Hi!
I am an (almost) happy owner of Magnepan MG1,2´s.
Like many others, I find their sound stage, coherence, and pure "naturalness" special and a pure Joy for a modest Price.
And as many others, I miss the last "see through" and almost physical dynamic sensation of instruments like saxophone, the grand piano and violin.
I go to concerts, and know how they sound in real life. Brutal at times, and shocking dynamic. (Raising time).
Then I remembered reading an article some years ago, about some ribbon Apogee-like speakers, who came in two versions. Standard, and with a double set of magnets. Mounted "back to back", raising effienciy about 6db. And subjectively made them sound very dynamic, more open and hard-hitting when required.
Of course, it will affect the linearity slightly. A "low-Qér bass, and probably a smoothed frequency response. Maybe a slightly rising treble,too.
SO my question to you Guys and Girls... Is; has anyone tried this on Maggies? Is it a good idea, worth trying?
Are the magnets in the MG1.2 Neo or Ferrit?
Any experiences and thoughts will be helpful.
P.S. Yes, I know, that adding rigid stands which supports them at the back, and (the very helpful and sympatic) Peter Gunn´s crossover and frame "absorbing energy"-ideas, will make them more dynamic and transparent.
I just want to do both if possible... Except turning them, an listen through their backs...
Thanks!
I am an (almost) happy owner of Magnepan MG1,2´s.
Like many others, I find their sound stage, coherence, and pure "naturalness" special and a pure Joy for a modest Price.
And as many others, I miss the last "see through" and almost physical dynamic sensation of instruments like saxophone, the grand piano and violin.
I go to concerts, and know how they sound in real life. Brutal at times, and shocking dynamic. (Raising time).
Then I remembered reading an article some years ago, about some ribbon Apogee-like speakers, who came in two versions. Standard, and with a double set of magnets. Mounted "back to back", raising effienciy about 6db. And subjectively made them sound very dynamic, more open and hard-hitting when required.
Of course, it will affect the linearity slightly. A "low-Qér bass, and probably a smoothed frequency response. Maybe a slightly rising treble,too.
SO my question to you Guys and Girls... Is; has anyone tried this on Maggies? Is it a good idea, worth trying?
Are the magnets in the MG1.2 Neo or Ferrit?
Any experiences and thoughts will be helpful.
P.S. Yes, I know, that adding rigid stands which supports them at the back, and (the very helpful and sympatic) Peter Gunn´s crossover and frame "absorbing energy"-ideas, will make them more dynamic and transparent.
I just want to do both if possible... Except turning them, an listen through their backs...
Thanks!
this will raise eficiency, even beter is push pull. like addign another MG 1.2 on the backside , the magnets have to reppel eachother to achive push pull though.
only problem is that magnepans have very narrow holes betwen the mangets, by clsing the backside with another pice of metal with holes could end up in losing allot of the eficiency gained. it can even make it sound dull and dead , and create standing waves between the plates, and or damping them membrane to much so it takes moro force to push the ari out of the little holes.
adding more magnet in fron to the membrane is almost impossibe you then have to remove the complete mylar ad magnets , raise the spacers and redo you membrane... you dont want to do that i assure you that
only problem is that magnepans have very narrow holes betwen the mangets, by clsing the backside with another pice of metal with holes could end up in losing allot of the eficiency gained. it can even make it sound dull and dead , and create standing waves between the plates, and or damping them membrane to much so it takes moro force to push the ari out of the little holes.
adding more magnet in fron to the membrane is almost impossibe you then have to remove the complete mylar ad magnets , raise the spacers and redo you membrane... you dont want to do that i assure you that
Have built several FRP (ABOUT 60 INCLUDING RE-BUILDS) Have tried push pulls, not really worth the extra trouble, believe me. Still building different diaphragms also experimenting with different magnets and perforated steel sheeting. Still learning, will I ever get to Nirvana? who knows, I certainly don't.
Enjoy them for what they are, and consider carefully the amplifier you pair with them. Attempting to modify them this way is probably not going to yield the results you want. (I had MG1.2s and the later MG1.6 QR) Amps with lots of dynamic headroom work better with these inefficient speakers.
Recorded/reproduced music in home is never going to come close to the real experience of a live performance in a good venue..
Recorded/reproduced music in home is never going to come close to the real experience of a live performance in a good venue..
go first with solid wood frame Bowman if you have'nt, mine is narrower panel than original. works wonderful with my SMGa, more transparency and as a bonus much better staging and speaker positioning is much less critical
best
Looks nice, but I would expect due to the shorter path length around the diaphragm that the bass rolls off a lot sooner, which could account for some your observations. Are you using an external woofer?
