Last night I caught up with the Magnepan 30.7s and Wendell Diller on their cross continent tour. The demonstration was hosted in Jacksonville FL by the House of Stereo. I have been a long time acquaintance and client of the House of Stereo and had multiple occasions to enjoy their Magnepan 20.7s in one of their well-designed two channel listening rooms. I have always enjoyed the acoustic of this room which is large, not over dampened, and not too lively.
Knowing this room with the Ayre amplification and DAC, Wolf Audio Server, VPI analogue, along with Audience Cables and Power Conditioning allowed me a special comparison of just replacing the 20.7s with the 30.7s. Wendell set up the room as it has been described in previous tour write ups with most of the room cleared, including the proverbial “sweet spot”, enabling the participants to freely move through the sound field. Not only could we move about the room, we were expressly encouraged to do just that! Mr Diller started the demonstration with a short introduction about what he described as the “Power Curve”. The description was followed by the participants visiting multiple areas within the demonstration room, while music played, with an expectation we would have a similar musical experience at each location. The power curve description proposed that, with the 30.7s, all points in the room would receive similar power and subsequently a similar musical presentation. This proposition did bear fruit in my experience moving about this room.
The 30.7 in their touring colors of blue trim and white cloth are impressive and visually bright in person. Powered by the Ayre VX-5/20 through Audience AU24SX speaker cables the sound was everything excellent I have experienced with planers before with the addition of a dynamic in the bass that has always lacked for me previously. The 20.7s in this room and system always were enjoyable and engaging. The 30.7s were at a different level. When symphonic Tympani drums hit you in the gut, as they are supposed to in the Copland piece that was used as a system warmup, you know these are not your father’s planers. The sound of the 30.7 was both enveloping and precise. The soundstage was very defined and with great depth that did not disappear or really change as you moved away from the “sweet spot” area to almost any point in the room. There was a little collapse as we walked behind the speakers but this was not a concern to myself.
In the appropriate sized room that can produce music without distracting barrier reflections and other echo artifacts these 30.7s produced music in a way that altered my planar perception. I have the same Ayre amp and DAC… Similar Audience cables… Excellent Vinyl… Now I just need that MUCH larger house with the dedicated room and my order for the 30.7s will be called in… Thank you Magnepan, Wendell Diller, and the House of Stereo.
