Magnepan announces the 20.7

Well, this is just great. I just took delivery of my new 3.7's 2 weeks ago, now I have the upgrade bug before my 3.7's are even close to being broken in. My only piece of mind is knowing if I went with the new 20.7, I'd have to upgrade my house. The 20.7's aren't going to fit in any room I have. It is really nice seeing some American companies excelling in value.

I have nothing but respect for Magnepan who makes great speakers for very fair prices. I have been a MG-20 owner for close to 20 years and still find my bi-amped and Myestand pair to compete with virtually any speaker on the market.

However the hype about the new .7 series speakers, not by Magnepan, but by the high end reviewers is starting to get a little absurd. The 1.7's and the 3.7's are not transformational steps above the 1.6's or 3.6's but evolutions on this generation of speakers.

I have heard both generations of speakers and the new .7 series does not "kill" the .6 speakers, they are different, but not necessarly significantly better. For a matter of fact the 1.6's and 3.6's allowed the user the option to bi-amp either speaker. The new 1.7 and 3.7 does not allow this option anymore, it is not clear if the new 20.7 will or will not have this option. I have never heard either 1.6's, 3.6's, 20's, or 20.1's ever sound their best when they were not bi-amped and had to use the rather poor passive X-over that comes with the speaker.

At least three individuals that I know wanted to upgrade from their bi-amped 3.6's to 3.7's and found the performance of the 3.6's bi-amped compared to the 3.7's with their passive x-overs, chose not to make the move because they thought the performance of the 3.6's bi-amped was still better then the 3.7's.

They are all great speakers and bargains for what they cost, however if I was in the market right now and could get either a pair of 3.6's or 20.1's for what they are being sold for and then Myestand and bi-amp them I would have one of the best performing speakers for a very reasonable price.

So I want to be clear the 1.7's, 3.7's, and new 20.7's are terrific speakers and well worth the money, but not "heads and shoulders" over the last generation of Magnepans as the always looking to create a buzz highend reviewers would have you think.

Teajay,
You are not the first person to feel the 3.7's were not "significantly" better than the 3.6's. My take is different. I had the opportunity to buy 3.6 demos at half the price of the 3.7's and said "no thanks." For me the 3.7's were clearly substantially better than the 3.6's, very clearly worth an additional 3K, and yes, head and shoulders above the 3.6's.
I can't comment on the 3.6's biamped with an external crossover having never heard them set up this way. Urging caution about accepting exuberant "hype" from reviewers serves a purpose, if it gives people second thoughts about buying speakers unheard. The same caution is in order with respect to your judgement, which is stated as fact, not opinion. I accept and respect your opinion on what you heard, but I and others have clearly formed a very different opinion. I bought based on what I heard over almost a year of careful auditioning. Not because of hype.

TeaJay...I agree with you... Josh 358 seems to be gushing too much. I love Maggies, ... there are things they do very, very well, and things that other speakers do better.

Brownsfan,

Perhaps if you listed the system you heard the 3.7s in, it would give context to your comment.

Teajay,

I know where you're coming from, I've seen your system listed, and I do admire it.

Now that Magnepan is going the same route as Wilson, ie:
one set of binding posts, it will require larger amps or larger monoblocs for sound quality & woofer control.
The biamp/biwireable 3.6, 3.5s etc., allowed for more amplifier options...