Magnepan 3.7i

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I.Greyhound Fan

Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #60 on: 18 Feb 2014, 05:23 pm »
I live 20 minutes from the Magnepan factory and I have called them with questions before and have had no problems.  I even stopped by the factory and they were very accommodating.

mr_bill

Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #61 on: 18 Feb 2014, 07:18 pm »
I heard the 3.7i speakers on Saturday. They sounded awesome at the dealer, but no way of comparing with 3.7.

SteveFord

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #62 on: 18 Feb 2014, 10:32 pm »
Both Josh and I tried for the better part of a half hour with Wendell and you can file the entire conversation under F for Futile.
Perhaps someone else will have better luck in learning why anyone should pack up their speakers and ship them plus $500 to Magenpan for an upgrade.
What the heck are we actually paying for?  That's not an unreasonable request. 
If your car mechanic said give me your car and $500 for an upgrade you'd ask him what he planned on doing, wouldn't you?




harri009

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #63 on: 18 Feb 2014, 10:37 pm »
Big news from my dealer.  He said that if your Magnepans are fairly new you probably already have the i in place.  He said basically they were tensioning the mylar tighter initially and about 6 months or so ago they stated producing them a little looser so that they sounded a little more natural with a little more umph in the bass.  They decided to mark them as i to differentiate them. So he said the upgrade is that they loosen the mylar slightly.  That's why they are not making a big deal out of it and why they haven't said much.  That's what the dealer said anyways.  He also said that he isn't planning to send any of his older ones in because they are played enough that the Mylar has loosened a little anyways with break-in.  Bottom line, enjoy your speakers. :)

SteveFord

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #64 on: 18 Feb 2014, 10:52 pm »
Wouldn't that be funny? 
It could very well be the case.

harri009

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #65 on: 18 Feb 2014, 10:54 pm »
Wouldn't that be funny? 
It could very well be the case.


As far as I know or am concerned its the truth.  I am not concerned any longer about the i.   :thumb:

zuluwarrior0760

Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #66 on: 19 Feb 2014, 01:25 am »
This really wouldn't surprise me at all.

On the plus side of the ledger, Magnepans have given me more goosebump moments
than all the speakers I've had before combined.  I really don't see ever owning another
brand.....

having said that, the company is NOT without issue:

1.  They pack their speakers like lightbulbs.  The reports of damage are legendary!
Their frugality should enable them to sell 3.7s for 5800 instead of 5600 and ship
them in crates the way these speakers deserve to be shipped since in this day and
age a person's city of residence and the city of their dealer are rarely the same.....
It's for this reason that i would NEVER EVER!!! send a pair back to the factory
for an upgrade, even if the upgrade made fire shoot out of my ears, it was soooo
stupendous.....

2.  Magnepan's dealer network is largely useless.  There......I said it.......
Their dealers are useless because the margins on Maggies are half what they
get on other brands and most carry the brand as a kind of cachet, but are less
than helpful when it comes to service both before and after the sale......
Some are better than others, but since most people are getting a box delivered
to their local shipping depot rather than a dealer at their door, I would say
Magnepan needs to expand their DIRECT sale policy to their entire line
including 20.7s and invest the savings in a nice call center where a fellow audiophile
will be happy to take your query and help you aim your tweeter directly into
your earlobe.......via lasers and mirrors....

3.  Wendell Diller needs to cut out the damn cloak and dagger crap that
he as the marketing guru for the brand is known for...........If you're going to advertise
an upgrade, then tell people what it consists of and let them make the decision......

The only reason not to is likely because it really is an upgrade simply to correct
mylar that is stretched too taut.......

$500 plus shipping???????  No thanks, I'll take break-in instead.....

or better yet, mine are only a few months old (my second pair after UPS
turned my first into an origami project) So I probably got an I at no charge.......
Maybe magnepan will send me some metal badging, so I can put it on the front
so my audiophile friends will bow to me!!!!




SteveFord

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #67 on: 19 Feb 2014, 01:43 am »
UPS could break an anvil!
What did they do to your speakers? 
The big danger is dropping them from a height as they go WHUMP! and that will trash the foil.
When the 1.7s came out there as a lot of people complaining about the sound and I think they were listening to speakers with shipping damage.  I know I found a broken packing strap in my driveway when mine were delivered - the driver had it pop in two when he was carrying them to the door but luckily, no damage.

zuluwarrior0760

Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #68 on: 19 Feb 2014, 03:04 am »
my original dealer, where I heard them after RMAF 10 was Cherry Creek Audio.
I thought about buying them at my closest dealer and picking them up, but
their audio snobbery overwhelmed me, now I wished I had overlooked it......
I can talk about them now because they're out of business (shocker!)

Here's what UPS did to mine, but they were only half the equation...
http://stewart0722.smugmug.com/Other/magnepan-damage-photos/28768937_xBj954#!i=2442212261&k=F2HdRV9

...the dealer stated they came on a pallet, but the dealer took them off the pallet, so he
could ship it by UPS, instead of freight......come to find out, freight would have
cost me only 47.00 more!!!

I contacted Wendell and he confirmed the dealer should have never removed them from the pallet
and that Magnepan NEVER recommends shipping by UPS......(now ya tell me).  The dealer
accused me of throwing them under the bus and refused to refund my original shipping
even though UPS paid him a partial, but almost total claim....including refunding shipping....

