Cancelled my Magnepan 30.7 order - sad experience - over 1 year wait and promises broken

Doktorfuture

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Apr 12, 2019
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Sad first post but here it goes:

After MORE THAN ONE YEAR waiting, experiencing bad support and bad communications / updates from Magnepan, AND after being lied to and promises they made broken, I just had to cancel.

Worst experience with any audio company I've ever had. In my opinion they don't know how to give good customer service at all.

About 9 months AFTER unordered them I was told : 'pick another color we are not making them in white/blue like our touring example or like on the cover of AbsolutebSound'. It was a very dismissive, and not at all apologetic update so I cancelled then.

My dealer went through hell and high water to find a solution. What was it? 4000 up charge! And dealer said he would eat it. That is good service so I let it proceed. But Magnepan didn't seem to give two farts about me.

Roll forward another 3 months or so (February 2019) (at least a YEAR now from first order) and still no progress. I call them and their marketing guy PROMISES they will make it in MARCH.

I call end of March - nothing done yet at all. Over a year and 4 to 5 months since the colorway process was agreed to and nothing built at all for me or painted. So they broke their promise to me and no updates from anyone.

So again, in disgust, I cancelled. I left a voicemail with Wendell.

I think Wendell called my dealer with a last plea.

Dealer tries again to get them to hustle and says they need a week to get the trim painted. He says the speakers are built but nothing painted. Ok I think, it's been 4ish months since we found a way forward with the paint shop and so I give them the last date: April 15th - crated and shipped. I figure two weeks is enough to finish a speaker build if the main thing is already built. It is now over a year.

And I say that is it.

Yesterday, April 11th I call and ask the dealer if they were going to meet that date and apparently there is a 'paint problem' -- huh? Apparently two pieces are slightly different and they need AT LEAST another week.

So I just can't do it. I had to cancell. These people do not deserve my money and do not care to honor their promises.

Even if I got them in 2-3 weeks every time I'd look at them would make me sick to my stomach and remind me I'm such a sucker. Four big white Magnepan Albatrosses around my neck. I just couldn't do it.

I think my dealer even tried to save it one last time by offering me a center channel for free. He claimed Magnepan would do this but I think he just made that up because a week prior it was going to be offered to me at cost. Yes I was going to buy the center too.

I feel so very bad for both me and my dealer. The Magnepan experience was very awful. I like the product but the company is very bad when it comes to supporting the high end.

In speaking with their marketing person in February, he seemed to throw Wendell under the bus as well -- very unprofessional IMO but he is who promised they would be built in March and they broke that promise. He promised I would be in the March batch of six.

Magnepan was a terrible experience. No Magnepan 30.7 for over a year, told bluntly to 'pick another color's They are not ready at all for thr high end audio market.

What did this Magnepan 30.7 ordeal cost me?
In hard cash 2 new Bryston 7Bsst3 amps and a used Martin Logan CLX. About 30 grand Canadian. Amps were for these Maggie's.

For over a year I was a a gullable sucker, waiting for them to ship. Meanwhile I held off fixing my Acapella plasma tweeters and also purchased those Bryston amps and Martin Logan CLX Art's (for rear surrounds haha in my loft condo). So for a year my system is honestly in shambles waiting for these. Instead of beautiful music I had a Frankenstein system for a year. I am so mad at myself for letting it go on so long.

I have so much anger towards Magnepan for the huge delays and being lied to and their obvious amature communications, customer support philosophy and production process.

So now what should I look at? Alsyvox?

Money is really not the issue but I let Magnepan rob me of one year of a good audiophile setup, not withstanding the 30k extra supporting equipment for this project.

And the worst thing is I am totally absolutely sure Magnepan the company doesn't care about me as a customer at all and I worry for other people, hence this post.

And honestly I really want people to question whether this company deserves your money. I run a few companies and bend over backwards for my customers. Not Magnepan.

It is telling there seem to be NO reviews or videos by anyone receiving their Magnepan 30.7's online (April 13th 2019).

Absolute Sound overall product of the year 2017? No reviews by April 2019?

Still feel sad and sick to my stomach. I'm more angry at myself for trusting them for so long.

Ordering Magnepan 30.7 = four Albatrosses. If you don't get the reference search Google.

Bloody sad experience. Bloody Magnepan.
 

Audiophile Bill

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Mar 23, 2015
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So you joined this audio forum to get them back :rolleyes:
 
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Vienna

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Audiophile Bill

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Bodhi

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Apr 20, 2014
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So you joined this audio forum to get them back :rolleyes:
I'm with you, not a good debut. In my experience, reaming out a Manufacturer on a high end audio forum is not a good look. And @ the OP, I would add to that, you should never post a long diatribe like that when you've got a head of steam. It can cause of a lot of embarassment later. I think you need a reality check here. Long delays for some high end gear is not unusual (eg: Dartzeel, Schroeder) due to demand, and the hand-made nature of their products. And if you're talking high end watches, the wait time for more desirable Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet models can run up to 5 years!! Btw, the upcharge for M-coat automotive paint on my Magico S5 Mk2's was $4750. My advice, request this thread be deleted, go away for a few days, then post a new thread with a cooler head...
 
