciate how simple and effective it was..
Just received my kit from Mike Powell this afternoon for my 1.7i’s. (Ribbon cables + fuse/jumper). The whole megillah.
Earlier on I purchased a pair of Magna Risers from this site which included a pair of jumper replacements as well so, as of yet, I haven’t replaced those. I should get around to it this weekend with more extended listening.
Mike I received the upgrade today and wow I’m truly amazed how they really opened up my Maggie’s. I’m definitely will be sharing this with all my Maggie owners.
@polarin, go to the Planar Speaker Asylum Forum, go into the Magnepan section, and do a thread search for modifications. There are detailed discussions of what members have done to their Maggies, with pics.
Disconnecting the fuse holder and installing Cardas binding posts is very simple, easy, and completely reversible. The Cardas posts fit right in the holes the Magnepan ones are in, no modifications necessary. The wires going to the rear of the stock connectors have "O" rings on the ends, so there in no soldering involved---the O rings are just slid off the old, and onto the new. Couldn't be easier.
Likewise, the fuse block requires no cutting or soldering of wires. They just get disconnected, removed from the signal path. Boom, done. Reinstall the plate, connect your speaker cables, and enjoy the new, improved sound quality!
Bypassing the fuses interests me, has anyone who has done this (including adding the Cardas binding posts) mod have video instructions that could walk someone thru this? I'm electronically challenged at best and wouldn't want to do more harm than good, thanks.
Heavy handed ? lol, that does not blow fuses. To prove this I’m playing my 3.7i at around 100Db and taking a video. I posted it to youtube. It is not power that hurts any speaker, its distortion.
I assumed we were talking about stock factory Magnepans? The link you posted to above, show speakers that are very far from "factory stock". Who knows what perimeters have been changed with all of your modifications?
Also, why spend the money on this "kit", when you can pull off the back plate and easily rewire the connectors to bypass the holders. This can be reversed if/when you need to. It creates a much shorter and better path than using jumpers and special fuses.
So if your talking about better fidelity, (which you are), then there are cheaper and better sounding options.
If any members are in Northern Colorado, I would be more than happy to perform this tweek for free, just get a hold of me.
Dont be nervous unless your amp is underpowered meaning low CURRENT not wattage, or if you do silly things like change out RCA with amps on.. I’m sending a kit to a 30 year Magnepan dealer who told me never ONCE has he seen a blown fuse. Many people just bought these kits and I asked them to post results here.
@Itsky, there are no options, you remove protection for dummy mistakes. These fuses hurt the sound more than they are needed for anything.
Heavy handed ? lol, that does not blow fuses. To prove this I’m playing my 3.7i at around 100Db and taking a video. I posted it to youtube. It is not power that hurts any speaker, its distortion. If my kit broke speakers I would stop selling it. I do this to help maggie owners get the most out of their Maggie’s. I am a staunch Maggie lover. I get kidded by peers for having cheap speakers. What Ive got is smart speakers. They sound World Class at a fraction of the cost. Maggies sound horrible with fuses in, they are even bad to me with factory crossover. Not even close to balanced if you run a speaker response test. I like accuracy not flavoring, so perhaps I should state these maggie mods are in the pursuit of an accurate reference loudspeaker rather than a fun to listen to because of what its doung loudspeaker which theres a place for as well.
bluesy41, I checked out the site and am ordering the kit for my 20.7's. I suspect it will make a difference for me... maybe because I love placebo effects, lol. Seriously, in my own experience everything matters in audio, whether it's a good change or a bad change. So I'm willing to risk $80.00 for this product. Let me know your experience. Larry
Can anybody reading this thread attest to a blown fuse ?
I was a Magnepan dealer for many years. I can attest to many blown fuses. I have even popped a few myself. I had to keep fuses in stock for my customers that were a little heavy handed :-) So, yes it does indeed happen...
Hi Barry, only partially true. If you drive your amps into distortion you should say.. To prove my point you can watch me drive the 3.7i to a limit as high as a live rock concert using Jeff Rowland monos known for their low distortion, The link is in my above post. You have no idea how far you can push Mags, I didnt. But I was willing to to find out. These are truly world class performers in a "dumbed down" (for lack of a better term) guise. No matter the level I bring the rig the Maggies hang with me and do not disappoint. Youll see in the videos there is no lack of dynamics in a Magnepan. One just needs to understand them and set them up properly to do what I'm doing in the videos.
Probably won't make that much of a difference compared with completely rewiring the speakers with various gauges of OFC cryoed copper wire, using copper binding posts, bypassing the fuses, upgrading the stands buying Mye's, and then building an entirely new external crossover out of very high quality parts.
Any of these things, especially the speaker stands, might be a better option. Bypassing the fuses is not to be done if you drive the speakers hard.
