World’s FIRST Review: The Magnepan 2.7X

A long journey of refinement

Visiting Echo Audio in Portland, Oregon always turns up something intriguing from my audio journey, and this day would be no different. Lurking in the back room was a pair of Magnepan MGII speakers  that a customer had recently traded in. As Philip J. Fry in Futurama says, “take my money.” But I was a day too late, they had already been snagged by another customer.

Back in the early 80s when selling JBL L-100s (the originals) was a big part of my day job, and a pair of ESS AMT-1 Towers were my reference speakers, these big panels from a relatively new company in Minnesota redefined my perspective on what a speaker was capable of. Little did I know at the time that those Heil AMT tweeters I was digging would prepare me for what was to come.

Back in Milwaukee, Wisconsin my local high-end dealer, Audio Emporium was an amazing place just to hang out and take in all the latest and greatest things at a time that the industry was growing at a rapid pace. At one end of their main listening room was a pair of three panel speakers that looked like a Herman Miller room divider – the mighty Tympani. I’m pretty sure these were $1,995 a pair and were being driven by a big Threshold amplifier, either the 400A or the 4000A.

The sound was breathtaking and huge. I made the salesman, Jonathan Spelt (now co-owner of Ultra Fidelis in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) play “Pimp” by The Tubes from their recently released Young and Rich album. Classical music was playing earlier, so Spelt rolled his eyes at my taste in music. (as he often did back then)

While a $1,995 pair of speakers was out of reach that day, a customer had just traded in his MGIIs in for a pair of Tympanis, and they had a three- or four-hundred-dollar price tag affixed. Perfect. I honestly don’t remember how I got those nearly six-foot-tall speakers home, but I was excited. Unfortunately, at home they did not sound as breathtaking through my Nakamichi 600 series components as they did at AE. This would result in many more trips to AE and a radical shift in my personal priorities – but that’s another story for another day.

Today’s Magnepans

Forty-five years later, Magnepans are still built in Minnesota, not too far away from Audio Research, and they are still the champions of high-end audio value. Their basic look has been subtly refined, but much has gone on underneath the grille cloth.

Where an electrostatic speaker (think MartinLogan or Quad) uses a thin membrane coated with a conductive material, suspended between two charged panels (a grid in the Quads and the perforated metal in the ML) moving back and forth to push air, the Magnepans use a membrane bonded with a foil very similar to that in a ribbon driver, pushed and pulled by a fixed traditional magnet. Magenpan refers to this as a “quasi-ribbon design.” The 2.7x uses a quasi-ribbon woofer and midrange, mated to a 40-inch-tall ribbon tweeter, going nearly the full height of the 2.7.

The original Magnepan speakers had wires embedded into the membrane, which produced a slower sound than current Magnepans, and were prone to separation if owners placed them too close to windows with direct sunlight. A testament to Magnepans longevity and customer service, you can still get most vintage Magnepan speakers repaired and brought back to spec. In a world of new speaker companies emerging that merely source box, crossover and components from a Chinese factory, this is value few companies of any kind provide today. It’s another reason that Magnepans are a long-term purchase for so many music lovers. I’ve met a lot of audio enthusiasts over the years that started out with their Dad’s Magnepans.

Auto enthusiasts often quip, “there’s no replacement for displacement.” I’ve always felt the same way with panel speakers – the more panel area, the more lifelike they sound. That’s not quite as cool, is it? Exciting and dynamic as ribbon tweeters sound, they often come across as directional because they just don’t have the surface area that the Magnepan tweeter has.

Setup

If you are someone that does not read manuals or quick start guides, listen up:

When unpacking your Magnepans, you will notice a thin metal strip covering the ribbon tweeter on the rear side. Remove this extremely slowly with extreme care. Otherwise the pressure will destroy the ribbon tweeter element! (And I’m guessing this isn’t covered by warranty.). You’ve been warned.

Magnepan says to face the tweeters to the inside of the setup; moving them to the outside edges will make the stereo image more diffuse. This has always been my experience with the speakers as well. Much like other speakers, they suggest forming an equilateral triangle with your listening position, and more than three feet from the back wall.

In most rooms you will get a wider, more open sound stage if you can take advantage of the large wall. Once they start getting closer together, they start to sound like a big mono speaker, losing their ability to image as well.  The triangle is a great place to start but optimizing the rear wall placement for the best balance of bass reinforcement with bass to midrange smoothness first and then moving them wider apart until the image just falls apart will make for the maximum stereo image. Having mine on a 24 foot wall allowed for a slightly wider setup, because the side walls were still not coming into play.

