[oboaudio]

Here you go, from Wendell Diller, the hardest working man in stereo land:

The question is does he have any advise, regarding using wings/baffles with large Maggies's like the 3.6.
  It is not very effective and looks terrible.

Since they admit that they try different mod's and they use some boundary reinforcement techniques with the smaller speakers. They should have some general thoughts, guidelines etc... Again I don't need a full blown tech article, just a few basic do's and don't 
  Not recommended.
 
what about acoustic diffusion panels and DIY diffusors ? As in what type does works best with Magnepan, QRD's, Skyline's/PRD's, etc... Again just looking for some basic info. nothing too complicated. Both absorption and diffusers can work wonders.
  We simply use cut-and-try.

 I listened to (Bill in WV's) Tympany's yesterday. I loved the bass and midrange. Much better than an underpowered very small Maggie I heard 5 years ago which was my only other Maggie experience. How do 3.7 and 20.1 compare to the Tympany in general.

  Note from me (Steve Ford): you'll need to get a little more specific to get a valid answer.
 
Can they play as low and loud as the Tympany? Yes

The Absolute Sound  (April 2011)    A quote from Wendell Diller   The Tympani IVA bass is the gold standard we
set as a goal and that is what we went after.          The Tympani bass panels when improved with a rigid stand and
bolting the two panels together makes this speaker even better.     

[josh358]

Congratulations, Josh - so you now have some T-IVas. 

Having the mid panel on its own sheet of mylar (and the mid/ribbon in their own frame which is not impacted by vibrations from the bass panel(s) ) is a very good thing, IMO. 

Are you running them all passive ... or are you going to at least actively bi-amp them?

Regards,

Andy

Hey Andy,

Thanks! I still don't have them set up, the geniuses at Fedex managed to put a fork lift into one of the boxes and dent the magnet assembly. I spoke to Wendell and he said that they have a jig that can sometimes pull the metal back out, but that it's hard to get it flat. If that doesn't work, they'll have to rebuild the driver. Meanwhile, I had to leave them undisturbed in the boxes until they examined them.

My long range plan is to do Satie's Neo 8 mod and tri amp them using digital XO, but if the midrange is in serviceable condition, I'm planning to go passive at first to get used to the sound and experiment with room positioning. I'm also curious about whether I could adapt some of the .7-type tech, e.g., 6 dB/octave crossovers. Satie's already done that on his Neo/IV setup. And the Neo's are already quasi ribbon. I asked Wendell about putting foil on the bass panel, but he said he doesn't think it's worth it and said in essence the Tympanis already have the best woofers he's ever heard, why mess with success.

[josh358]

Ouch - that's a bummer!    I suspect you will have to get Magnepan to re-build the driver(s). 

Yes, I think Satie's Neo 8 mid-range is probably the way to go, if you want the best mid-range.  I read his comments but I hadn't thought them any more than "interesting".     Then a mate of mine who has IIIs listened to some new statics made in Hobart, Tasmania, and commented how much "clearer" their mid range was, compared to our Maggies (he knows my system well).

So Neos is my next upgrade ... combined with 6dB XO slopes (so all the drivers can be in phase).

Regards,

Andy

A lot of people are also commenting on how homogenous the .7's sound. I was originally thinking of going with a linear phase digital filter but now I'm back to thinking 6 dB/octave, which seems to be easy enough to do with the Neo's, to improve driver blending. I wonder if putting foil on the woofers would improve blending as well. Also wondering if it would reduce Mylar noise and improve low level detail when applied to the woofer, or whether that's pretty much limited to the mids. It certainly seems to improve the damping but those modes seem to be at midrange frequencies.

[SteveFord]

The question for the factory was getting a bit sidetracked so the Tympani modifications are here if I can get this program to work for me.

[josh358]

Scotty: A cranky transporter is a mighty finicky piece of equipment to be gamblin' yer life on, sir.

[josh358]

Do they still sell Tympanis?

Not any more, alas.

[rw@cn]

I didn't think so, but the discussion seemed to be in the present tense. I thought I had somehow missed the biggest news in audio. 

[josh358]

I didn't think so, but the discussion seemed to be in the present tense. I thought I had somehow missed the biggest news in audio. 

The doesn't keep us from nagging Wendell, though. Which is how I heard this. That doesn't mean we won't prevail, though! The official word as of some months ago, as reported by Jonathan Valin and confirmed by Mark Winey, is that it's being considered, but that a decision hasn't been made.

[SteveFord]

There's enough talk about people wanting an updated Tympani.
Just do it and get it over with!

[josh358]

That's the way I look at it -- if they come out with a new one, they get to make us all shut up.

[berni]

That's the way I look at it -- if they come out with a new one, they get to make us all shut up.

But it would probably be to expensive again. 

[josh358]

But it would probably be to expensive again. 

According to Jim Winey, that's why they originally stopped making them. And when I spoke to Wendell about it, he was concerned about expense as well. They take their reputation as a value company very seriously.

