A Tradition of Innovation and Advanced TechnologyHave you ever noticed that instruments projected from small boxes sitting on the floor sound like they are coming out of boxes on the floor? This problem can be partially corrected by placing the box speakers on tall speaker stands. However, the sound still seems to be coming out of a box, because that's precisely what it is doing.
The patented Magneplanar principle eliminates these problems by a fundamentally different approach to sound propagation. The Magneplanar projects sound from top to bottom, giving the sound height as well as stereo width and depth. In the concert hall, instruments project in all directions. Instead of projecting sound out of a box, Magneplanars project in all directions, which closely duplicates the original performance.
With your eyes closed the Magneplanar will allow you to "see" the original performance suspended in space. The full height, width and depth of the concert hall can be heard.
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Theoretically, loudspeakers should use massless drivers suspended in space with no box, magnet structure, or framework around the drivers. Most conventional box speakers are far from this ideal. The mass of the driver is high and the rear wave is contained within the box or magnet structure. While the frequency response can be smoothed out in a box speaker, the character of the sound is inevitably affected. The music sounds like it is coming out of a box-constricted and unnatural.
The Magneplanar diaphragm comes closer to the ideal driver. The mass is low and the diaphragm is not contained. The sound is permitted to radiate freely into space. With the box removed, Magneplanars sound more like you are there.
Uniform Drive
The power from an ampilifer causes the conventional cone speaker to react as if it had received a sharp blow at the voice coil. Since the outer portions of the cone cannot respond instantly, the cone will flex. The resulting cone breakup gives music a "fuzzy", "blurred" quality.
The Magneplanar eliminates cone breakup by driving the Magneplanar diaphragm over its entire area. The force from the amplifer is distributed over the entire diaphragm so that it all moves at the same time. Cone or diaphragm breakup is dramatically reduced and the integrity of the music is preserved.
Mass
The effect of mass on a loudspeaker can be illustrated by the comparison of a balloon and a beach ball. In the case of the balloon a nominal force such as a puff of wind will cause the balloon to accelerate quickly. When the force ceases, the balloon decelerates quickly. The same force will move the beach ball, however, the ball is slower to start and slower to stop. High mass is one of the main causes of sonic degraduation in conventional speakers.
Magneplanars use ultra low mass components. For example, the Magneplanar ribbon element is so thin, that on edge, it is invisible to the naked eye. It is so light that when a piece of it is dropped from a height of 6 feet it takes and average of 5 seconds for it to reach the floor. Conventional speaker designs prohibit such low mass-the force from the driving amplifier would crush conventional speakers made of such light materials. Only by driving the transducer over its entire area can you use materials of such low mass.
Quasi ribbon / Planar-Magnetic Driver
This unique technology developed by Magnepan is the heart of Magneplanar speaker. The Quasi-Ribbon shown is basically the same driver used for the mid and low frequencies of the Magneplanar speaker with the infusion of a heavier gauge wire replacing the thin aluminum ribbon. Using a .0005" Mylar diaphram and a .001" ribbon this diapole, cabinetless design leaves the sound absolutely un coloured by box resonances.
This design requires no transformer to compress the signal path and thus 'squeeze' the details that make music 'live'. The flat impedance and superb power response are kind to your amplifier and let your music free with an amazing imaging stage, and superb tonal accuracy. While they do require an amplifier with the ability to drive a 4 ohm load, they will make that amplifier sound simply like amplifiers costing several thousand dollars more!
True Ribbon Driver: The finest Ribbon driver in the world!
The Magnepan direct coupled Ribbon has absolutely no equal in high frequency sound reproduction. With its 360 degree radiating dipole design, the Ribbon Driver found in our award winning MG 3.6 and MG 20.1 speakers presents your music as you would have heard it when it was recorded. Subtle information which supports the detail of timbre and accuracy of the image are reproduced with such ease by your amplifier that you'll find yourself hearing details in your music you never heard before.
The difference between a real piano and a decent synthesizer is a stretch on some of the 'so called' high-end speakers. With Magnepan's accurate tonality and superior wave radiation, you'll find yourself distinguishng an Baldwin from a Steinway, or a Martin from a Breedlove. This ribbon's wideband operation theater doesn't hand that accurate and true image to a sloppy midrange at 5kh either! It 'sings' the image down to 1kh, where it is passed to a midrange of a similar design.... only with a silky smoothness which will have chills running down your spine.
Full-Range Dipole Speakers: The Audiophile's Choice
Despite the early reliability problems of electrostats and their large size many audiophiles have had a lifelong affection for the unique sound of full-range dipole speakers.
Jim Winey, the inventor of the Magneplanar, owned KLH9 electrostatic speakers and began experimental work to design an improved electrostat. In 1969, Jim invented the Magneplanar, a thin-film magnetic equivalent to the electrostat.
Many full-range dipole speakers have been marketed over the years, but the Magneplanar stands alone as the only true practical and affordable full-range dipole to be accepted by hard-core audiophiles and non-technical customers alike. In the last survey of Stereophile magazine readers, more audiophile readers owned Magneplanars than any other speaker.
From that taut, clean bass to the silky highs, full-range dipoles can create a seductive illusion of the original event. Once a listener develops a taste for dipole sound, few go back to conventional dynamic speakers.
Today you don't have to be a hard-core audiophile to own full-range dipoles. The beautifully crafted Magneplanars are advanced to satisfy the audiophile's dream, but domesticated in a way that belies their esoteric origins.
The Reference Magneplanar
The ultimate in Magnepan speaker technology is offered in the Reference Magneplanar. Every aspect of our design principles has been extended to new levels.
Successful speaker design considers a complex array of engineering issues. To be successful, the main requirement is that the drivers must be inherently "quick"! Outstanding transient response is not an option...it is mandatory. "Slow" tranducers can be engineered to sound pleasant, but can never achieve lifelike performance.
The Reference Magneplanar uses unique transducers which are physical impossibilities with conventional technology. Magneplanar's true line source ribbon tweeter is 1/10th the thickness of a human hair. The quasi-ribbon midrange would itself make a superior tweeter with flat response to beyond 20kHz; the thin film Diplanar bass driver, although used only below 150Hz, is "full-up" at 7kHz.
It is this conservative application of highly refined principles that has resulted in a loudspeaker system that fulfills the audiophile's highest ideals.
