Magneplanar MG II Speakers

ViperZ

Good evening...

Just looking for opinions - what are these speakers and do they sound? Also, how would you repair a tweeter (replace a wire)?

I acquired a pair of these "maggies", which are in very good condition (frames/socks), but need complete tweeter wire replacement (and I'll re-work the crossover as well).

So far, I know only one site, which has some details on repairs: http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/

xsmi

I had a pair of MMG-B's, smaller pair than yours. They image very very well, but I had to part with them. If I were you, I would contact Magnepan directly about fixing the ribbon as it is proprietary technology.

http://www.magnepan.com/contact

Terrax

As it stands, this turned out to be a worthless post..... deleted.

ViperZ

I'm sorry, but I definitely don't see it being practical sending those speakers to the factory for repair. For that repair cost you can buy a much better pair of speakers.
The repair kit itself is only $50+shipping.

xsmi

does the repair kit have the tweeter ribbon in it? If so I agree.

ViperZ

My MG-II's use aluminum wire for tweeters, so apparently the kit includes new wire and 3M glue. They also include (if you ask) silver solder to attach wires to the terminals.

[EDIT]Just ordered the kit from Magnepan (great customer support there). It's $50+shipping ($12 for Canada, $10 for USA), they'll ship today (same day). The kit includes enough wire to repair tweeters in both speakers, glue, adhesive, all new screws, solder and some other parts. [/EDIT]

I guess, one day I'll have a 2.1 setup with these speakers and Velodyne ULD-15 I am currently working on.

disneyjoe7

Interesting repair here, please keep us up on your progress.

dorokusai

Those are too old to spend the money to have them refurbed at homebase. The cost vs the eventual resale, which you WILL do, is simply not worth it.

ViperZ is dead-on, get the kit and leave it at that. It's as good as they will sound for the most part. I'm not a huge fan of that series so take that for what its worth.

StephenEC

ViperZ ,

I have a pair of MGII's . Since I bought these used , I pulled the socks off , and low and behold , the corrosion had attacked the tweeter wires ( thin as a hair IMO ) .

I called Magnepan , and decided to send them in to be rebuilt completely. I know, there are those of You out there thinking " What a Fool " or worse. Think what You want ( You Will ;-) ) .

I contacted Peter Gunn over at MUG about getting some info from him , about modding these MGII's . I rewired the the speakers , so that the panels act as a Cohesive Unit . SMGA crossover wiring schematic.

The crossovers where replaced with new components . I
used one Alpha core 12 gauge inductor .78mh , one 6uf Dynamicap ( speaker cap ) and two Obbligato 22uf premium
film oil caps. The wire used to connect the components is DH
Labs 14 gauge silver plated copper wire.

The crossovers were placed in wooden boxes that sit behind the MGIIs. I placed 1/4 thick rubber conveyor belting
material on the bottoms of the boxes , mounted the Alpha
core inductor to the floor of the boxes utilizing rubber bushings top and bottom.

The Obbligatos and the Dynamicap were mounted to the floor of the boxes using a specialized wire tire that alows me to keep the caps off the floor 3/4 of an inch. This a tie that's used on Kenworth Trucks from the factory.

I'm still in the break-in period with the new crossovers. I
am about 100 hours , and I was told they could take up to 300
hours to achieve full break-in.

I am powering the MGIIs with a pair of M200 Outlaw Mono Block amplifiers I bought here on the Polk Classified Forum.
The mono blocks work Great for Me.

The Sound from the MGIIs continues to Amaze Me. Each and Every Source ( SACD ,DVD-A , VINYL , CD , Wav Files ) that I send through them sounds more and more Realistic and Musical .

A friend of mine heard the MGII's before their rebuild (sometime in Sept of 07 ) , and before the up-graded crossover . . . his opinion of them , was that they Lacked High End and didn't do the bottom end very well either.

Fast forward to last week ( June 08 ) , I told him to bring over Music or DVDs that He wanted to listen to. He brought over a Allman Bros concert , and a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert.

I know for critical listening , these choices might not be the normal choice of most. He was Blown Away at the natural sound coming from the speakers. The Cymbal strikes sounded like You were there on stage with the drum kit. The Mid's are Full and Natural . The Bass has more extension than before the
rebuild and crossover upgrade.

I have a Velodyne DLS sub , and while the sub has a PUNCH
to it that the MGIIs dont , the bass that is coming from the MGIIs is still felt , it's a fuller , and faster feel . if that makes since.