Hi Guys , thought I would weigh in quickly as I am the mod designer. As a point of reference I would not own nor use Magnepan in stock form, and soon I will have essentially removed the big panel and ribbon tweeter from what were new 3.7i, and chucked everything else. This was done more as an exercise than anything to see where we can go with these speakers, and what mods or experience I could pass on to my brother Maggie lovers. Ive used Maggie over 10 years, never using a fuse ever. Let me start by asking the readers, Ccn anybody reading this thread attest to a blown fuse ? Ive never even heard of it much less seen it. As a matter of fact, if you would like to see a 3.7i playing at over 90Db without even breaking a sweat then check out these vids I posted to the net.
Your concern is distortion not the fuse. My rig is low distortion, therefore smooth sailing. Bdp24 is right that whole fuse contraption degrades signal. The simple mod I posted as "instant" is exactly that. for people that just don’t want to tear in to their new Maggies. I’m one of those crazies that in the pursuit of knowledge will strip a new 3.7i bare to learn about it. Then I can offer mods or feedback on the nature of Magnepan as seen through the eyes of an OCD AudioFoil manufacturer and designer. These speakers are greatly misunderstood and Maggie keeps tight lips about what their real nature is most likely to keep an unbiased position on how to listen, or what to use, etc. First truth : Maggies are mid/high optimized. This means they will reproduce low frequency, sure, but removing low frequency from the Mag, and putting it to a sub, even in the case of 20 series, will exponentially increase your sonic experience. Finally the mids and highs are unimpeded by low freq vibration. I dont mean just adding subs, I mean high passing the Mags to REMOVE 80-90Hz and below. (with a slope of course) along with the subs. You will not believe the improvement it makes. Soon we be releasing an integrated stand with powered subwoofer so you will need no more floor space than you do now, and be able to add a sub and reap the benefits of bi amping and actively crossing over your Mags.
I have the upgrade kit in my 1.7is. It works! Running the highs (tweeter) thru that little glass tinned wire fuse has to impede resolution. Just be careful, they are wide open with the fuse delete, driving them with an underpowered amp into distortion could end badly..
Make jumpers from your favourite cable, leave the fuses, add Mye stands, add a good subwoofer. My upgrade path with my 1.7’s when I owned them. Probably the best sound I have had in my home
Vera Starr has a totall maximum rebuild of the whole unit with premium external crossover, their premium wires custom ridged frames . A 3.6 can easily beat the 20.series. Not cheap. You would have to call them.
@bluesy41- I have little doubt, that the Verastarr kit would yield better sound.
That kit accomplishes the same goal as the internal bypass trick, but, still leaves four, inferior metal, connection points(at the fuse and jumper ends), between the tweeter's hot wire and input to the fuse holder. Almost anything made of copper or silver, would be better than the piece of steel, providing as the stock jumper, which can still be bypassed internally, eliminating those steel, screw-crimp, connectors. Replacing fuses with silver tubes, should further account for cleaner highs. You only mentioned using the jumpers, but, I'll say it anyway: If you do put their fuse replacements into use, Be very judicious with your volume control.
Head over to the Planar Speaker Asylum forum. There are some serious, long-term Maggie owners who have posted all kinds of ways to upgrade Maggies, from the simple to the extreme.
Replacing the jumpers and fuses with good wire is fine, but it ignores a serious problem---the ferrous parts Magnepan uses in the connectors themselves! I took a magnet to find the steel (steel!) parts in my Tympani-IVa’s; there were a couple---the fuse holder and speaker wire/banana plug receptacles both contain steel. Unacceptable.
You can do what other Maggie owners have done---bypass the fuse holder altogether, and install Cardas binding posts in place of the horrid Magnapan wire/banana plug receptacle. The Cardas post fits into the stock hole without modification.
@rodman99999 @lemniscate @kalali - I’m going to give the jumpers a try. Guys please go to www.verastarr.com and click on the Magnepan upgrade link and tell me what you think.
@rodman99999 @lemniscate @kalali - I’m going to give the jumpers a try. Guys please go to www.verastarr.com and click on the Magnepan upgrade link and tell me what you think.
I replaced the stock jumpers with Empirical Design jumpers and thought there was an improvement. I tried Synergistic Research Red fuses and ended up returning them because I couldn't hear any improvement.
I’ve always(with my SMGa, MMg, MG12qr and now- 1.7i Maggies) removed the input plate, replaced the stainless steel posts with WBT 5 ways, and while I’m in there, simply remove the tweeter’s hot wire, from the jumper and connect it to the input side of the fuse, bypassing both. Of course: adequate, clean power(no clipping) is a necessity, or you’ll burn your tweeters. I can easily understand why few would choose this path, but- it's worked for me, for over two decades(and I like my high SPLs).
When I owned Maggies I had jumpers custom made from the wires I used for speaker wires. I did not (and would not) bypass the fuses, but I did purchase audiophile grade fuses. Both changes made a worthwhile improvement.
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