[thingone62]

Does anyone know what the differences are between Magnepan LRS and LRS+?

Is it JUST the crossover?  I pulled up PHOTOS of both the LRS and the LRS+ and they both appear to have the glued down foil for the low frequency section (as opposed to the WIRES that are in my old MMGs).

I have a pair of MMGs that are 25 years old already (eghad) - bought them new direct from Magnepan for I think $500.

The wires are delaminating and the they have a PRONOUCNED "boingy/honky" (like stretched mylar) coloration in the mids.
Eg: if I "tap" on the diaphragm it makes a sound that sounds like a blown up ballon or something - that is the same coloration that is imparted on the overall sound.

I assume that ALL Magnepans have this sound (since they ARE stretched mylar, OR maybe it is "because" my wires are delaminating or maybe it is because they mylar stretches out over time.  I suspect that the "plugs" that they put in the speakers in what seems to be random spots are to damp out these resonances...?

Anyway - I was sort of thinking of getting a pair of LRS+ - I heard a pair at a store a few years ago and they were glorious.

If the difference between the LRS and the LRS+ is just the crossover - does anyone know what they did to the crossover - I see here and there the the xover in the origianl LRS is a seiries configuration with a 0.86 mH coil and a 110 uf cap - I tried that in my MMGs and it sounded horrible

Thanks!

[Phil A]

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/magnepan-lrs/

[thingone62]

Thanks - I had not run across that yet.  He says he doesn't know and can only speculate...

[Saturn94]

I don’t think Magnepan has said specifically what changed in the LRS+.  Trade secret perhaps?

[thingone62]

I was hoping that someone has disassembled them and figured it out and had done extensive analysis and measurements... 

[Phil A]

I don’t think Magnepan has said specifically what changed in the LRS+.  Trade secret perhaps?

Could very well be based on this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGR6iw9FpkI

[viggen]

i recall the stand was the major change.

[HAL]

If you want to see comparison frequency response measurements check out the GR-Research website for both speakers.

The midrange frequency response and high frequency responses are very different between the LRS and LRS+ models.

https://gr-research.com/product-category/magnepan-upgrades/

[SteveFord]

I was wondering when someone was finally going to ask that.

What I can say is that between the two models, go with the LRS+, it's a better speaker with greater detail.

[HAL]

Agree with SteveFord, after listening to both with the stock crossovers the LRS+ is a much better sounding speaker.  I have both here for DSP crossover work.

The LRS needs much more speaker frequency response correction for flat response than the LRS+. 

[Saturn94]

Agree with SteveFord, after listening to both with the stock crossovers the LRS+ is a much better sounding speaker.  I have both here for DSP crossover work.

The LRS needs much more speaker frequency response correction for flat response than the LRS+.

Am I missing something?  The LRS+ FR looks worse to me than the LRS, especially above bass frequencies. 

[HAL]

The place where the LRS has its response dip is in the middle of the most sensitive part of hearing where the LRS+ is higher in frequency where the dip occurs.  Easily seen in the GR-Research measurements I posted the link above. 

[wgallupe]

The place where the LRS has its response dip is in the middle of the most sensitive part of hearing where the LRS+ is higher in frequency where the dip occurs.  Easily seen in the GR-Research measurements I posted the link above.

What/where do you think the difference in FR comes from?

[HAL]

No clue.

Losts of things can change the frequency response of a planar. 

If the mass of the diaphragm changes it will affect the frequency response as an example.  That includes all the materials like the mylar thickness, foil thickness and weight of glue.

[RonN5]

Magnepan is a super conservative company.  I wouldn't be surprised if the LRS+ was a precursor to the X upgrades which allowed Magnepan to test out a bunch of ideas and changes to the sound in a low risk way.  I also wouldn't be surprised if you had a brand new LRS and LRS+ side by side and started "dissecting" them that you would find a bunch of small tweaks...frame geometry, frame thickness, mylar tension, button location, button tension, wiring...etc.  Everything but maybe the speaker connectors and maybe the capacitors.

As a former LRS+ owner, I can say that they are an easy to drive speaker, they sound great, they are relatively easy to place and they are very easy to move around.

[wgallupe]

I don't think there are any X upgrades in the LRS+. At least no obvious ones anyway. The crossovers are identical except for the value of the inductor. LRS = 0.86mH, LRS+ = 0.82mH.
An obvious difference is width. LRS = 14", LRS+ = 13". I suppose this could change FR a little bit.

[SteveFord]

To the best of my knowledge, the + thing was a Wendell Diller project, Wendell was not involved in the X thing and the send your speakers in for fabulous modifications at a price to be determined deal.

I was hoping for a 1.7+ and a 3.7+ and, ideally, that scaled down 20.7 that I was championing but it looks like they're headed in a different direction.
They march to the beat of a different drummer.