To Fritz, Quicksilver, and all the exceptional makers trying to get the word out

I think a lot of new Magnepan owners owners find themselves surprised by that company’s speakers’ need for very high power at low impedances. I bought my first pair of Maggies---the original Tympani T-I---in 1973, and bi-amped it with an Audio Research D-75 and D-51 power amps. The original Maggie was an 8 ohm load, while all future models have been 4 ohm (dropping to 3 ohms at some frequencies).

My current Tympani T-IVa’s require massive amounts of power. When I have them set up (not currently possible), I bi-amp them using a PS Audio 200w/ch amp on the two bass panels, and a Music Reference RM-200 MK.2 on the tweeter/mid panels. Roger Modjeski designed the RM-200 to do two things: 1- produce 100 watts from a single pair of KT-88’s. And 2- To perform well into low impedance loudspeakers. The RM-200 (in original and MK.2 iterations) was Michael Fremer’s reference "affordable" tube amp for over a decade. The Magnepan ribbon tweeter, by the way, is a beauty, one of the best available.

In contrast, while the Eminent Technology LFT-8b shares roughly the same sensitivity as the Maggies (83-84dB), it’s 8 ohm impedance is much friendlier to tube amps. And if you bi-amp the LFT-8b (easy to do, as it has dual binding posts, one for the woofer, another for the t/m panel), the t/m panel presents an 11 ohm load, great for tube amps. Use any old amp on the woofer (I still have an Electron Kinetics Eagle 2A, a great low frequency reproducer), and either a Music Reference RM-9 Mk.2 (using 8 EL34 tubes) or RM-200 Mk.2 (4 KT88’s), both producing 125w into 8 ohms, plenty for the LFT-8b m/t panels.

An excellent post @hilde45!

Most of my favorite artists these days are known only to their small, cult-level audience, whose members tend to be older music lovers. But in exchange for being fewer in number, they are more faithful in their love. Flash-in-the-pans come and go, fading away as quickly as they rose to stardom, but a lot of superior artists soldier on, year after year, making one great album after another. They never make a fortune, one reason they keep working! By the way, Nick Lowe has a new album out. He actually DID make a fortune from one of his songs---"(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love, And Understanding." He’s out on the road now, backed by Los Straitjackets.

The hi-fi business has it’s equivalent; small, often 1-man operations, where the designer is often also the one making the product. Roger Modjeski of Music Reference even wound his own transformers. By the way, Mike Sanders of Quicksilver was one amplifier designer/builder whom Roger expressed admiration of. Tim DeParacini of EAR-Yoshino was another.

I have made bringing to the attention of Audiogon members the Eminent Technology LFT loudspeakers---a planar-magnetic loudspeaker sharing some similarities with the far better known Magnepan models---a project of mine. I’ll guess that Magnepan sells at least a thousand pair of Maggies to every pair of LFT-8’s ET sells, in spite of the fact that---imo---the LFT-8b is far superior to the MG1.7i, though the two are almost identical in price. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.