Magnepan 20.7

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
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13,346
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Beverly Hills, CA
Dear RJ,

Slam and powerful dynamics are, to me, very different than brightness. I will understand better your comments once I hear the speakers myself.

I will report in due course!
 

af2000

New Member
Mar 30, 2016
1
0
0
Hi folks, feel warm to meet you guys here. Could any 20.7 users post a few pics of the xover part? Haven't find any yet, just wanna know if they use any exotic components, the crossovers in my 3.7 only use common components. This makes me curious.
 

FrantzM

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
6,455
29
405
Hi folks, feel warm to meet you guys here. Could any 20.7 users post a few pics of the xover part? Haven't find any yet, just wanna know if they use any exotic components, the crossovers in my 3.7 only use common components. This makes me curious.

Magnepan is not about "exotic" components. It is likely that the same kind of parts down to the same brands would be used in the 20.7. I had the 20.1 and its crossover components were usual , run-of-the-mill Magnepan,same kind you would find throughout their line.
 

microstrip

VIP/Donor
May 30, 2010
20,806
4,698
2,790
Portugal
Hi folks, feel warm to meet you guys here. Could any 20.7 users post a few pics of the xover part? Haven't find any yet, just wanna know if they use any exotic components, the crossovers in my 3.7 only use common components. This makes me curious.

Probably not extremely exotic, but I remember reading in TAS that they improved the quality of the passive components in the 20.7 . See also http://www.mcleans.info/shop/productDetails.do?productId=206336

Quoting:
Something similar occurred in listening to Murray Perahia's recording on CBS Masterworks of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3. Here the improved coherence of the 20.7 came to the fore. There was always a slight gap between the midrange and tweeter transition on the 20.1. No longer. Magnepan has managed to efface that bothersome quality, both by greatly improving the quality of the capacitors it is using and by changing the design of the passive crossover itself. On the 20.7 the sweep of the orchestra came through more clearly than with the 20.1.

Upgrading the quality of the passive components of Maggies has always been very popular - just use google to look at the pictures of upgraded filters or see audioasylum.com and diyaudio.com

Soundlab also sells an improved Hotrod version of their crossovers with exotic parts. I have carried it in my speakers with Mundorf components and the difference in sound quality is large.
 

Don C

Well-Known Member
Jul 20, 2013
208
35
333
USA
Dear RJ,

Slam and powerful dynamics are, to me, very different than brightness. I will understand better your comments once I hear the speakers myself.

I will report in due course!

Slam and powerful dynamics are possible with Magnepans - mostly amplifier and room dependent.

As far as "brightness" goes they have highly detailed, extended, natural high frequencies, and sound radically different than 1 inch dome tweeters. Bright in reflective rooms, with amps that inherently sound bright.

If you want to hear the 20.7 you should visit the Magnepan factory, or Audio Research Corp. in the Twin cities (they will set up a factory tour and have them as a reference). Otherwise you need to find a owner with a proper listening room. Forget stores - they never have good setups IMO.
 
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jadis

Well-Known Member
Apr 28, 2010
12,352
5,462
2,810
Manila, Philippines
Magnepan is not about "exotic" components. It is likely that the same kind of parts down to the same brands would be used in the 20.7. I had the 20.1 and its crossover components were usual , run-of-the-mill Magnepan,same kind you would find throughout their line.

Good to know this feedback. Early this year, I found out that some of my high frequencies were missing on the left channel. After weeks of diagnosis, I was sure it was the speaker and not anything else in the chain. I couldn't find anyone here locally who would fix the problem for me so I posted the issue on a Maggie Group in FaceBook. So many replies but in the end, one very nice and helpful guy guided me down on PM on how to test the drivers and the caps and see where the problem lies. I was able to test that it wasn't the drivers, so it should be the caps, 3 kinds. I found a friend who was willing to come over to test my caps, all 6 on them for the left and right channels. We finally found 1 Solen 22uf cap faulty. He has some generic cap with the same value on hand and asked me if I want them installed or will wait for the order for the original Solen caps. I told him to put in the generic as I want to play some music already. After that, the highs were back and all was good. I know there is some break in period, some say very long, so I was patient to not be bothered by some minor flaws that I might hear, like grain etc. After 2 months, the grain was still there and there is a little lack of musicality. The music was fine but just lacked a some air and liquidity. Finally the Solen caps came and I had them installed and BOOM it was like magic, and the Maggie Magic came back just like that, no break in, burn in or anything. So I now believe that the sound of my Maggie sounds just like that because the parts chosen were meant to make them sound like that. I have not been a tweaker or modifier all my audio life, and this experience just reinforced my belief in a product's house sound. The sum of all things equals the house sound.
 

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
16,017
13,346
2,665
Beverly Hills, CA
What is the crossover frequency (and slope?) between the bass panel and the midrange panel on the 20.7?
 

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