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Vienna

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I'm with you, not a good debut. In my experience, reaming out a Manufacturer on a high end audio forum is not a good look. And @ the OP, I would add to that, you should never post a long diatribe like that when you've got a head of steam. It can cause of a lot of embarassment later. I think you need a reality check. Long delays for some high end gear is not unusual (eg: Dartzeel, Schroeder) due to demand, and the hand-made nature of their products. And if you're talking high end watches, the wait time for more desirable Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet models can run up to 5 years!! My advice, request this thread be deleted, go away for a few days, then post a new thread with a cooler head...
Enjoyed so much the word ‘diatribe’
 

Doktorfuture

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Apr 12, 2019
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I'm with you, not a good debut. In my experience, reaming out a Manufacturer on a high end audio forum is not a good look. And @ the OP, I would add to that, you should never post a long diatribe like that when you've got a head of steam. It can cause of a lot of embarassment later. I think you need a reality check here. Long delays for some high end gear is not unusual (eg: Dartzeel, Schroeder) due to demand, and the hand-made nature of their products. And if you're talking high end watches, the wait time for more desirable Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet models can run up to 5 years!! Btw, the upcharge for M-coat automotive paint on my Magico S5 Mk2's was $4750. My advice, request this thread be deleted, go away for a few days, then post a new thread with a cooler head...

Please don't delete my thread.

I thought carefully about every word. A lot of backspaces were typed.

And yes, they should feel a sting from this and hopefully improve. I feel I shouldn't be the only one to suffer.

Re: high end wait times

My McLaren arrived on time.
My Acapellas arrived on time.
Yes it took a year to make my carpets but they arrived on time.
Things may take a long time and that's fine and real world problems happen too that are out of our control, but no updates, broken promises, no sense of support -- that's the problem.

I get production delays and problems.

But man, one year and several months?

Lots of dealers and manufacturers I know have been watching this since the beginning.

James Tanner at Bryston was really nice and offered to call Wendell on my behalf as he knows him for at least six months. I never took him up on that as I just, foolishly, hoped they would do what they (Magnepan) said. Other dealers, numerous also were supportive during this.

I have no bad thoughts towards my dealer or any other dealer I've bought anything from and as I'd think anyone who knows me personally would say I'm a general easy going peach of a customer. I really am but I can't stomach being put off, lied to, and ignored. And it bothered me to a point to actually tell my story here.

The only times Magnepan seemed to respond was when I cancelled the order -- so not good.

If Hi Fi is to grow customer service has to matter.

I'm not here to market myself by creating some fuzzy good 'first posts' and everyone should make their own decisions.

Just because it's my first post doesn't mean it's not truthful. And re: how to judge me by this post I can only say I'm a person who stands by their word and honors my promises and commitments.

This experience taught me I'm way too optimistic and gullible too, and believed many lies about when I'd get it. So this post serves, for me at least, an attempt to try and harden myself and hopefully not end up being played as a sucker where I absorb all the disadvantages.
 

DaveC

Industry Expert
Nov 16, 2014
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So you joined this audio forum to get them back :rolleyes:

It's unfortunate things like this happen, but also to be expected and imo it's generally considered reasonable behavior. There is value in warning other people of your experience.

This is exactly the reason why my speaker is not currently for sale. I've seen this happen to SO MANY other companies. If you don't deliver on time and with the quality promised, you'll hear about it on review and forum sites, and this can be expected across all industries. Negative reports and reviews can absolutely tank a small business. For me, it means risking my current business. My solution is going to be not taking orders at all, just building and selling what I currently have in stock. I'll probably lose a lot of potential business this way but it's much safer, and will be how I do things... at least for now.

In any case I hope OP gets a system he enjoys and I also hope Magnepan is able to deliver all future orders to spec and on time. :)
 

Bodhi

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Apr 20, 2014
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Please don't delete my thread.

I thought carefully about every word. A lot of backspaces were typed.

And yes, they should feel a sting from this and hopefully improve. I feel I shouldn't be the only one to suffer.

Re: high end wait times

My McLaren arrived on time.
My Acapellas arrived on time.
Yes it took a year to make my carpets but they arrived on time.
Things may take a long time and that's fine and real world problems happen too that are out of our control, but no updates, broken promises, no sense of support -- that's the problem.

I get production delays and problems.

But man, one year and several months?

Lots of dealers and manufacturers I know have been watching this since the beginning.

James Tanner at Bryston was really nice and offered to call Wendell on my behalf as he knows him for at least six months. I never took him up on that as I just, foolishly, hoped they would do what they (Magnepan) said. Other dealers, numerous also were supportive during this.

I have no bad thoughts towards my dealer or any other dealer I've bought anything from and as I'd think anyone who knows me personally would say I'm a general easy going peach of a customer. I really am but I can't stomach being put off, lied to, and ignored. And it bothered me to a point to actually tell my story here.

The only times Magnepan seemed to respond was when I cancelled the order -- so not good.

