Got my Magnepans back

-
71340Duster

71340Duster

FABO Gold Member
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2014
Messages
11,740
Reaction score
17,013
Location
Oak Harbor WA
These speakers were my fathers, went to my sister when he died. One of them had a problem and she gave them to me, I ordered the repair kit but didn't take on the repair, I'll just say it was very involved. Anyway, sent them to White Bear Minnesota and they replaced the panels as there was a tear in the mylar. This weekend I'll be refinishing the bases and oak trim along with finding some quality speaker wire. Can't wait to hear these, there's no "box" to color the sound and they are bipolar so the sound stage is incredible.

IMG_2974 (1).jpg


IMG_2972 (1).jpg


IMG_2976 (1).jpg
 
Whoa, cool as I always appreciate sound system equipment.
I have a vintage set of Sansui 6 way speakers with the selector for 3 different types of output.
These are my favorite speakers, but they are on light duty now because I use them with a Yamaha theater sound system receiver on my computer in my office.
 
TrailBeast said:
Whoa, cool as I always appreciate sound system equipment.
I have a vintage set of Sansui 6 way speakers with the selector for 3 different types of output.
These are my favorite speakers, but they are on light duty now because I use them with a Yamaha theater sound system receiver on my computer in my office.
Click to expand...

I had a friend with some Sansui vintage (well I am so there you go), I can't remember either 5 or 6 way. I do remember they wailed!
 
I like the old vintage speakers. Especially the big ones.
My shop speakers are near 30 years old,pioneers that my buddy bought new. Woofers croaked, so retrofiitted in a new set. They thump continously every day.
Shop tunes, makes the day go by that much faster.
 
Tooljunkie said:
I like the old vintage speakers. Especially the big ones.
My shop speakers are near 30 years old,pioneers that my buddy bought new. Woofers croaked, so retrofiitted in a new set. They thump continously every day.
Shop tunes, makes the day go by that much faster.
Click to expand...

I like having tunes in the garage as well. Old Pioneers, that sounds good! I have an old pair of Klipsch's, they have a rear facing passive woofer, would sound better further from the wall but they sound good if you are standing 10 feet away, I drive them with an old Harman Kardon.
 
I like planar speakers, I used to work at a place that assembled & sold some high end ribbon speakers. Kinda cool to deliver & set up a pair of $13,000 speakers that you built.
Technical point- Maggies are Dipolar rather than Bipolar. Bipolar speakers have drivers in the front and back of the cabinet, that are wired in phase,-They both push out from the cabinet at the same time. Dipolars are out of phase.
 
I rebuilt some 1958 KLH Six's. Those were some funky metal pipe yoke speakers with their reverse rolled edges and air tight suspension. They were disassembled, crossovers were tested and rebuilt with OEM Mallory caps, suspension was redoped, new Irish linen grills and one woofer was replaced with a metal basket model salvaged from another speaker. Cabinets were refinished as well. My first attempt at either speak or cabinet refinishing. The came out great, but are not rated for my 175 wpc 1978 Hitachi SR-904 class G receiver. I use my big JBL 830's for that. Dang garage sounds better than the 7.1 in the living room!

The original woofer basket was not made of stamped metal but was a 4 dowel "teepee" setup built into the front panel that supported the coil. Talk about labor intensive as each one was made then the speaker cones were glued into the front panel. Later models utilized the metal basket speakers "without loss of performance"....? The pic with the trash bag is full of fiberglass insulation that they filled the speaker with and put a screen over the woofer so it wouldnt come into contact. the entire cabinet was air tight so as to provide the woofer with a springy suspension. even the rolled mesh suspension was latex doped and the rear terminal panel was epoxy backfilled for air-tightness. it was a ***** to open up: I had to peel the front panel away from the cabinet, just like they were built. later models used a screw in woofer for access inside. This speaker almost put them under as the labor was so intensive, both in manufacturing and in repair.
a1.JPG
a2.JPG
a3.JPG
a4.JPG
a6.JPG
a7.JPG
a8.JPG
a9.JPG
a10.JPG
 
Very COOL. I always wanted to get a pair of Maggies. I think you can download placement instructions. They are critical of placement, but will reward you with tremendously. Feed them a fair amount of power, they are hungry. You might want to pair them with a sub. I would search for a used M&K on eBay.
The big daddy speakers we were doing had two 30 inch ribbons per speaker, so they were the Mids and highs. Four 8’s & a 13 with a 12 foot folded port tube per side. Bi-amped with 500 watt/channel McIntosh amp on the mid-bass & bass, 250 on mids/highs.

Those KLHs are cool too, nice project! That is a crazy looking bass driver
 
Holy crap man and I'm complaining about the time to use a little acetone to peel wires away from a very accessible mylar panel! Nice work, they just don't build them like they used to, and that's too bad in most cases. Thanks for sharing all the pics!
 
