There are laws against doing that. Research what happened to Apogee.
Magnepan Mods
It appears that they are using upgraded crossovers. I guess I'm confused as to why Magnepan wouldn't offer these upgrades themselves. It's super inefficient to pay for shipping both ways, have someone rebuild it, and then wait a few months to get it back...hopefully with no shipping damage. If Magnepan isn't maximizing their products, it seems like a competitor could make a me too product with a better crossover and a nicer stand option. Am I missing something?
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IIRC, Apogee, (and Carver to some degree) got in trouble because of copying Magnepan’s tweeter. I don’t think it was the actual speaker design itself. Not sure, but I think that all the patents that Magnepan had have since expired? There have been others that have tried to copy the Maggies, but never to the extent of taking any business away from them, (I’m assuming here). |
Carver did not design those tweeters, designed by Hi-Vi and cloned by even cheaper manufacturers. See bottom post: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/300122-bob-carver-als-system.html Also, as far as I recall, the Apogee was spectacularly different and difficult to drive compared to the Magnepan and Hi-Vi designs. I've never gotten close enough to inspect Apogee or Magneplanar's so I'll defer to those of you who have. Best, E |
Erik...I’m not talking about Carver’s new speakers which the link you posted was about? They had a pair of panel speakers (ALS-III). Pretty sure there was some sort of design infringement... http://www.carversound.com/carver-speakers/al-iii-plus/ |
The Magnestand mods are superb - they dramatically improve the efficiency, dynamics, and bass of the Maggies - got them. http://www.indiespinzone.com/magnestand.html Yes... Magnepan would be well advised to adopt them... but... if you're able to sell all you can build as they are now... what's the justification - other than that they might want to improve the sound quality... for... the sake of doing so. "If it ain't broke... don't fix it." |
They don't offer stands because they don't change the sound - it is a dipole speaker. Call Wendell if ya want - he's heard it all before. Magneplanar blind tests their speakers (with high end electronics) and does not release upgrades unless they are worthwhile. They also have a 2 step rating for new versions - "i" is not a full digit. They did improve the crossovers and decide that there was no need to bi-amp for those models. |
@randy-11...the Magnestands are not stands per se. They have built-in stands, but Peter Gunn, (not is real name), modifies certain Maggie models. I have heard several pairs. They are indeed stunning! http://www.indiespinzone.com/mag/mag15.html |
The Peter Gunn Maggie mod (Magnestand) is rather controversial. He not only removes the magnetic-planar drivers from the Magnepan MDF frames and installs them in real nice hardwood ones, he abandons the stock cross-over and uses a completely redesigned one, radically changing the character of the Maggies. Magnestand owners seem to universally love their modded Maggies, but Maggie purists disapprove of the redesign. There are lots of Maggie owners who share their modifications to the various models on the Planar Speaker Asylum. Most involve replacing stock cross-over parts with boutique ones, bypassing the fuses, and installing Cardas binding posts in place of the cheesy Magnepan connectors. Old-timers still like to bi-amp their Maggies, so prefer the older MG 3.5, 3.6, and 20.1 models, which allowed that. The newer 3.7 and 20.7 have series cross-overs, which don’t allow bi-amping without surgery to the x/o. |
Peter Gunn only mods the earlier, "wire on membrane" Maggies. He thinks the .7 are junk and will not touch the foil on membrane Maggies. Well, I’m the opposite. While heavy wire is good for bass. its much slower than the foils which have incredibly fast transient response. This is the exact thing in real life as compared to recordings that make real life sound real. Immediacy. e11even stereophonic will be releasing a line of Maggie mods for the .7 series to die for. Finally a nice kit form that makes it easy to put together at home, so no shipping. There are ways to disable the xover and wire direct to the panels and tweeter direct with your amp channels and do it the right way with active filtering before the amps. My opinion.. Maggies cant do it all well, they can do it all in a compromised fashion only. If you accept that then optimize them based on what they do best, you will reap the rewards. I also believe the crossover points and slope are way off. Probably an attempt to give them more bass perception. Knock the midband down 5db. Bad Maggie, no cookie. Then get the sub bass the heck out of those panels! They muddy what mids are left. By the time I’m finished with my 3.7i project, I will have taken tweeter and mid panel out and chucked everything else. You will not believe your eyes when you see the radical departure from early 80’s cloth and oak... |