If Hi Fi is to grow customer service has to matter.

I'm not here to market myself by creating some fuzzy good 'first posts' and everyone should make their own decisions.

Just because it's my first post doesn't mean it's not truthful. And re: how to judge me by this post I can only say I'm a person who stands by their word and honors my promises and commitments.

This experience taught me I'm way too optimistic and gullible too, and believed many lies about when I'd get it. So this post serves, for me at least, an attempt to try and harden myself and hopefully not end up being played as a sucker where I absorb all the disadvantages.
I apologise if you misunderstood my comments. I'm not trying to diminish your experience or question your truthfulness. I was just suggesting from my own personal experience that reaming out a manufacture on a high end audio forum is counter productive. You just end up with headaches and make a lot of enemies that way. If you feel you've been dudded by the manufacturer, then vote with your feet and move on. Live and learn as they say. Then if you see an audiophile on a forum asking for advice about said manufacturer, you can give your honest opinion. That's the constructive way to deal with your frustration.

I was once screwed over on a deal for a 2nd hand pair of speakers which I ended up taking a heavy loss on. But rather than deal with it constructively, I let it eat me up inside until I vented on an audio forum the seller belonged to. That lead to me cancelling my membership after a run in with one of the Mods (who in turn permanently banned me after I left the forum). Similar attitudes have also cost me my membership on other forums. You just have to take away the lesson, make peace with yourself and move on. My 2c.
 
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the sound of Tao

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Jul 18, 2014
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Sorry this has gone bad for you but the 30.7s has clearly had issues for everyone wanting to buy that seem to have come up in it’s development and production.

Given the generally great reputation Magnepan has built up over the last 50 years I read this and feel a bit sorry for the customers and sorry also for Wendell who is I’m sure doing everything he can to get this flagship out right and keep the business moving and satisfying his customers. Sometimes we hit tough hurdles and it’s impossible to keep everyone happy. But the reality is that one bad patch in over 50 years isn’t going to be the lasting memory for people who love Maggies at all and that wouldn’t be right if it did.

The 30.7 has seemingly had a uncharacteristically rocky start for Magnepan and ultimately may or may not deliver on its initial promise as the statement Magnepan and new Tympani.

But pain and temporary melodrama aside what possibly made you think CLXs for rears was going to be good match with Maggies?
 

Al M.

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It's unfortunate things like this happen, but also to be expected and imo it's generally considered reasonable behavior. There is value in warning other people of your experience.

Yes, there is value in warning. In such a frustrating situation I might have done the same as the OP, even though not in the words chosen, and probably not as the first post on a forum. I think it is not doing anyone a favor not to try to upset the apple cart, and letting the High End just be what it is, without call to responsibility and improvement.
 
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Doktorfuture

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Apr 12, 2019
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But pain and temporary melodrama aside what possibly made you think CLXs for rears was going to be good match with Maggies?

They are both panels and the wave launch is better than what I had before anyway. That was my thinking. There is a lot of space behind them (25 feet or more) so the dipole made sense to me to fill up the space. They sound much better than the controlled directivity solution I had before. Your advice?
 
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Gregadd

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If you are still enamored their may be a demo pair available somewhere.
 

the sound of Tao

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They are both panels and the wave launch is better than what I had before anyway. That was my thinking. There is a lot of space behind them (25 feet or more) so the dipole made sense to me to fill up the space. They sound much better than the controlled directivity solution I had before. Your advice?

Nice thinking in principle as yes dipole line source do share a pattern of radiation but Maggies are super coherent and ribbon panels do sound generally very different to electrostatics.

You will likely hear clear differences between these in the power range and dynamic envelope as well as balance and other essential characteristic elements of their sonic signature. Maggies and MLs essential nature are just different.

Given understandably that you are not going to go with Maggies this advice might not be useful but I’d figure that 3.7s would be more of a great match as rears for 30.7s... and 20.7s even more so but probably OTT. Or conversely try your MLs and if you like them a lot just get some more MLs as rears... the ML owners could probably suggest which models might be best fit... or conversely on conversely get some Neoliths for the fronts and keep your CLXs as rears... onwards and upwards as they say!
 
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Doktorfuture

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Apr 12, 2019
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A friend gave the same advice but now I will never know :|

Or maybe I will when 30.7s hit the used market I'll pick some up.

Are the 3.7s a full dipole?
 

the sound of Tao

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Jul 18, 2014
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Yes, but more that the 3.7s have a matching type of ribbon tweeter to it’s bigger brothers rather than the ones used in Maggie’s lower models.

Conversely on conversely on conversely maybe you could also check out the GTA3R ribbons with the dipole OB sub then your options on amps could open up as well down the track.
 

the sound of Tao

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Jul 18, 2014
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Yes the GTA3R is interesting.

I use the same GR research OB subwoofer type in my place now and love them dearly so thanks for the reminder for the GTA3R.
Great, then I can pick them up second hand off you if they don’t suit :)... enjoy the explore, hope they work out for you, sometimes a temporary constraint leads us through to new opportunity.
 

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