Home Planar Speaker Asylum

Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences.

RE: Does .7 equal higher sensitivity and higher current demand?

I think it is fairly well known that the major differences with the .7 series are 1) different crossover design 2) the use of foil instead of wire on the mid/bass panels. Magnepan released the 1.7 following years of development and tweaking, and rapidly released the 3.7, 20.7, and now Mini Maggies with the same technology. I think it is fair to say the move from wire to foil drivers is a major step-change in driver quality. The passive crossover I am sure will still be the limiting factor.

As far as sensitivity, I have read the foil drivers are slightly less efficient than the old wires. Do not let the relative positions of volume dials confuse you, the gear will put out different watts depending on the speaker load at the same volume knob position. The only way to tell for real is to run a sensitivity test.

One drawback of the .7 series is that, so far at least, owners have been reluctant to tear into them and replace the passive x-over with active and bi or tri-amp. The old MMG and 1.6 have simple 2-way crossovers which redily lent themselves to active line level x-over and biamp with excellent results.

My own 1.7 have the series 2.5 way crossover, and from all the research I've done, there is not an easy way to emulate the stock crossover with a miniDSP or similar. PG has converted a 1.7 into a straight 2-way, with a satisfied owner, but this will be 'different' than stock. Not necessarily good or bad, this is in the ear of the listener, but different. It will not stop me forever - I am in the process of assembling the tools needed to bypass the stock x-over, measure the response of the drivers, and build a minidsp tri-amp system.


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Parts Connexion  


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
  • RE: Does .7 equal higher sensitivity and higher current demand? - acroy 05/15/1206:34:56 05/15/12 (0)

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.