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The Maggies, are dead... What a loss!

The problem is, for me, once you've heard panel speakers transparency it's hard to go back to boxes.

As I'm finding, Darren. One of my 11 y.o. (but not used that much) Quad 2905s went down last September; crackling h/f panel. As I have to wait until spring to take it to Huntingdon, I bought a pair of PMCs (Twentry.26). Not the obvious choice for similarity but they were small (ESLs stored in living room), I'd not had transmission lines before and doubt I'd lose much on resale anyway.

My ESLs = transparency and wall of sound with exc. imaging/soundstage. The PMCs do that but without the wall of sound bit (and transparency?). Bass is prodigious, which, despite my being a big speaker bass-head for decades, somehow throws me.

Of course, my wife finds the PMCs a breath of (more) fresh air as she doesn't get as much sound from her armchair behind and they take up so little space. I have been told by local hifi Mafia that I'd probably now been wedded to the planar presentation but after 45 years of moving coil speakers I was uncertain about this but now I'm simply not so sure.;)
 
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?
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.

Then use a cotton wool pad soaked in some acetone - rub gently and slowly to remove the old adhesive from the areas where the wires have come loose, so the wires and Mylar are free from adhesive and then are ready to be glued down again. If delamination has only occurred at the ends of the panel (due to that rotational tension I mention), it’s not likely to happen later on in the middle of the panel, - you just need to clean and re glue down the wires at the ends of the panels. You can redo the whole panel if you want, but I don’t recommend it if you just have some wires peeling at the ends of the panel only. If there are massive areas when the wires are loose I’d do the whole thing, but this is not so likely. You’ll be able to see once you’ve peeled back the sock. Look carefully at the wires and identify any areas where they are loose or have come away from the Mylar.

When the wires and Mylar have been cleaned with acetone you need to glue the wires back down to the Mylar. I always use a bit of Evo stick contact adhesive, - easy to find in the UK. Get the smallest tube, which is easy to apply. Squeeze some Evo stick adhesive on the Mylar in a small thin line where the wire will be attached (same kind of width as the wire) and wait for a minute for the adhesive to partially dry, then push the wire onto it. The wire should attach to the Mylar. If the positioning isn’t correct clean with acetone and reglue. This initial glueing step is required as the final adhesive/protective material that will be painted on top (called 3M 30NF) takes a long time to dry and the wires need to be held in place somehow. I would not use 3M no 77 adhesive spray to Initially glue the wires down. It fails. Use Evo stick contact adhesive (in a tube) instead. In America they can buy an adhesive called DAP Weldwood contact adhesive. Evo stick contact adhesive is very similar.

Finally spread on some 3M 30NF adhesive using a foam brush (you can buy them on eBay). Cover the area needed, and remove excess adhesive using the foam brush. A foam brush is better than a normal paint brush as it can absorb excess 30NF adhesive. This was a tip shared by Shelia at Magnepan. It stops too much 30NF getting on the panel. If you put too much on the panel it will be a bit heavier and not be to spec.Only use 30NF, don’t use anything else. It provides UV protection and also has some damping qualities that help damp the Mylar panel at certain frequencies. This is part of the design. 3M 30NF is called “3M Scotch Grip 30” in the UK. Easy to find.

When the 30NF has dried 24 hours or so later and the wires are fixed solidly in place you’ll be ready to put the sock back on and restaple down. Just reverse the process you did to get the sock off.

The older outer adhesive that fails in older Magnepan Pre 2005 is called Miloxane. Magnepan switched to 30NF in 2005, and it’s less prone to failure. I do believe the initial adhesive they use to keep the wires in place (3M 77) can fail too though as I say (it creates an intermediate layer that fails) so make sure to use Evo stick contact adhesive for that stage instead. The exception would be if you are glueing down QR foil, - then use 3M 77. The buzz is more likely to be on the bass panel though, which uses normal aluminium wire and not the QR foil.

This repair is easier on models like the 0.6QR that don’t have true ribbon tweeters. On the bigger true ribbon tweeter models you also need to remove the ribbon tweeter cage before doing the repair and put it back afterwards. Takes some extra time and care.

I’d look at both speakers if I were you, as sometimes the wires can delaminate to an extent and not buzz. I suspect you have loose wires on both speakers if one of the speakers is already buzzing.

Good luck, - if you need any help/advice just ask away. Can also help in person too if you’re not far away (I’m in London). This seems like a big repair but if it’s not - if you know what to do it’s not so difficult at all. The most time consuming thing is probably just removing all the staples from the sock! Don’t worry, the speakers will be back up and running in no time!
 
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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 !
 
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 !

