[SteveFord]

My suggestion was an optional upgrade path from Magnepan - you could order fancy binding posts, some good stands and the like but there was no interest as I'm told the DIY and aftermarket vendors are good for the factory.
They get to keep costs down by insisting on not adding anything that won't pass a double blind test, the customer gets a product that they can actually afford and when people do a search on the word Magnepan a whole bunch o' sites pop up.
That's their story and they're stickin' to it.

[jk@home]

I'm totally fine with Magnepan's "cheap and cheerful" business model. My very first audiophile speakers were a pair of Thiel 3.0s. , bought used. I later watched as the Thiel brand got more and more refined, high tech and expensive. Quickly was priced out of my reach. Guess what, due to cash flow problems, Thiel has now been bought out by a private equity firm, I give them 3-5 more years of cost cutting and out sourcing, and the brand will be GONE.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/thiel-audio-acquired-nashville-based-private-equity-firm

[Rclark]

I think they're doing just fine. The stock MMG's review base (there are hundred and hundreds of them to read) is legendary, and as far as the other speakers up the chain, they are always well reviewed. I believe Magnepan was given Speaker of the Decade recently by, I believe Stereophile..

They know what they're doing, and it gives the aftermarket guys room to do their thing. That's how I ended up with my beauties. I loved the MMG so much I dropped many times over what I paid for them into mods and now have high performing (beyond stock) small room planars that look like heirloom pieces of furniture.

I was lucky enough that Hypex came out with their super high performance Ncore amps and now also have nearly 500 watts per side. And they eat it up, by the way.

[SteveFord]

Not to totally derail things but I hope that Thiel survives and doesn't end up going the way of so many of the great names in audio; either totally gone or a shell of their former self.
Magnepan has put together a really sound business plan so I suspect they'll still be a family run business long after they've planted me in the ground.  There's a lot to be said for that (passing the business down from generation to generation, not throwing dirt on me).

[jk@home]

Not to totally derail things but I hope that Thiel survives and doesn't end up going the way of so many of the great names in audio; either totally gone or a shell of their former self.
Magnepan has put together a really sound business plan so I suspect they'll still be a family run business long after they've planted me in the ground.  There's a lot to be said for that (passing the business down from generation to generation, not throwing dirt on me).

I agree, but from what I gather Jim Thiel was Thiel. Maybe a group of enthusiasts will buy the company later. I drive my MMGs with a Mondial era Aragon amp, great product. It was a shame to see Klipsch buy them out only to dump them later. Now a company called Indy Audio Labs owns the brand, but not sure how that is panning out.

[josh358]

Not to totally derail things but I hope that Thiel survives and doesn't end up going the way of so many of the great names in audio; either totally gone or a shell of their former self.
Magnepan has put together a really sound business plan so I suspect they'll still be a family run business long after they've planted me in the ground.  There's a lot to be said for that (passing the business down from generation to generation, not throwing dirt on me).

Yep. When these companies get sold, they either drop their business model and start making something conventional and mediocre, or go out of business. Or disappear like Acoustat, now a Chinese company that apparently still makes electrostatic speakers that nobody sees here . . .

[Red Dragon Audio]

From a manufacturing viewpoint Magnepan probably uses the low profile steel connectors to prevent damage during shipping and keep materials/packaging costs down.
I could easily envision many broken/bent binding posts if Magnepan went with a typical set of binding posts.  It's one of the main reasons why many speaker manufacturers use recessed binding post plates like these:

[Emsquare]

"From a manufacturing viewpoint Magnepan probably uses the low profile steel connectors to prevent damage during shipping and keep materials/packaging costs down."

I have read that this is the reason they use them. That and they bought a bazillion of them at one point.
 

[SteveFord]

I don't know if I'd be able to hear the difference or not but the ML ones certainly look a lot classier.