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

@don_c55

you have an excellent point. The Snob appeal of these speakers is basically non existent.( Although for the music lover, or as JV put it...the person who is an Absolute Sound listener, the 30.7’s are truly impressive!) I asked Wendell why he didn’t price these at $100k or more, that way he would possibly accrue some snob appeal...to which he stated he is not interested in just making speakers for the wealthy!
I thought this was admirable on his part....although possibly a mistake in the marketing technique.

How can Wendell price these planars at $100K??  That's an impossibility given what goes into them compared to perhaps the 20.7 or other Maggies.  

I've done an el cheapo version of the 30.7 by combining mini maggies with MMGs.  It gives me the clarity of the ribbons-- the mini maggies are in the center with a Forte class A amp.  And then the MMGs are on the wings with a PS Audio Stellar S300 class D amp.  So now I have a wide soundstage with a solid center, and dynamics are better thanks to the MMGs working with the DWM bass panel in the very center.  I don't pretend that this is as good as 30.7, or 20.7, or even 3.7, but it fits my budget right now.

I seem to recall others experimenting with stacking maggies for extra dynamics, moving more air.  And here's a guy trying out double maggies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzCpj3rASBM

Hi, Wendell--Glad to see you are still out there.  For the record, Wendell was with Audio Research for years and switched over to Magnepan for reasons only he knows.  I have some ideas, but...

Anyway, Mr. Jim WIney, formerly of 3-M, INVENTED Magneplaners and now his son runs the company.  To be fair, these are NOT "Wendell's speakers" as someone above posted.  Mr. Winey continues to have a team of engineers, etc., who "invent" each model.  Wendell is a salesperson, first and foremost, and a darn good one at that.  If you wish to know the factual history of Magnepan, (I know, today "facts" are considered to be 'relative'...) read this:

https://www.stereophile.com/interviews/103winey/index.html

OK, now that that is straight, I will once again state that, IMO, there is NO box speaker that reproduces sound as accurately as non-box speakers.  AND, once again, for all audio fans, your ROOM Is the most important element in the reproduction of sound.  You know that, but it seems like everyone is "surprised" when they make that comment.

When set up properly in a given room, and using very high quality electronics, there is little doubt that these speakers do a better job of reproducing recorded music accurately than boxes.  For those who do not have access to master tapes and a machine to play them, try a good turntable-arm-cartridge combo and a Lincoln Mayorga or other direct-to-disc record and see for yourself.

In my experience, not every room in every house, or even YOUR house, will work with Magnepan speakers.  I don't know why; a thousand audio engineers can post formulas and measurements that will explain this, I am sure.  All I know is that there were times when Maggies simply did not work in a customer's room no matter what techniques we tried.  Now, this was a while ago, so I am sure many improvements in room tech have occurred and some would have helped us back then with these issues.  Unfortunately, no one has invented a time travel machine yet (that we know of), so there is no cure for past issues.

Most audio people like music first.  See if you can find a dealer who has the system set up correctly and give it a listen.  Who knows, they may even have huge sub-woofers to provide the "gut punch" that many love with certain kinds of music.  With others, you will simply be transported into the MUSIC, and that's what its all about, right?

Cheers!

@joey_v 

Your comment is interesting. However, unfortunately that has never stopped any of the numerous other competitors from pricing their wares in the stratosphere...regardless of what goes into them, LOL.