Magnepan 3.7

11-21-11: Epsilonman
infinity made planar speakers in the 70's too, i'm talking about the newest magnepan designs with the aluminum traces glued to Mylar 1.7's,3.7's, infinity had that type of planars in the 80's that's why ... etc.

Infinity abandoned the technology and Magnepan kept developing it. We're talking about the SOUND of current production Magnepans here, not the history of the technology behind it. If Infinity had a competitive product in that realm, we'd be listening to Infinity panels today. Do you think--for even a moment--that the 1980's Infinity panel could equal the performance of today's Magnepans? If not, then the point is moot.

Given the development of magnet and membrane technology in the past 15 years (stronger magnets, lighter membranes) it would be hard to find a panel element from 30 years ago that could compete with what we take for granted today.

09-19-11: Mikesclee
Like the new 3.7 but would like to add a subwoofer for that 20hz low. Would like to know what's the best sub to go with it.

There are several powered subs that would do what you're looking for. You'll want a sub with a special driver with exceptionally rigid frame, long voice coil for linearity through long excursions, acoustically dead cabinet (usually very heavy), and lots of power. A sealed enclosure may be preferable too.

Two brands that fit this and have proved to mate very well with Magnepans are the ones from JL and the Velodyne DD+ series. A third possible candidate is SVS. I have an audiobuddy who has 1.7s teamed up with a pair of these and he likes his rig a lot (especially since he switched his amplification to a Rogue Cronus Magnum). This model sub may be a little light for your requirements, but I suspect something from SVS would work well too and would cost a bit less than the JL and Velodyne DD+ offerings. Most of SVS's other subs are ported but include foam plugs to change the damping and the lower rolloff profile. The driver for their best box sub looks to be built to about the same level as the JL drivers.

Johnny53 did you ever hear the Infinity IRS V or the IRS beta or IRS epsilon or the rs 1b's, i did and i have listened to all the magnepan models and none of the current or past models can compete with any of the above mentioned infinity speakers, if you did a blind a and b test the results would be embarrassing, infinity was bought by harman kardon in 89 that's why all the current infinity models sound like crap, one of the founders/designers of infinity went to genesis speakers
[img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6387001843_29bd2c1119_z.jpg[/img] and some of the genesis speakers look and sound very much like the infinity IRS V, also i bet you that the magnets used in those old infinitys were much stronger than the ones used in the current magnepans, i know that they are twice as strong as the ones used in the current VMPS speakers because i measured the strengths of them with a gauss meter, also the magnepans still use the heavy mylar backings that deform with heat and age were as infinity started to use kapton before they sold the company to harman, kapton is half the weight of Mylar and it doesn't deform as easy, infinity was way ahead of there time, all the above mentioned speakers were designed with cost is no object in mind, all of their planar drivers were push pull designs too, if you never auditioned any of the infinity speakers that i mentioned i suggest that you do, i think that you will be amazed at how good those old speakers sounded, the one pairs specs are 15hts to 40khts +or- 2db, some people think magnepans are light on bass so they add a very high quality sub to them, well if you think that one 12 inch sub sounds good for two speakers imagine how good twelve 12 inch servo controlled woofers powered by 3300 wpc would sound, they sure can move allot of air, i don't know of any magnepans that go down to 15hts with enough earth shaking bass and punch and dynamics to be convincing.

Since we are arguing things that can't really be proven and are off topic, I'd like to join in the fun.

In the 80's the 'best speaker' was Beveridge, not Infinity, although the Infinities were quite good.

For subs you want something with no ports, and if it is highly adjustable that is good too. Hsu has a good cube woofer with no ports that you can get two or four of, and then placement of two or four of those can provide bass that can't be beaten in certain aspects by any single woofer because of the way the waves interact. They also have a relatively cheap more traditional (Rel) looking woofer that had adjustable q factor, and with low q may be a better match than most woofers. Oh, and it will work in 'sealed' mode, so it can be used with no ports.

While it is massive, at it's price level, you can get two if space allows, whereas their smaller cube one is easier to implement 2 or 4.

Epsilonman

I am an great Infinity "lover" and admirer of what Arnie Nudell achieved .
I still have a couple of Renaissance 90 which sounds beautifully, but I had occasion to compare them (on same electronic, cables with my Cds) to the Magnepan 1,7

... the resolution in middle & high frequencies of the Magnepan 1,7 (yes the little one) goes far beyond the resolution of my Renaissance 90 ... this is simply a fact !

I must confess I was very surprised, is it because the surface of Magnepan's membrane is far larger that the Emit & Emim of the Renaissance ?

That being said, it's a real pity Arnie Nudell stopped developing speakers. He was some kind of a genius.