Magnepan claims response from 40-30kHz =/- 3db, and while we don’t do formal measurements, listening to a series of test tones sweeping down from 100 to 30 Hz, 10 Hz at a time the 50Hz tone is solid, the 40 tapers off a bit, and by 30Hz, no meaningful output.

There are jumpers between the woofers and midrange drivers, as well as the midrange and tweeter, so that they can be wired with single conductor speaker cables, but you will need bananas, (or adaptors) and they will have to be relatively small. The jacks that are used to plug the speakers in use a small set screw, so use the supplied hex wrench to screw them all the way out and insert the bananas with extreme care. Do not wiggle them side to side, or you may damage the circuit board they are attached to.

Amplifier choices

The 2.7x has a claimed sensitivity of 86dB/1-watt, so they are moderately inefficient. However, unlike some of the early Magnepan ribbon and quasi-ribbon designs, these speakers are very easy to drive. Great results are achieved with any fairly robust amplifier, tube or solid-state with about 80 watts per channel or more. Listening began with the BAT VK80i power amplifier which delivers about 75 watts per channel, but has speaker taps to accommodate lower impedance speakers. The PrimaLuna EVO 400 monos with KT150s deliver close to 200 watts per channel, and their ever so slight warmth in the mid bass region really suits the Magnepans well.

With three versions of Pass Labs amplifiers on hand (the XA60.8 monos, the XA200.8 monos, and the X600.8 monos) all provide excellent but different results. The XA amplifiers are full class A designs and sound more like tubes, where the X-series amplifier runs class A for about the first 50 watts, and AB for the rest. Personal preference, I’d probably choose the AB amp and give up a little warmth for the extra snap the AB amplifier provides.

Fantastic results was also achieved with the CH Precision i1 integrated, and the Java Hifi Double Shot Class D power amplifier (400 wpc) This too was a snappy, dynamic choice. Where I was Class D adverse for years, these amplifiers with their large power reserves really make the Magnepans come alive in a way they do not with lower powered amplifiers.

As always, experiment!

Listening

For old times’ sake, critical listening had to begin with The Tubes. Aural memory is often considered fleeting, yet when you’ve listened to several components from a manufacturer over decades, a generational memory evolves. And, it wasn’t that long ago I had a pair of Tympanis. (Purchased from Echo, of course)

The original Magnepans because of higher mass drivers, are not as agile with fast transients as the current models. Yet, when they were introduced, were lightning fast compared to cone and box designs of the time. The lightness of the quasi-ribbon driver removes the mid-bass flatness that Magnepans used to have. Listening to kick drums, and various other instruments reveals a very lifelike  rendition, and the blend with the full ribbon tweeter is a lovely match indeed.

The signature Magnepan sonic size is still there in abundance, providing room filling sound, and while box and cone speakers have improved tremendously, there’s still something incredible about the sound field that a big panel can create in a room.

Moving along to more favorite tracks, weighing heavily on layered vocals, acoustic instruments, and smaller scale classical music plays to the spacious strength of the 2.7x. Listen to Joni Mitchell or CSN and you might never need to hear a mini monitor again. That sheer sonic size is captivating.

The current Magnepans go deeper with more clarity than past models as well. These still aren’t speakers you’re going to play Cardi B on at club level, but I did listen to a lot of Lenny Kravitz without an issue. Good as todays speaker manufacturers have become at eliminating cabinet-related effects, no cabinet at all is a unique experience.

More tech

While I haven’t heard the stock 2.7i ($6,000/pair) I have spent plenty of time with the 1.7 and it’s not as much about one particular virtue, the x delivers clarity, resolution, and tonal accuracy that the I does not. Is it worth another $4,000? I think it does. Some might ask the question “why not just eliminate the I,” and leave crazed audiophiles with only one choice?

To Magnepan’s credit, I feel leaving both models makes it a lot easier to approach their products. You may just not have ten grand for speakers right now. Being able to get into the i model and get started, leaves you an upgrade path, buying into the form factor you want right now.

Because the 2.7s are only about 50 pounds each, when you want to upgrade to the x model, (which is a straight $4,000 upgrade) you’re only out the cost of shipping them back to the factory. If by some chance you’ve managed to pick up a used pair, the x model becomes an even better value proposition.