Thanks, Ide2003 and all you others for replyes and comments. Wooden frame should be a must, but diffcult and with high risk of damaging the diaphgram. Maybe just dampening the frame with some energy-absorbing material would do the job?
And why should there not be Space for additional magnets? There are plenty of Space on the back of the magnets, or have I missed something? Please explain Sreten...
Since last, I have made some simple metal feet/back supports. Raising the speakers two Inches, and angeling them precice vertical.
Segnificant improvement! I also have a loose-hanging two-Ince wide, "tube" of raw thick silk behind all the tweeter section.
WoW! Better soundstage, more realistic sized instruments and vocal, and less reflected high frequensy from back wall. And still the same authentic sensation of a live, airy and presicely presented recorded location, not much affected by my own room. I love these speakers!
And why should there not be Space for additional magnets? There are plenty of Space on the back of the magnets, or have I missed something? Please explain Sreten...
Since last, I have made some simple metal feet/back supports. Raising the speakers two Inches, and angeling them precice vertical.
Segnificant improvement! I also have a loose-hanging two-Ince wide, "tube" of raw thick silk behind all the tweeter section.
WoW! Better soundstage, more realistic sized instruments and vocal, and less reflected high frequensy from back wall. And still the same authentic sensation of a live, airy and presicely presented recorded location, not much affected by my own room. I love these speakers!
well the only space thats left is the space neded to move the membrane, or the space on the sides top and bottom of the pannel, these spaces are empty because, this is where the wire turns around the magnet, also its in spaces where there is not much movement in the membrane so its not verry usefull to put magnets there. also it would be impossible without destroying the membrane. and you dont want to do that.
The MG-20 had double pole pieces (ie. "push/pull" magnets) over the bass panel only, the MG20.1 & 20.7 have this over the mid panel too.
You can improve dynamics by doing several things to your Maggies (all of which I did to my MG-IIIas, over 15 years):
1. Replace the MDF frame with a hardwood frame.
2. Put the frames in braced stands.
3. Replace the passive XO with an active XO (of course, you need a 2nd amp
).#1 involves a second factor, as well as the wood being a better energy-absorbing material than MDF. This is ... that the driver panel is now firmly fixed to the frame (those damn staples in MDF allow the driver to move, however minutely, reducing dynamics - Newton's Law!
).#2 is Newton's Law in action.
#3 the fact that the amp is in direct contact with the driver improves dynamics ... I guess because you have removed a series inductor (or 2!) which is "in the way" of the signal, in a passive setup.
Regards,
Andy
Thanks Guys, for chearing your experiences. I will change these crappy MDF frames with some nice solid Wood frames, as You suggests.
About the magnets, I can understand, that you bouth mean, it will be difficult to Mount a second pole piece in front of the membrane, making the speaker a push-pull design. Fine, what I then Wonder, is if I can just improve the magnetic field force, by mounting a set of second magnet barrels, (reversed polarity!), at the existing magnets "back", like we do with dynamic units.
I hope that I explain myself "understandably", English not being my native language...
And in case of an active XO, any suggestions about any relative budget-priced/good second hand designs? MiniDSP? Or traditional active XO?
Thanks!
About the magnets, I can understand, that you bouth mean, it will be difficult to Mount a second pole piece in front of the membrane, making the speaker a push-pull design. Fine, what I then Wonder, is if I can just improve the magnetic field force, by mounting a set of second magnet barrels, (reversed polarity!), at the existing magnets "back", like we do with dynamic units.
I hope that I explain myself "understandably", English not being my native language...
And in case of an active XO, any suggestions about any relative budget-priced/good second hand designs? MiniDSP? Or traditional active XO?
Thanks!
yeah i get what you mean addig more magnets on the steel side. well you can take a look in femm what happens, but only problem is its not feriet magnets but rubber bonded stuff so i dont know if it behaves the same, also there is teel in front of it so this could alter some things to. i dont think rubber magnet is strong enough to contribute true the metal. the problem with push pull is i think the space between the magnets is to small. if you ad another metal plate from a broken down set both sides will be almost completely closed of except the tiny holes between the magnets. another major thing is that the metal plates are so wobly that adding one on the back could just push them both furhter away from the membrane so the contribution is almost nothing. but still worth a try if you got a spare broken panel left. get the metal as sturdy as possible.
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