I admit it seems easier after you’ve done it once!, but once you have got inside a pair of Magnepans and repaired them you’ll appreciate how easy it is to repair a pair with buzz. I’ve repaired delamination on 5 Magnepan models before (IIIa, 3.3R, 1B, CC3, and 2.7QRs) and completely rewired a set of Tympani IVa’s (now that however took months!). I leant a lot of the stuff from a very kind chap called Satie (in the USA on the Planar Asylum forum).

Now I’ve never done Quads. They are quite different to Magnepans. Magnepans are planar magnetic, and not stats. Magnepans just have a set of magnets on one side of the panel and voice coil wires glued to Mylar on the other and when the current is applied the wires cause movement of the Mylar towards the magnets. It’s a similar driver principle to a normal dynamic speaker cone driver but spread out, flat, much lighter, with no box colourations or cone distortion.

Quads are very different. They are electrostatics. They use a thiner Mylar diaphragm between metal stators that are charged at high voltages to produce static currents that cause movement of the diaphragm. No wires are glued to the Mylar (as in Magnepans). This must be a totally different and much more difficult repair. Having seen faulty Stax heaphones before I would imagine a common fault would be arching, where the driver has been overdriven and the Mylar has touched the stators and holes have formed in the Mylar diaphragm, - you then need to get inside and replace the Mylar diaphragm for another one of the exact same type, same thickness, and get it tensioned correctly in a dust free environment. The stators also need to be repositioned at the correct distance for good volume but not too close so they might touch the diaphragm. All this isn’t easy. This must be much more difficult and delicate repair. In contrast, cleaning and just glueing some wires back down on a set of Magnepans in a small area is far, far easier.

With stats you also don’t want any dust to get inside or you’ll get squealing sounds. With Magnepans dust isn’t an issue at all as they aren’t stats. This is why I like and use Magnepans, and don’t use stats like Quads or ML’s etc. Magnepans are far easier for maintenance/repair…. I admit it’s easier once you’ve done one repair but once you have you’ll see how simple it really is.

When you store Quads you should wrap them air tight in clingfilm to stop dust getting in. This isn’t necessary at all with Magnepans

Although stats can be incredible with certain material, I think Magnepans (particularly the larger 3 series or 20 series models with the true ribbon tweeter) are much better all rounders with a larger range of music than stats (but that’s another discussion)

On occasion small holes might have formed in the Magnepan mylar diaphragm (due to mishandling) but small holes are repairable. Just clean off everything with acetone and cover the small hole with some sellotape. Then glue the wires back down as I’ve described. Job done.

It’s very unlikely the Mylar diaphragm itself will be damaged, as it’s quite sturdy and is usually completely in tact. The wires delaminating from the mylar is what usually always causes the problems and it’s easily fixable.
 
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I only know of one guy down in Brighton Steve. Blackpool to Brighton is a bit far. Maybe if the packaging was more robust..
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
 
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.
Blessings on your house Colin.
 
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@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

You’re v welcome and good luck .

Just get the smallest evo stick tube. 30g https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314302340899?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=inqEpMH-Q9S&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=bIb7iHZRS8m&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

To apply, squeeze the tube as you move accross the Mylar to make a small line the same width as the wires. If you miss a bit just go back to add some. I’d give the 3M 77 spray a miss, unless you need to glue down some of the tweeter QR Foil.

I’d say to get a range of foam brush sizes. Like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/26509866...d=link&campid=5338728743&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

When I say cover the area with the 30NF. I mean (after the wires/Mylar is cleaned and the wires are then Pre stuck down with evo stick), cover everything in a thin layer of 30NF. The wires and the Mylar film/diaphragm. You want the 30NF on all of it. You’ll be able to see when you remove the old miloxane film (that used to be used before 30NF) that it was a layer on everything. You need the 30NF on the Mylar film to damp the panel.

Other stuff you’ll need. Staple gun. To staple the sock back at the end Maybe something like this.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32538513...d=link&campid=5338728743&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

Cotton pads, any type will do. £1 Poundland ones would be fine too.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/39438170...d=link&campid=5338728743&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

30NF adhesive, although I guess you might have already ordered some from Magnepan. The 1 litre here is enough to last a lifetime! Never let it freeze, as it will then be unusable. Don’t leave it in the garage during winter!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13378693...d=link&campid=5338728743&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

I’m not sure if the particulars of the outsides of the 0.6QRs but you’ll likely also need some general screwdrivers to dismantle them a bit to get to the sock staples at the start of the repair.

