The MG___X program

The general idea is to take the existing design of a given speaker, and simply, almost one-for-one, replace all of the components leading up to the driver, with superior ones.   This yields a noticeable, graphable, and customer-awing improvement.   Up to this point, every person who has received an “X” upgraded speaker, or even their unmarked predecessors and early partial upgrades and tests, has provided glowing reviews.  Thus far the program has been unanimously well received across the board.  There are certain model-specific features, but the MG___X Upgrade Program is at its core characterized by the following factors:

Better Capacitors:

            All capacitors that aren’t already, are replaced with high quality, copper-rich, polypropylene capacitors [banks].   Each capacitor [and bank] used is individually tested to the hundredth such that left and right crossovers’ capacitances are within five hundredths.   With the increased level of testing and decrease in tolerance, minor value tweaks are employed in some models resulting in fewer capacitors used and a smoother response overall.

Better Coils (Inductors):

            All coils that aren’t already, are replaced with high-gauge, copper wire, air-core, bobbin wound coils [arrays].  Each coil [array] used is individually tested to the hundredth such that left and right crossovers’ inductances are within five hundredths.  Model depended: with the above capacitance changes in mind, some values are minorly adjusted for smoother response overall.

Better Wiring:

            All wiring (aside from the green (+) and yellow (-) wires for True Ribbon Tweeters) is replaced with 15ga or higher solid copper wire.  Excess wire (for ease of assembly, for instance) is completely removed.  Careful attention is paid to design, layout, and pathing of the crossover components such that wire lengths are short and the overall wire-mass is significantly reduced.   Left and right crossover and nameplate impedances are ensured to be equivalent for ideal balance.

Better Connections:

            All connections within the circuit, from the solder lug attached to the terminal screw on the nameplate, to the crossover board, to the driver terminal block, and back are soldered connections.  Besides the terminal screw, solder lug, and jam nut connection on the nameplate, there are no mechanical connections used

Better Inputs:

            All nameplate components are gold rather than nickel.

Appearance:

            The appearance of an MG___X is not intended to be visually really any different from that of its non-X counterpart (aside from the gold nameplate components in situations where that wouldn’t already be stock).  The crossover of some models may be visible, such as with the MG1.7x, and as such that will be noticeably different in a side-by-side test.  The nameplate will also have a small red “X” after the model to denote that it is a part of the X Upgrade program.

PRODUCT DETAILS

This giant, four-panel (two panels per side), four-way, ribbon/quasi-ribbon line source loudspeaker from Magnepan is the best Maggie JV (Jonathan Valin - the absolute sound) has heard, which is tantamount to saying it is the best planar JV has ever heard (and right up there with the best six-figure dynamics JV has heard).

With its highly coherent wave-launch, free standing imaging, vast soundstage, phenomenal resolution of inner detail, lightning transient response, incomparable naturalness of timbre, and total lack of box coloration and diffraction, the 30.7x is markedly less “there” as a sound source (and markedly more lifelike on voice and acoustic instruments) than almost every dynamic-speaker-in-a-box, no matter its price.

The best buy in an ultra-high-end loudspeaker (and one of the best high-end buys of all time), the 30.7x earned JV’s highest, most ecstatic recommendation and TAS’ 2017 Overall Product of the Year award. If you have sufficient room, amplifier, and permission from your spouse—and don’t listen to a steady diet of heavy metal—you cannot do better.

Does the 30.7x Require a Big Sound Room?

The ideal line source would be like a narrow pole---very narrow and from floor-to-ceiling (with no mass). With real-world materials, Maggies aspire to this ideal.

Imagine if we repacked the 30.7x tweeter/midrange in a 10 inch-wide panel and sold it with small dynamic woofers (that could be hidden). Such a hybrid would have all the problems that have plagued all hybrids, but there is no acoustical reason it would not work in a small room (the only issue would be aesthetics.)

However, the bass panels of all Maggies are big. The 30.7x bass panel is huge. And, yes, there is a acoustical problem with putting a big woofer in a small room: excessive midbass (deep bass is seldom a problem).

We have solved the problem of excessive midbass. The 30.7x has adjustable midbass control (in addtion to mid and high frequency adjustments). If you can handle the aesthetic issues of big panels, there are no acoustical reasons you can not have a 30.7x in a smaller room. 

A word about setup: whether the tweeter is on the inside or outside, the tweeter should not be closer to the listener than the bass section. Measuring from your seated position, if the bass panel is 10 feet, 6 inches, the tweeter should be at least 10 feet, 7 inches (think in distance, not angles).

What is Power Response and why is it Important to Music Reproduction?

Wendell Diller, explains why Maggies have superior power response and how you can conduct this listening test at your local dealer in this video.