As with every other panel speaker I’ve owned, which model to pick is usually more about room size. The more volume your room has, the more panel area you’ll need to fill it. This is why you might prefer a 2.7 to one of the larger or smaller models. That said, the 2.7s do a very good job creating a large three-dimensional image in my 24 x 36-foot room. They seemed slightly constricted in my 13 x 18-foot living room – I remember having excellent luck with the 1.7s in that room.

The magic of the x model is the attention paid to the upgrades over the i model. Enthusiasts have been making their own modifications to their Magnepans for years, installing better crossover components (resistors, capacitors, inductors, and wire) that hasn’t been sanctioned by the factory. Just as Mercedes-Benz eventually bought AMG and made their tweeks factory standard models (with full warranty) the x model Magnepans have this level of attention to parts quality, component matching, and assembly detail to bear. I know what I’d rather have.

This proves a couple of things – we were on to something all along, and the robustness of the actual Magneplanar driver is over engineered and capable of much more performance that what is delivered in stock form. Either way you win.

I have only two minor complaints with the 2.7x, and they may not be practical to address. I’d love to see these speakers with much better binding posts. They still use the same tiny binding posts the originals did, and cables have become bigger and heavier. I’d love to see more robust legs, even if it meant an additional upcharge. Should I end up purchasing the review pair, I may just get one of my car buddies to fire up the tig-welder and build some stronger stands that can be filled.

Equally important, one aspect of Magnepan design that they have improved dramatically is the stiffness of the speakers’ frame. If you owned earlier models, you know they were a little bit floppy, and this contributed to a slight loss in imaging specificity. There have been a few aftermarket solutions, but all unattractive. The new speakers have a simple elegance about them and Magnepan offers about 16 different frame/grille cloth combinations.

More listening

Going through a wide range of musical styles, the 2.7x plays a lot more music in a much more immersive way than past models, though they still have a few minor shortcomings. This still isn’t a speaker that you can play Tool, Slayer, Zeppelin, or other really heavy rock tracks at moderately high to really high levels, as you can with a cone speaker. Adding a high quality subwoofer will bridge that gap somewhat, and we will address the match up of the 2.7x with a pair of REL Classic 99s in another article. However, I’m guessing that if Tool and Slayer are a major staple in your musical diet, you’re not a panel speaker person to begin with. And remember there are a ton of small monitor speakers that can’t do this either, no disrespect to the Magnepans.

I only present this caveat to the uninitiated. At the end of the day, you still owe it to hear a pair of these, and decide for yourself. I suspect those with a wide range of musical taste will find the strengths of the 2.7x will far outweigh their few weaknesses.

The only other one is the speakers needing to get up above whisper level to come alive. And again, this is something nearly all panel speakers need to do, so they can move a bit more air. That big, planar surface isn’t moving a lot, so it has to get going!

Listening to a wide range of David Bowie’s late 70s/early 80s work is a joy. The discordant piano in “Aladdin Sane” delivers goosebumps, and “Scary Monsters” serves up an exciting level of pace. Closing it up with the three King Crimson records from that period, Discipline, Beat, and Three of a Perfect Pair take advantage of KC’s dense sonics but could use a touch more down deep. Switching program material for the etherial vocals of Kim Deal’s latest release, Nobody Loves You More, brings me right back into the rapture zone.

In the end

Keep the Magnepan 2.7x speakers operating in their optimum zone with music that plays to their strengths delivers an experience few speakers can match. There’s a truth in the mid 85% of the musical spectrum that is hard to ignore. Where similarly priced MartinLogans will play louder and go deeper (because they are a hybrid design with a DSP crossover and two active woofers) but that’s not really an apples to apples comparison, just as comparing an older Porsche Boxster with a six-cylinder normally aspirated engine to the current model with a higher-torque, four cylinder turbo model. They are still the same car from the same company, but the way they deliver the experience is very different – though each will be highly satisfying to a certain customer.

And if they are, you’ll probably never have another speaker. These are by far an exceptional value, though we are actually awarding these speakers one of our Masterpiece Awards at the end of the year. This award (and we only hand out two or three per year) is reserved for companies that make incredible products – delivering performance, value, and customer support, but have provided this for decades.

I can’t think of a company and product more deserving.

And on that tip, Dave Holmes is still selling Magnepans to happy customers. You can visit his site here:

https://www.audioemporium.com/

Should you stop by for an audition, tell him I said hello!