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  1. #1
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    A Newer Magnaplan Speaker question

    After some research I have seen a few reviews/discusions that mentioned the possibility of needing to replace the ribbon tweeters on the newer magnaplan speakers, 3.6/r or 20.x, after only a year or two if using heavilly. In a 5.1 system most families I know probably have the thing on for 40 to 50 hour's a week. There is also the ocassional LETS ROCK moments when they will get played fairly loud. Namely when the munchkins are at grandmas. If you really add it all up it easilly comes to 2000+ hours a year. I had an old set of maggie MG3's that lasted almost 20 years but they had no ribbon tweaters in them. The reason I ask is a friend is asking me about them. He really likes the warm open sound mine made but wanted the newer/crisper ribbon tweater's model's, prob the 3.6 or 20.x. I found a few comments scattered on the web about the ribbon tweaters needing replacement fairly often with heavy use. To me this doesn't sound like something the average peron could easilly do themselves or want to pay for every year or two.
    Anyone familiar with this issue? I am not sure if maybe some folks just had bad luck or abused the speakers themselves. Maggies are rather sensitive to being bumped into, pets, etc.
    Your help is appreciated.
    Take care all

  2. #2
    Silence of the spam Site Moderator Geoffcin's Avatar
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    It would depend

    Quote Originally Posted by lattybuck
    After some research I have seen a few reviews/discusions that mentioned the possibility of needing to replace the ribbon tweeters on the newer magnaplan speakers, 3.6/r or 20.x, after only a year or two if using heavilly. In a 5.1 system most families I know probably have the thing on for 40 to 50 hour's a week. There is also the ocassional LETS ROCK moments when they will get played fairly loud. Namely when the munchkins are at grandmas. If you really add it all up it easilly comes to 2000+ hours a year. I had an old set of maggie MG3's that lasted almost 20 years but they had no ribbon tweaters in them. The reason I ask is a friend is asking me about them. He really likes the warm open sound mine made but wanted the newer/crisper ribbon tweater's model's, prob the 3.6 or 20.x. I found a few comments scattered on the web about the ribbon tweaters needing replacement fairly often with heavy use. To me this doesn't sound like something the average peron could easilly do themselves or want to pay for every year or two.
    Anyone familiar with this issue? I am not sure if maybe some folks just had bad luck or abused the speakers themselves. Maggies are rather sensitive to being bumped into, pets, etc.
    Your help is appreciated.
    Take care all
    If you set your system to 105db, and play it for 50 hrs a week then you might have to replace the ribbon every year or two. Otherwise figure it will last 5-10 years or more.

    I also have a set of Magnepan III, and the ribbon had to be replaced after 15 years at the cost of $300.

    Maggies are NOT anymore sensitive than any other speaker to damage. On the contrary it's much easier to damage a dome tweeter than the ribbon. Even though the ribbon is much more fragile, it is protected very well, and I don't worry about it one bit.

  3. #3
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    lattybuck
    There are three threats to avoid for Maggies

    1. Do not keep Maggies in direct sunlight for extended periods. Eventually (after many years) the adhesive mounting the AL "voice coil" wire to the Mylar will weaken and crap out. Then you must send them back to Magnepan for a rebuild to as-good-as-new. Figure $300 plus frieght....

    2. Keep cats away at all times. Cats like to climb on Maggies, and their claws will puncture the Mylar and could also break an AL "voice coil" wire.

    3. Keep dogs away, especially territorial male dogs. Urine will corrode the AL wires and again you would have to send them back to Magnepan for a rebuild to as-good-as-new.

    Otherwise, I would not be terribly concerned......

  4. #4
    Silence of the spam Site Moderator Geoffcin's Avatar
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    Wow we are getting silly

    Quote Originally Posted by Mash
    lattybuck
    There are three threats to avoid for Maggies

    1. Do not keep Maggies in direct sunlight for extended periods. Eventually (after many years) the adhesive mounting the AL "voice coil" wire to the Mylar will weaken and crap out. Then you must send them back to Magnepan for a rebuild to as-good-as-new. Figure $3200 plus frieght....

    2. Keep cats away at all times. Cats like to climb on Maggies, and their claws will puncture the Mylar and could also break an AL "voice coil" wire.

    3. Keep dogs away, especially territorial male dogs. Urine will corrode the AL wires and again you would have to send them back to Magnepan for a rebuild to as-good-as-new.

    Otherwise, I would not be terribly concerned......
    Re gluing the voicecoil is rarely nessasary anymore. Older maggies like the original III, and Timpani, used a adhesive that had a tendency to dry out. Even if they do come loose on the old ones it's a couple of hour DIY project to fix it. Figure $40 with shipping for the kit from Magnepan.

    I have TWO cats, and they are totally uninterested in my speakers. Cats like to have a scratching post, if you have one then you already know that.

    If you have a male dog and he pees on your furniture then you deserve it. All dogs are pack animals. It it your job to make sure that they know that you are the leader of the pack.

    So it's perfectly FINE to have maggies and pets. Heck, you can even have maggies and SS amps too!

  5. #5
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    But I was never into 'playing doggy'... is it fun?

    If your cats are uninterested in your Maggies, Big-G, then maybe your cat thinks your amps [or something] are simply inadequate and unrealistic, and therefore uninteresting. Cats are such cruel crtics..... We used to have cats when we lived in Avon, CT., and when Robert J. started Morning Promusica by playing his "bird recordings", the cats "went hunting". I bet you are just jealous!

    And when the sound of a cat or dog came over the FM, our German Sheppard, and later our Dobie, became very interested. I think the "FM dogs" bugged our dogs the most.

    DIY Rebuilding of Maggies never gives as satisfying a result as the Real McCoy rebuild by Magnepan.... just thought you'd like to know.

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