Magnepan refused per Wendell to drop ship replacements to me even though they knew
well what had happened to me..........so what I did was have a shipping co. pick them up
at the dealer on the pallet and then build a coffin for them with foam in top/bottom/sides etc
and then ship them freight for me which cost me about 400.00 instead of the 200.00 I originally
paid, but I felt that was how Magnepan should ship them in the first place, both to decrease
risk of damage and increase future value due to suitability for reshipment.....I'd certainly
pay a 200.00 premium, AND I DID......

one thing I did find out is that aluminum trim models are mdf under the trim whereas wood
models are oak etc through and through.......so for durability, I'd say go with wood.......which
is what I requested on the replacement pair......

Again, the replacements arrived perfect and I could not be happier with the sound......the
really are mind blowingly good..........just wish they didn't come with Magnepan's stodgy stance
on so many things........


mrlittlejeans

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #69 on: 19 Feb 2014, 03:08 am »
The secrecy on the upgrade is ridiculous.  Not sending any out for review because they're worried about trade secrets or whatever is also ridiculous.  I wonder why the change in philosophy.  It's not like anyone that wanted to reverse engineer these things couldn't buy a pair and play all day.  What would they learn from a stereophile review that would allow them to design a better product that they couldn't learn by buying a pair and opening it up?

The only thing that makes sense to me is that the 3.7's don't measure as well or have something else funny going on that they didn't want Stereophile to write about.

Roger Gustavsson

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #70 on: 19 Feb 2014, 08:07 am »
Big news from my dealer.  He said that if your Magnepans are fairly new you probably already have the i in place.  He said basically they were tensioning the mylar tighter initially and about 6 months or so ago they stated producing them a little looser so that they sounded a little more natural with a little more umph in the bass.  They decided to mark them as i to differentiate them. So he said the upgrade is that they loosen the mylar slightly.  That's why they are not making a big deal out of it and why they haven't said much.  That's what the dealer said anyways.  He also said that he isn't planning to send any of his older ones in because they are played enough that the Mylar has loosened a little anyways with break-in.  Bottom line, enjoy your speakers. :)

How can they loosen the Mylar without doing a complete stripping of it? The Mylar is glued on all sides.

helpme

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #71 on: 19 Feb 2014, 03:03 pm »
Big news from my dealer.  He said that if your Magnepans are fairly new you probably already have the i in place.  He said basically they were tensioning the mylar tighter initially and about 6 months or so ago they stated producing them a little looser so that they sounded a little more natural with a little more umph in the bass.  They decided to mark them as i to differentiate them. So he said the upgrade is that they loosen the mylar slightly.  That's why they are not making a big deal out of it and why they haven't said much.  That's what the dealer said anyways.  He also said that he isn't planning to send any of his older ones in because they are played enough that the Mylar has loosened a little anyways with break-in.  Bottom line, enjoy your speakers. :)

So, if this is true, the next big question for those of us who purchased recently is: When exactly did they start shipping modified 3.7s without "i" designation.
Serial numbers please!!!

rw@cn

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #72 on: 19 Feb 2014, 03:15 pm »
I live 20 minutes from the Magnepan factory and I have called them with questions before and have had no problems.  I even stopped by the factory and they were very accommodating.

Did you ask them about the 3.7i?

rw@cn

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #73 on: 19 Feb 2014, 03:24 pm »
How can they loosen the Mylar without doing a complete stripping of it? The Mylar is glued on all sides.

I guess that's why there's a $500 charge. :)

I wonder if they will post the serial number of the first factory shipped 3.7 with this modification.

AdvoCat

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #74 on: 19 Feb 2014, 05:09 pm »
I have agreed to buy  3.7s at private sale and am considering having them shipped directly to the factory for retrofitting to the i.  First, is it worth it?  Second (and regardless of your response to the first question), what shipper do I use and what special instructions do I provide?  I am a newbie at this, but have lucked out in buying 1.7s and having them shipped.  Magnepan hasn't gotten back with me yet with a recommendation.

Thanks for any ideas or recommendations you might have.

Bill of NY

Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #75 on: 19 Feb 2014, 05:23 pm »
the mylar losen thing is kinda weird wouldent you get more flap earlier if that were true?

harri009

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #76 on: 19 Feb 2014, 06:30 pm »
I would assume that they are not loosening the Mylar by such a large degree to cause any major issues, just to slightly change the tone. 

berni

Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #77 on: 19 Feb 2014, 08:34 pm »
After the wires are glued on the mylar , loosening seems stupid!
The glued wires are holding some kind of the tension.

jhm731

Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #78 on: 19 Feb 2014, 09:12 pm »
Maybe they've rearranged the damping pads:


SteveFord

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Re: Magnepan 3.7i
« Reply #79 on: 19 Feb 2014, 10:26 pm »
According to Mr. Diller, that information about mylar loosening is incorrect and the dealers know as much as everyone else as they're taking this secret to their graves and it's all done on a need to know basis in the middle of the night, burn instructions before reading, all parties involved are being kept chained in the basement and it's probably a waste of time for them to think too much about spending their pensions if you know what I mean  (or words to that effect).
Is it worth doing?  I certainly wouldn't give anyone $500 for a mystery upgrade that will supposedly make my speakers smoother sounding or what have you. 

I'd use FedEx but any carrier can destroy anything at any given time.