Brownsfan, this thread got me thinking about returning to a project I started
four (!) years ago and put aside. Sitting in my basement is a pair of
MGIIIA'S that I used for about fifteen years until I lost the midrange sections
on the panels due to corrosion of the wire grids. I had very heavily modified
the Maggie's with upgraded xovers, wiring and removal of the socks (which,
no doubt, was responsible for the corrosion). Anyway, I purchased the
rebuild kit from Magnepan and never got around to it. I bring this up to point
out that I am very familiar with the sound of the 3 series Maggies, and
indeed, the sound of these speakers was spectacular in what was, at the
time, an ideal room.
Your 3.7's are clearly a much improved speaker over the stock MG3A.
What makes these speakers stand apart from the Maggies lower in the
lineup, is that amazing ribbon tweeter. The problem with discontinuity
between the midrange and tweeter is much improved with the 3.7's, but it is
still there to a degree. After living with these speakers for so many years I
became convinced that the issue was not one of tweeter level nor xover
point, but of a qualitative difference between the mid and tweeter which
contributed to the problem in the playback of chamber works that you are
trying to solve. I believe that this difference is part of what is contributing to
the lack of separation of the two violins on string quartet recordings. The
violins, having so much high frequency energy, both get "pulled"
towards the ribbon tweeter element regardless of spatial location in the
recording. It's not that the ribbon is doing anything wrong, but that the mid
panel is not doing it as well. I found this to be more obvious on chamber
works than on large orchestral works; although, in those as well, I would
often hear the image of the flute or solo violin suddenly get pulled left or
right towards the location of the tweeter ribbon. Why am bringing all this
up?
Have you considered, as your "chamber music speakers", a
pair of the smaller Maggie's which don't use the ribbon tweeter? You
obviously like the sound of Maggie's, and in many respects even the
MMG's share many of the same attributes as your 3.7's, but in a smaller
package and with, arguably, better integration of the mid and tweeter; even
if the tweeter is not, in absolute terms, on the same level as the true ribbon.
The rest of your gear is so good that a pair of MMG's would probably
sound fantastic, would be easy to move around, and might solve the
problem; and you have a sub that you have already integrated with
Maggies. With a home trial available, you would have nothing to lose. Lastly, if you find they at least have potential, if you are not familiar with
Peter Gunn's mods, check this out:
[URL]http://www.indiespinzone.com/magnestand.html[/URL]
Good luck.
four (!) years ago and put aside. Sitting in my basement is a pair of
MGIIIA'S that I used for about fifteen years until I lost the midrange sections
on the panels due to corrosion of the wire grids. I had very heavily modified
the Maggie's with upgraded xovers, wiring and removal of the socks (which,
no doubt, was responsible for the corrosion). Anyway, I purchased the
rebuild kit from Magnepan and never got around to it. I bring this up to point
out that I am very familiar with the sound of the 3 series Maggies, and
indeed, the sound of these speakers was spectacular in what was, at the
time, an ideal room.
Your 3.7's are clearly a much improved speaker over the stock MG3A.
What makes these speakers stand apart from the Maggies lower in the
lineup, is that amazing ribbon tweeter. The problem with discontinuity
between the midrange and tweeter is much improved with the 3.7's, but it is
still there to a degree. After living with these speakers for so many years I
became convinced that the issue was not one of tweeter level nor xover
point, but of a qualitative difference between the mid and tweeter which
contributed to the problem in the playback of chamber works that you are
trying to solve. I believe that this difference is part of what is contributing to
the lack of separation of the two violins on string quartet recordings. The
violins, having so much high frequency energy, both get "pulled"
towards the ribbon tweeter element regardless of spatial location in the
recording. It's not that the ribbon is doing anything wrong, but that the mid
panel is not doing it as well. I found this to be more obvious on chamber
works than on large orchestral works; although, in those as well, I would
often hear the image of the flute or solo violin suddenly get pulled left or
right towards the location of the tweeter ribbon. Why am bringing all this
up?
Have you considered, as your "chamber music speakers", a
pair of the smaller Maggie's which don't use the ribbon tweeter? You
obviously like the sound of Maggie's, and in many respects even the
MMG's share many of the same attributes as your 3.7's, but in a smaller
package and with, arguably, better integration of the mid and tweeter; even
if the tweeter is not, in absolute terms, on the same level as the true ribbon.
The rest of your gear is so good that a pair of MMG's would probably
sound fantastic, would be easy to move around, and might solve the
problem; and you have a sub that you have already integrated with
Maggies. With a home trial available, you would have nothing to lose. Lastly, if you find they at least have potential, if you are not familiar with
Peter Gunn's mods, check this out:
[URL]http://www.indiespinzone.com/magnestand.html[/URL]
Good luck.