Darren
So gentle when he tries to understand.
I only know of one guy down in Brighton Steve. Blackpool to Brighton is a bit far. Maybe if the packaging was more robust..A pro repair has to be no more than some hundreds, surely?
I only know of one guy down in Brighton Steve. Blackpool to Brighton is a bit far. Maybe if the packaging was more robust..A pro repair has to be no more than some hundreds, surely?
The problem is, for me, once you've heard panel speakers transparency it's hard to go back to boxes.
Sorry to hear about the buzz but it’s really not that difficult to repair. Just remove the staples (one by one using a flat head screwdriver) so the socks will come off and then inspect the panel to see where the adhesive has failed and the the wires have come loose. Most of the time the wires come loose at the ends of the panels where the turns are. There is some rotational tension there that makes them more likely to come away from the Mylar panel in that area.One of my Magneplanar 0.6QR has begin to delaminate.... I can hear it buzz on sustained bass notes. So, they have been removed from the lounge and my Sonus Faber Grand Pianos have taken their place.
What a come down..... I can hear the boxes playing along, all of the gorgeous Magneplanar transparency has gone and vocal reproduction is bloody rubbish. The sound stage has shrunk horribly and that gorgeous way dipoles drive your room is but a memory.
I'm going to attempt a repair but I'm not sanguine. Special Adhesive on its way bet more gets on my fingers than the speakers.
It's £2k for a new pair of 0.7 so I have to try. Anyone else attempted this job?
it’s really not that difficult to repair.
Gosh, Colin. that's quite an instruction manual for DIY. If it were that simple to do my Quad ESLs I might be tempted but I suspect not, esp. as they have 6 panels each, are immaculate and the Classique finish (browns & gold). I'm learning quickly about the 'planar penalty' (never had prob's with m/coil spkrs !
Sorry I somehow missed reading that you’re located in Blackpool. I do have some relations up that way. I’ll give you a shout if I’m coming up that way soon (if you need any help). Feel free to ask anyway on the thread or by PM if you have any questions along the way when doing the repair.I only know of one guy down in Brighton Steve. Blackpool to Brighton is a bit far. Maybe if the packaging was more robust..
Blessings on your house Colin.Sorry I somehow missed reading that you’re located in Blackpool. I do have some relations up that way. I’ll give you a shout if I’m coming up that way soon (if you need any help). Feel free to ask anyway on the thread or by PM if you have any questions along the way when doing the repair.
Tomorrow I’ll draw up a list of stuff you’ll need to do the repair, just to be sure you sure you have all the items you’ll need. About £40-50 worth of stuff.
@Colin131 many thanks Colin. You've made me feel much braver! I will update this thread as I make my attempt. I have some acetone and some 3m super 77. I'm just about to get some evostick and foam brushes etc.
A couple of questions if you don't mind.
* are 1" foam brushes large enough?
* when you say "... Cover the area needed" with the 3m 30nf is that just the wire or the wire and some surrounding film?
Thanks, again for weighing in. Very much appreciated
Welcome and let us know how you get on. Take some pics!.@Colin131. Cheers Colin. That lot has been ordered. Your instructions have been very clear thanks. Much appreciated. Once I get started I'll try to keep my nagging to a minimum.
Yes good advice. It’s best to take a bit of time and be patience, especially the first time when you’re aren’t completely familiar. Take it gentle and slowish with the acetone/cotton pad cleaning stage in particular.Very good instructions by Colin, nice to have help and great advice from folks here. I would add another obvious thing here, and that would be patience. Make sure you have set a fair amount of time aside when you are ready to do the repairs once you have assessed the situation, just do not rush it. You can do it!
This Maggie talk makes me miss them a bit!
One of my Magneplanar 0.6QR has begin to delaminate.... I can hear it buzz on sustained bass notes. So, they have been removed from the lounge and my Sonus Faber Grand Pianos have taken their place.
What a come down..... I can hear the boxes playing along, all of the gorgeous Magneplanar transparency has gone and vocal reproduction is bloody rubbish. The sound stage has shrunk horribly and that gorgeous way dipoles drive your room is but a memory.
I'm going to attempt a repair but I'm not sanguine. Special Adhesive on its way bet more gets on my fingers than the speakers.
It's £2k for a new pair of 0.7 so I have to try. Anyone else attempted this job?
Thanks for the thought HFN. Sadly, they are too small. My room is 10mx5m and the 0.6 QR are five feet tall.... Even then they are supported by twin REL subs.
I imagined your room would be smaller than that. That is quite a big room by UK standards!. Ideal corridor shaped for a standard Magnepan too.Thanks for the thought HFN. Sadly, they are too small. My room is 10mx5m and the 0.6 QR are five feet tall.... Even then they are supported by twin REL subs.
