Magnepan MG-IIIA's compared to the MG-I improved, and what should I be warry of?

I actually had a little solder left from my Maggie tweeter kit. I stripped the coating off then bent the ends to make little hooks to hold the wires together, then applied the solder. Got continuity with my meter.

Also make sure the resistance doesn't change. I did a solder repair of a broken wire on my MG-2.5's and it worked at first. Then I noticed the speaker in question wasn't playing as loudly as the other speaker. I checked the actual resistance and it had risen to 12-ohms. I ended up re-wiring the panel and figured I was good-to-go for another 20yrs or so.
 
Well, tried the White Bear way with Super77 and it was an epic fail. Now the wires were all over the place. Since I did it just outside my garage, I think it's too hot for it and the tac window is too narrow to hold the wires. So I went with the Peter Gun DAP Woodweld method. I also tried a Rat Shack 12V 3 amp power supply to hold the wire down, Fail. Maybe not enough juice. Managed to get the wires sorted out and used a gazillion fender washers to hold down the wire while I applied the DAP. Seemed to hold and went over it with Fastbond, PG seemed to think you might not need to, the DAP would be sufficient. Anyway, I'll let it set up tonight and test it tomorrow. The other panel won't be near this bad. Should be done tomorrow night. Oh, the solder where I repaired the break held up. Steady 5.5 ohm reading.

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Another thing. The crossover boxes I got are for a MG-III not IIIA. The schematic shows an additional "coil" running from the bass output. Wonder how far off they will sound? Maybe magnepan can modify them for me.
 
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Damn. Another issue. I was putting the protective strip back on to move it after testing it and the magnet grabbed the bottom and slapped it against the ribbon tweeter. Yeap, got to replace that one. :mad:
 
Number one before the tweeter disaster. Number two after just finishing the DAP Attack. Almost ready for the Fastbond.

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Damn. Another issue. I was putting the protective strip back on to move it after testing it and the magnet grabbed the bottom and slapped it against the ribbon tweeter. Yeap, got to replace that one. :mad:

WHAT?!? Dang!! :( As in, you have to order one from Magnepan?
 
Fastbond away. I going to let these set till tomorrow. More than enough excitement for one day.

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Well, I try to look at it what I paid for them, even with that is a bargain. Even with that If I do decide to make these my "last" set of speakers, I can send them to Magnepan to get a complete rebuild and still be ahead of the game. The guy I got them from wanted to use them for his HT fronts. He had no idea what they would need to make them right.
 
Hooked them up this mourning before I went to work and listened to a couple tracks. Even with the issues, they sounded good.
 
The slopes on the high pass crossover are different between the MGIII and the MGIIIa. The crossovers should work, but the high pass will have a 6db slope at 800hz as opposed to a 12db slope at 500hz This will allow more information to be shared by both panels. I used a Behringer CX2100 (current model CX2310)on my MGIIIa to bi-amp them using the internal crossover between the midrange and tweeter. The one draw back is the fixed Linkwitz-Riley 24db slopes which I find too steep. It also allowed a subwoofer output which I employed as well. I now tri-amp them using a modified Behringer DCX2496, and run the stereo NHT W2 subwoofers with a NHT X1 crossover. Have some fun and good luck,
Jim


http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/articles/speakers.html
 
Been listening to the IIIa past few days getting to know them. They are much better than the SMG and MG-1 versions I've had, mainly in the frequency range, even with one ribbon out I can tell the difference. And as many stated with high energy rock they definitely have an edge in the upper end. I hooked a small tweeter to the one to help balance the highs out. And with the comments about the difference in the III & IIIa's crossover points, I hooked up an EQ I had to try to balance it out. It did help smooth things out. I'm calling Magnepan to see about getting the ribbon ordered. Even with not the ideal setup The soundstage is typical Magnepan, broad and deep. The IIIa's don't exhibit some of the usual shortcomings of the smaller models I've had, especially when you move about the room. I think when I get everything squared away I will be very happy with these.

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I think when I get everything squared away I will be very happy with these.
Yes, that can happen.

With the taller speaker moving about the room you don't lose the highs as one can with the shorter speakers unless they are tilted way back. The ribbon also sounds much better than the planar magnetic tweeter which has a much more limited range.
 
One down, one to go. Not going to completely seal it until I get the new tweeter.

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That looks great, Gary7!

a set of true ribbon maggies is pretty much all that is left of my 'wish' list, someday.
Meanwhile, my 1.6QR's sound mighty fine in my main system, they may not have that top end perfection that ribbons, and EMIT Infinity's do, but they do sound amazing otherwise.
 
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