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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.

128x128daveyf
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
Very well could be the case, daveyf. I would estimate the room was 20’ x 25’ x 10’, with the speakers positioned on the short wall about 5 feet out. There was a large opening in the wall opposite the speakers. Acoustical treatment was minimal, just a couple of absorptive/reflective panels on the side walls at the midpoint between the speakers and the listening position.

These speakers probably need a lot of room to breathe. Makes me wonder just how large a room is needed to get them to open up...

Dave
hughp3's avatar
hughp3
75 posts
 
Odd i have 20.7 in what should be too small a room. 11.5w 18L and they sound amazing. yes took some placement work, room correction, and tilting downward a hair but the imaging and bass are very good. of course there is a sweet spot but much wider than box speakers i had before ( wilson wp7, krell resolution 1) . hardware is Mac mc601 monos, AR Ref5, cullen mod ps audio dac. but no way i could fit 30.7 in there....
fgm4275's avatar
fgm4275
9 posts
 
I heard these speakers last Friday driven by a pair of D-Sonic mono amps (M3a-1500M). The music selections, including Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, sounded divine. In all respects, the speaker / amplifier pairing was amazing. I have never heard such authoritative bass on a planar speaker. 
hughp3's avatar
hughp3
75 posts
 
Wendell will be in Atlanta at HIFIBuys Friday 8/17. I plan on going should be fun.
hughp3's avatar
hughp3
75 posts
 
I attended the Atlanta 30.7 demo. Thanks Wendell and HiFi Buys for hosting the event. Auditioning anywhere that’s not my room with my music at my dB level is tough. However the drive sources could not be bettered which were Dan Dagastino pre and monos. With that said the 30’s are better than the 20.7’s I own. I like to demo Aaron Copland’s fanfare for the common man. I have the telarc Atlanta symphony version which this demo was not but it was a pleasure. Bass is much more pronounced while still that fast, tight planer sound. In fact everything is just more than the 20.7. I must say the setup was not done for sweet spot listening. Wendell wanted us to walk around a lot. I appreciate that method but for a serious buyer it’s not ideal, so think these could sound even better. They are not that much wider than the 20’s maybe half again for the twin panels. I Also must say I am used to ‘the wall’ of sound Maggie’s make. So for me I was not blown away (first time listener might well be though) but I was not blown away by the vanderstien 7 mk2 which these temporarily took their place. And those are very well thought of speakers. The 30’s are really good though. I can only attribute both setups to not my own specific room and sweet spot. First world problems for sure but a privilege non the less.
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