I'd love a pair of 1.7s but with a new bathroom and kitchen in the offing it won't happen this year, so I'm particularly grateful for the repair support I'm getting.
Thanks again Colin for sharing. Your take on the second hand Maggie thing is very different to what I've been thinking so far - I've been thinking that the older large models would be knackered and impossible to repair.I imagined your room would be smaller than that. That is quite a big room by UK standards!. Ideal corridor shaped for a standard Magnepan too.
My advice is always to get the biggest Magnepan you can accommodate, as the bigger the panel the better bass extension you get (with proper fast and coherent dipole bass). There is no box in the design to augment bass so the bass extension the speaker has is completely dependent on the panel area.
Now, some people have had success is blending subs with Magnepans to some degree. I never found a normal boxed sub that blended perfectly. Never quite had the same speed, extension and coherence as the real Magnepan dipole bass. Some subs blend better than others. Ported subs don’t work at all (as they are too slow), - it must be a sealed boxed sub. The best results I had were from an old sealed REL Strata 3. Some people have had better success rolling off the Magnepans with a high pass filter too, and two subs are better than one. Preferably placed in the front L/R corners of the room.
Dipole open baffle subs give the most coherent blending with Magnepans but those are pricey and usually a DIY job.
In a room of that size (it’s very long) I’d skip models like the 1.7 and go straight for a 3 series or 20 series Maggie. 6 foot tall jobs. These are three way speakers and have much more extension at the bottom and top end than any of the smaller 2 way models. The true ribbon tweeter is stunning (when it’s relative dB level is adjusted well using resistors). Any of these models made in the past 37 years : MGIII, MGIIIa, MG3.3R, MG3.5R. MG3.6R, MG3.7 and MG3.7i. MG20, MG20.1, MG20.7. I’ve picked up MGIIIa’s twice before for £600 ish. 3.3Rs for £900, 3.6Rs for £1500.
I’d strongly recommend this secondhand 3 way Maggie route for anyone with a suitable room size, over any of the 2 way models like the 1.7 etc.
I know someone that has a pair of restored original MGIIIs they might sell for around £1K. Those are very nice speakers.
If you can find a pair for sale, any of the 3 series models above (apart from the 3.7i) should be possible to buy secondhand for between £800- £2K secondhand (which is a bargain as the equivalent latest 3.7i is about £8.5K). The bass extension of any of the 3 series goes down to around 32-35 Hz (depending on the model) , which is a lot more than the 2 ways models. It’s enough (without a sub) for nearly all music. Some minor repairs might be necessary but once you have the knowledge you’ll be confident in buying a used pair.
I’ve occasionally seen the even better 20 series models for sale in the UK. (Some 20.1s went on eBay a couple of years ago for £4K). They have better bass extension still (down to 25Hz) and push pull drivers (magnets on both sides) so they also have better slam/dynamics. The only issue is they are not easily repairable if they start to buzz as you can’t get inside the panel to repair the wires easily (due to the magnets on both side)
Once you’ve heard a three way model with the true ribbon, it’s really difficult to go back to a 2 way Maggie.
You can put the speakers right up to the side walls if necessary as because they are dipoles the sound cancels out to the side so they won’t be affected by the side walls.
The only type of Maggies that wouldn’t work well in your room size are the Tympani types, as the room isn’t wide enough and there also isn’t enough length to fire them the other way around.
I’ve used 3 series Magnepans in rooms quite a lot smaller than yours with success. Once in a 15 by 24 ft room and also in a 15 by 20 ft room.
The main things are getting enough speaker distance from the back wall (at least 1.5m) and enough distance between the listening position and speakers (to avoid overly large image sizes) Around 3.5-4 m is the min required distance IMO.
Thanks again Colin for sharing. Your take on the second hand Maggie thing is very different to what I've been thinking so far - I've been thinking that the older large models would be knackered and impossible to repair.
I'd love a bigger pair of course..... That said.... The. 06QR look lovely in the room with their oak trim. Six foot tall speakers are a 'feature' no one could ignore. I'll see how I go with this repair and go from there. Sadly, I'm an audiophile for whom more is always more. I haven't heard a pair of small speakers that I would like to own. Floorstanders are better. But Maggies and 'statics are by far the best of all. You should hear the Sonus Fabers "shouting" horribly at volumes the Maggies lap up.
My RELs are both matching sealed boxes sitting behind each Magneplanar and firing across the room. I have to say...... I think I've done a fair job of integration and the system is greatly improved when they are powered up. When asked by a friend what the subs are for my girlfriend answered : "They produce the wubb-wubb".