2. speakers
  3. 136392-976

The Magnificent Magnepan 30.7 speakers....wait, I don’t like planars!

Wendell Diller from Magnepan has been a very busy gentleman recently. Touring throughout the US, he has visited, or will visit, numerous locations to demo the new Magnepan 30.7 speakers. It takes a lot of determination and commitment to drive through the country and then to set up in the small towns and large metropolises, a speaker the size of the new 30.7.
Last night I had the very good fortune of hearing the 30.7’s for the first time...at a local high end store demo. Also, I had the pleasure of talking to Wendell and his wife about his voyage...and why he does it.
But first, the Magnepan 30.7’s are...IMHO, at the very top of a long list of planar speakers that have been brought to my attention. Having owned Maggie’s in the past along with Quads and Acoustat’s, my interest level in this type of speaker was not in any way high. Yet, here’s the thing, these new Maggie’s are not your father’s Maggie’s. Instead, we have a speaker that given the right size room ( and unfortunately this is the real determining factor...and crucial to make these work) is very near to the top of the chain in current SOTA speakers. Easily able to compete with competitors at the $100k level or above! Yet these guys are priced at $30k....which makes them by far the best $30k speakers on the planet, imho.
Anyone looking to replace a speaker with a max budget of $50k...and with the room to accommodate this speaker, needs to hear this speaker..
Unlike planars of the past, and most if not all others that are current, this model does one thing that Planars have never done before, at least that I have heard. That thing is Dynamics...and in spades. Bass control and power is on a par with some of the best large dynamic speakers on the market...along with NO discontinuity between the drivers. ( as was prevalent in the past with Maggie’s).
So, how many times have we gone into a demo with preconceived impressions based on past experience and been proven wrong....this time for me was one of those times...and for you, I suspect it will be the same thing.
If and when Wendell brings his van and his speakers to your neck of the woods, don’t miss out on a great opportunity to hear one of the worlds best speakers...at a price that will put most others to shame.

daveyf

Showing 5 responses by stickman451

stickman451
553 posts
 
I just heard the 30.7’s at the Denver ListenUp store last night.  I was a bit disappointed but can’t decide if it was the room, the setup, or the 30’s, or all of the above.  To my ears the lower mids and down to the bass were a bit bloated and for lack of a better term, ‘boomy’.  

The room was Absolutely too dead and took the sparkle off the top end. I have the 20.7’s and I know that the top can be extended, clean, and very real sounding with the right amps.  The sound from the 30’s last night was a bit dull on top, very little shimmer or life or air; it was all sucked-up by the overdamped room.

The room was also Too square for my tastes; 20 w x 23.5 L x 10.5 h.  That’s a width to length ratio of .85.

Also, the amps and the front-end were all McIntosh. This surprised me since every other Maggie demo that I’ve seen by Wendell used Bryston amps.  I think that the Mac amps were the big MC1.25KW. In any case I’m not convinced those are the best amps for Maggie’s.

Overall, a bit disappointing.  But, dealer demo rooms can be a mixed bag.  Following some of the conversations on previous 30.7’s demos around the country I have heard some other complaints on too much lower mid and bass energy in the presentations.  

Were you at a demo in a better room? A bigger room or perhaps one not quite so square?  

‘And, for those that have heard the 30’s demo, what are your thoughts on the minimum sized room necessary to get great sound from these large panels?  I thought that the 20’ width was a bit too narrow in the demo.  Another foot or two of width would help spread the four panels better.  The length could easily stand to be 26’ to 30’ feet or more.
stickman451
553 posts
 
I hate to dispute Mr. Diller's opinion, but a 15 ft wide room is Absolutely too narrow for 30.7's!  I don't think I'd even put 20.7's in a 15 ft wide room....  For a room that size, the 3.7i's would be a much better choice (imo)...

My current room is 20'-8" wide and handles the 20.7's well.  I'm worried that the 30's might actually be tough to shoe-horn in that space.  But, most likely 21'-8" is doable.  
stickman451
553 posts
 
I agree.  Magnepan’s ‘marketing’ of the 30.7’s has been a complete fiasco.  If you announce a new ‘flagship’ speaker in Oct. 2017, why is it you still cannot put a set of those in your room today, nine months later?  As a company Magnepan owes its current and potential customers more clarity than that.




stickman451
553 posts
 
Yep; and I was told by someone that attended that exact demo that overall the mid/bass was too fat, bloated, and ‘phasey’


stickman451
553 posts
 
It’s pretty much unanimous, the 21 demos of the 30.7’s at various dealers around the country have been a mixed bag.  It’s a fact that many if not most dealer showrooms are mediocre at best, and some are downright terrible.  And it’s also true that most likely if you enjoy the sound of a speaker at a dealer’s showroom then once you bring that speaker home you’ll like it even better.  

Let’s move past all that contentious commentary.  There’s a better way.   Magnepan should announce when 30.7’s will begin shipping and provide a listing of which dealers, if any, will actually display the new flagship.  

As always, once rabid Maggie lovers get their hands on a pair of 30.7’s and actually use them in their own room they will most certainly fill the forums with discussion on how they perform, what they like, what they dislike, and how they compare to their previous Maggie’s.

I own 20.7’s and before that I owned 3.6’s. There’s No question, Magnepan’s are some of the finest speakers in the world today and they have been since day one!  And, for cost vs performance they ARE the Best buy you can make in all of Speakerdom!!!

But, since Magnepan has raised the anty by presenting a “flagship” design that costs plenty ($30k) it should also consider that buyers’ expectations have been raised.  The demos across the country aren’t addressing those expectations.  

Start rolling 30.7’s off the assembly line and let’s hear what early adopter audiophiles have to say. 
More to discover