I plan to make cd with specific tones on it to see how low the Maggies will go . All in All , I am Happy with what I have done so far. In the future , I am planning to place the drivers in hardwood frames . . . I do not see Myself getting rid of these
speakers any time soon. ( still have my Polk Model 10 Monitors bought new in 1978 LOL )

Sorry for the length of this reply, and for the fact , that it's hard for me to put into words , what My Ear's Hear. ;-)

Stephen

PS . . . Whether they are worth sinking money into , to me it depends on how long You plan on keeping them IMO . Until You hear the MGII's with upgraded crossovers and
the smga wiring , it's almost night and day . . . again Just My Opinion. :-)

dorokusai

Great post Stephen, glad you are rockin' out.

Systems

what the hell was that?

Chuck

ViperZ

I got the new parts kit on Friday last week (yes, it takes that long via snail mail from California to Ontario). Will hopefully start working on these speakers next week.

My Velodyne ULD-15 speaker is in pieces right now, and I really want to finish it first. Need to rewire a broken coil

StephenEC

ViperZ ,

I hope all goes well with the Velodyne and the Maggies.

Have You given any consideration to modifying the cross-overs on Your

Maggies ? If You do , and need assistance in any way , Please ask . . .

I Look forward to You getting the MGII's done. I think You'll be Pleasantly

Surprised .

Stephen

ViperZ

Thank you, Stephen! I'll definitely let you know as soon as I'll get to these speakers. :cool:

marlap

I may be performing the same work on my Magnepan SMG's. Any update on your overhaul ViperZ?

ViperZ

Sorry, not yet. I finally got a replacement ULD-15 driver for my subwoofer project. So now up to rebuilding and veneering that box .

StephenEC

ViperZ,

Here are a couple of photos of the MGII's I modified , along with a photo of the X-Over Box . I only have one speaker in the new frame , I am



A / B ing Them . The modified X-Overs bring out the Bass .

ViperZ

Can't see the photos (?).

Which parts in the crossover have you changed, and what have you used as a replacement? Thanks!

StephenEC

ViperZ,

I replaced all the components in the X-Over . I used the following :

1 - Alpha Core 12 gauge inductor - 1.6 mh ( qty 1 per speaker )
2 - Dynamicap 7 uf speakercap ( qty 1 per speaker )
3 - Obliggato 22 uf film oil cap ( qty 2 per speaker )


For all my wiring , I used DH labs 14 Gauge Silver Plated Copper
wire .

Here's what my External X-Over box looks like .







I also Re-Framed the Speakers , I used Red Oak , here's a photo
of One of them .

Shannon W.

The Red-X is Sexy! LoL
No pictures...
Shannon

Shannon W.

Test
Shannon

StephenEC

OK . . . The photos show up for me , when I open this thread up . So what am I doing wrong ? ( this is frustrating ;-( )

ViperZ

Stephen, which server are you using to upload your photos to? Try uploading your photos to sites like fotki, flickr or similar ones, and just post links/thumbnails of those photos.

mmadden28

StephenEC wrote: »

OK . . . The photos show up for me , when I open this thread up . So what am I doing wrong ? ( this is frustrating ;-( )

Maybe you're linking to a site that only you have rights to. Post the actual link-we'll try it.

Otherwise try Photobucket or something like that.

mmadden28

Ya know , that's wierd-I copied the path to the pic and pasted directly into the browser and it opened fine.

http://i.pbase.com/o6/38/696738/1/102322778.oOTP6oq6.XOVERWBRASS.jpg



Ha and it shows up when I posted it. Does anbody else see the pic in this post?
If so then maybe its just the way you're linking to it, Stephen.

mmadden28

Wait a minute, now everytime that pic shows up-all the previous instances of it show up now. Hmm-somethings very odd here.

Scratch that, when I refresh the page they disappear again. WTF? Try Photobucket.

StephenEC

I am using Pbase . . . Sorry Guys ! This is frustrating urrrrgh .

StephenEC

I'll try again , using a different approach . I Do APPRECIATE Your PATIENCE . :-)

X-Over Box


If the photo isn't seen , here's a link to the gallery . Sorry again for my ineptness . ;-)

http://www.pbase.com/stephenec/modded_magnepan_mgiis

Please just use the link above . . . again I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong . . . Thanks for Your Understanding ! Stephen

mmadden28

I don't know all the pics are showing up now-even the ones that were'nt before (at least for me they are)

StephenEC

If a Mod could Please Delete the Posts that I have showing the same Photo (if Possible ? ) I Apologize for the multiple photos . . . deep sigh . . . sigh

mmadden28

StephenEC wrote: »

If a Mod could Please Delete the Posts that I have showing the same Photo (if Possible ? ) I Apologize for the multiple photos . . . deep sigh . . . sigh

I'm sure its not hurting anything, no need to clean the posts up-just an odd event.