A buzz isn’t usually a difficult repair, but if a driver looses sound completely that’s a bigger job - still doable but much more time consuming. The laminated aluminium voice coil wire will have lost continuity somewhere (become broken) and need to be replaced, - especially with several breaks it won’t be repairable. All of the old wire must be taken off completely with acetone. The whole Mylar diaphragm cleaned with acetone too. Then new correct gauge aluminium wire (or the Alu QR foil if that has broken) must be bought from Magnepan and put on using the same method I’ve described and in the same pattern the original wire was laid (if you ever have to do this take photos of the pattern of the old wire before removing it). Solder the new wires to the terminals with a 60W soldering iron.
Never use commonly found copper laminated wire (even in the same gauge) as it will be heavier than the aluminium wire needed, and will also have a different DC resistance (so it won’t sound right for 2 reasons - you’ll have a heavier driver panel of different resistance and sensitivity!

Breaks in the voice coil wire only usually happen on much older Magnepans that have been stored badly and have loads of delamination and corrosion. I only saw this issue on the tweeter or a pair of 1Bs and on all the bass drivers of some Tympani IVas.
 
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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!
 
@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. :)
Welcome and let us know how you get on. Take some pics!.

Feel free to ask away if there is anything you’re unsure of along the way!
 
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!
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.

Like I said the most time consuming thing is probably removing all the staples! (Use a flat head screwdriver). It’s just tedious. They use so many staples. There’s no need to use so many when stapling the sock back!
 
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?

are these of any use ?

https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/magnepan-lrs.274424/
 
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.
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.
 
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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".
 
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".

Yes my take is probably a bit different to many people’s thinking on Maggies as I think that not so many people have actually heard 3 way Maggie models in the UK, - particularly in recent years, and particularly with new Maggies, as dealers often only stock up to 1.7i level. Trust me, the 3 way models with the true ribbon are a really huge step up from the 1.7 level.

I was spoilt when I was young my Dad had a pair of the first original 3 series MGIII model back in 1986. They were a revelation. None of us have ever heard a top end like that before (from the ribbon tweeter). It’s thinner than a human hair and far more extended and quicker than the QR models. The bass is massively better too. Much more extended and punchy bass.

With the secondhand bigger 3 series models, if you find a pair that has all working drivers (check the bass, midrange and tweeter on both speakers), you don’t have to worry. No difficult repairs there, - perhaps just some delam repair like you’re about to attempt.

Even a dead midrange or bass panel is fixable as I’ve described (with new Al wire), and even a dead ribbon tweeter is also fixable - you can put in a new Alu ribbon foil into the ribbon cage if necessary (although that’s the very hardest job of all IMO - You need very steady hands!) Fortunately Magnepan send you 3 foils at a time in case you break one during a repair!.

Sounds like you’ve got a nice setup with the 0.6QRs and the subs and integrated it well. Glad the GF is impressed with the bass! The dual pair of REL sealed subs would be the best bet for a standard conventional box sub solution in terms of integration.

I can imagine how your Sonus fabers are a bit of a let down after the 0.6QRs. After any Maggie, any box speakers will be missing a lot of things - that clarity, lack of distortion, speed on the bass, soundstage, and purity in the sound. The box always adds a lot of colourations, despite attempts to minimise it!

A friend of mine heard my modified MGIIIa Maggies and told me he thought they sounded significantly better than a pair of B&W Nautilus he had heard before. The MGIIIas cost me a very small fraction of the price 12 years ago. About £700 with some materials for repairs! There are a pair on eBay for £1K in nice condition. That’s a good deal if all the drivers work. The seller mentions some buzz but that’s very likely just some wires at the end of the bass panels that need glueing down, which isn’t a difficult repair job.

See how you get on with the 0.6QR repair, then I’d advise to definitely consider a secondhand 3 series model if you ever see a pair for sale (any of them of any age - they all have a similar sound and bandwidth - I’ve heard all of them). They are indeed imposing in rooms - the size of a couple of average doors! I think they’d work wonderfully in a room with those dimensions. You might also be able to use the subs too if you set them to a lower filter setting than you’re using for the 0.6QRs.

The 3.3R, 3.5R, 3.6R or 3.7R 3 series models would have a similar wood trim to your 0.6QRs and look v similar, but just be quite a lot bigger! Trust me, any of those 3 series models are truly top class speakers!, and a true bargain for the performance on offer if you can find a reasonably priced set. You won’t ever need to upgrade from those!

Just read the thread again and that unfortunate crackle Mike mentioned from his Quad 2905s would likely have been a static noise from dust getting into the driver. As I say that’s near a impossible repair by DIY. You need a dust free clean room for a start! I’ve had similar issue with several stax headphones before. Once dust gets a stat driver you’ll never get rid of it yourself.

Like I’ve explained pretty much any Maggie issue is repairable by DIY in comparison!
 
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