RogerRamRod said:
Very COOL. I always wanted to get a pair of Maggies. I think you can download placement instructions. They are critical of placement, but will reward you with tremendously. Feed them a fair amount of power, they are hungry. You might want to pair them with a sub. I would search for a used M&K on eBay.
The big daddy speakers we were doing had two 30 inch ribbons per speaker, so they were the Mids and highs. Four 8’s & a 13 with a 12 foot folded port tube per side. Bi-amped with 500 watt/channel McIntosh amp on the mid-bass & bass, 250 on mids/highs.

Those KLHs are cool too, nice project! That is a crazy looking bass driver
Click to expand...

Yep on power they are inefficient. Not as bad as the Acoustats I owned but none the less. I do have a sub, it's a powered 15 inch Klipsch. It's good for home theater, but I think will be too boomy and "slow" for these "fast" speakers. Does M & K have a low mass driver, or do they use two smaller drivers (like 6 inch?). Not sure how to find a good match, doing research and I will check into the M&K's, thanks.
 
How old are those KLH's? They look like a pair a friend I nd of mine had in about 1970. Smoked a whole lotta dope to the Allman Brothers in from of them!
 
JeffisOld said:
How old are those KLH's? They look like a pair a friend I nd of mine had in about 1970. Smoked a whole lotta dope to the Allman Brothers in from of them!
Click to expand...
1958, but these were done by me about 5 years ago. They made them for a while.
 
M&K made one that was dual 8’s. MX 70, iirc. Mine is very musical with dual 12s, but I also have it paired with M&K 6” 2ways. I’m not sure how it would be with “fast” speakers like magnapans
 
Used to have a set built by a guy that worked in a guitar amp shop.
They did really well, as i could imagine. They were Garnets. Very popular in this neck of the woods,used by many bands.
Saw the owner a few weeks ago, he hasent aged at all.too bad they arent in business any more.
 
Last edited:
I touched up the nicks with a stain pen, then cleaned them up with Formby's. Probably can't tell in the pics but the grain stands out quite a bit more, think the wood was dried out a bit, been sitting. Now it's off to the hardware store to get wood putty to fill the two extra holes that got drilled in the base?

IMG_2989.JPG


IMG_2991.JPG


IMG_2990.JPG
 
I always liked the planars with acoustic music, open and airy. Rock, dynamic classical, electronic jazz, not so much. I’ve never found an ideal speaker, always thought having two or three sets would be the best way to go.
What amps are you going to use to drive them? Be sure to show the final product, lookin good! :thumbsup:
 
clifftt said:
I always liked the planars with acoustic music, open and airy. Rock, dynamic classical, electronic jazz, not so much. I’ve never found an ideal speaker, always thought having two or three sets would be the best way to go.
What amps are you going to use to drive them? Be sure to show the final product, lookin good! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I agree with you on that, it is where this speaker shines. Any stringed instrument sounds so much different on this type of speaker. Also tho, there is no coloration of vocals which I enjoy hearing in rock music. I'm starting to get back into vinyl, eventually getting back to tube amps so will be listening to more Sheffield Labs recordings than I have in a long time. For now, to play my Dual turntable I have a mid 80's Pioneer A8 integrated amp and a Pioneer A7 tuner. Plenty of power in the A8.

IMG_1877.JPG


IMG_1878.JPG
 
HI Guys,
My license plate reads: HIFIGUY. I have been selling electronics since 1979. I have a custom audio video integration business here in Idaho now...I still love the music (and home theater) and its a privilege to bring that to my clients every day. One of my ongoing passions is to save these old, vintage speakers. Today's systems seem to center around smaller footprints and digital (compressed) audio. The only thing that has survived the test of time in this industry is high quality speakers (and to a some degree, great amplification). My primary speakers in my great room are a pair of 1983 ESS AMT1's. I have vintage Klipsch and many other awesome speakers stacked up in my inventory just waiting for an opportunity to put these gems back into service. I manage to come up with these speakers as we are transitioning people into new homes/systems. Current speakers are generally smaller because we mostly all use a subwoofer in our systems. Hence, we don't need the big 10, 12, or 15" woofers that these beauties carry. Current floor standing or bookshelf speakers carry mostly mids and high frequencies. Lots of time, people discard old speakers because of size and because the surround material that suspends the woofer deteriorates over time and falls away. They look destroyed at first glance.....For a bunch of crafty guys like you are out there, re-foaming the "surround" material is not that big of a deal. A couple of hours on your bench and you've got yourself a pair of speakers that sound better than most out there today at a bargain basement price! Keep on rockin' out there my FABO brothers!
IMG_7350.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top