My own belief is that they can still fulfill that role by offering the best value at each level. The criteria I think should be whether they offer better value than the competition, and whether the sonic merits of a model justify the price differential. One risk with something like the Tympani or any high end product is that you reach the point of diminishing returns. However, based on my own experience with Tympanis, I think they're very far from that -- particularly since a new Tympani would presumably include .7-level technology. It would be wonderful indeed to hear the neutrality of the 3.7's combined with the magisterial heft of the Tympanis.

[berni]

Why building a Tympani??
I would go for a "DMW XXL" which would really extend the smaller(and even the bigger) models and give them more slam and punch.
I think with 3.7, 20.7 and Tympani they would eat their own money, because they would have to many models.

[josh358]

There used to be an idea thread here (what happened to it?) and mine was for a modular Tympani, e.g., a single mid-tweeter panel that would run from maybe 80-100 Hz to 20 kHz and separate Tympani bass panels that could be mated to the single panel or used as subs with the other models. That way you could use the mid-tweet panel with a conventional woofer if you didn't have space.

Well, it turns out that the Tympani IIIA was available in a similar configuration, you could buy the woofers and mid-tweeter panels separately (each were two panels, for a total of four). So my invention wasn't much of one! But I still like the idea, since it would solve two problems at once -- adding bass slam for all of the models or even other brands of speaker like stats, and a high-quality 18" wide Maggie for people who have limited space or WAF problems. You could even combine the mid-tweeter panel with the DWM's for a system that's much more compact and higher in WAF than a 3.7, then add dynamic subs for the bottom octave.

Agree that a new Tympani would cannibalize some of their 20.7 sales, but they'd make money off it anyway, plus I think some new sales would come from people who would otherwise choose costlier alternatives to the 20.7. With middle income people strapped and the rich doing better than ever, higher end equipment is the one bright spot in the audio market right now, and many manufacturers have been extending their lines in that direction. Also, I think speakers in this range are becoming specialty items, few dealers are going to display them and people are already flying to the Magnepan factory for a listen to the 20.7 -- a small investment for that kind of cash. So dealer floor space isn't really an issue.

Still, I like your idea of leveraging the DMW technology. The only thing I'd add is the availability of that 18" mid-tweet panel. Even in a full-sized system, it would take up less floor space than your DMW XXL plus a 3.7 or 20.7, and it could be aesthetically consistent.

[jhm731]

With separate Tympani woofers panels you use them like this:

[josh358]

There's also the IVA split configuration:

[SteveFord]

From Stereopile:
Tympani Specifications
Description: Flat-panel dipolar, magnetically driven panel speaker. Drive-units: 1254in2 planar woofer. 135in2 planar midrange unit, planar tweeter (I, IA), 15in2 ribbon tweeter (IVA). Crossover frequency: 3.2kHz. Frequency response: 32Hz–40kHz ±4dB (IVA). Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Maximum power handling: 500W.
Dimensions: Three panels, each 18" W by 72" H by 2" D. Weight: 70 lbs each (I, IA); 106 lbs (IVA).
Price: $795/per pair (I, 1973); $3800/pair (IVA, 1984); no longer manufactured (2005).

20.7 Specifications from the owner's manual:
System Description: 3-Way, full-range, ribbon speaker with quasi-ribbon midrange and quasi-ribbon bass
and true ribbon tweeter.
Frequency Response: 25Hz--40 kHz
Sensitivity: 86 dB, 500Hz, 1 meter, 2.83V
Impedance: Nominal 4 Ohms
Dimensions: 29 W x 79 H x 2 1/2 D inches
Warranty: LIMITED. 5 years to original owner. 1 year on ribbon tweeter.
Shipping Weight: 350 lbs.

I stand corrected, the shipping charges should be comprable.

[SteveFord]

A fellow at AA was good enough to post a link to the Tympani IV/IV-a owner's manual:

http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/pix/MikeBarney/manual.pdf

It looks like there's quite a few different ways to go about setting them up.

[josh358]

Funny you mention the weight, because I was just plotting how to get my IVa's upstairs. I got them up the front porch stairs myself but this time I have to go down the kitchen stairs, through the yard, and up the rear stairs. Don't think I want to do that myself.

The ability to use them in the narrow room split configuration contributed to my choice, too close to the wall and they'll boom and too close to the center and they'll block the screen. So even a 3.x would have been a stretch for my listening room. I know a couple of people who have tried it with good results. You can split the IV too, though you'd presumably have to come up with some extra feet (if it's like the 1-D, anyway, which only has feet on the center panel).

BTW, Wendell says that people usually set up the Tympanis wrong. There really is method to the madness, e.g., that little jog in the bass panels is important.

[jhm731]

A fellow at AA was good enough to post a link to the Tympani IV/IV-a owner's manual:

http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/pix/MikeBarney/manual.pdf

It looks like there's quite a few different ways to go about setting them up.

I like the suggestion about using cat repellant.

BTW-$3800. in 1984 = $8400 today.