Craig F
22nd June 2005, 08:01 AM
Howdy,
I've heard a lot about the benefits that replacing the internal crossover on Magneplaner speakers can bring. Magnapan are obviously against this as you're messing with the voicing of the speaker, something that they've worked long and hard to get exactly as they want. Well I'm no tech so apart from thinking about it, I hadn't done anything concrete in that area. A couple of weeks back there was a post on the Planar section of Audio Asylum about these capacitors:
http://www.diyhifisupply.com/diyhs_ob_caps.htm
At US$15 each for the 22uF units, I thought I'd get a couple and give them a go as they're cheap, I can happily solder a couple of wires and if I didn't like the results I could simply put the original caps back in. The worst thing about them is that they're too big to fit in the space vacated by the old caps, so I now have a bulge in the back of the speaker.
After changing one speaker over I put good old Ella and Louis (mono) on the cd player and hit track 3. Being mono I could just switch the balance to compare the speakers and as they say, mono is the best way to hear colourations etc. Well quite simply the modified speaker was more transparent, added much more body to the sound, was tonally and harmonically richer, more detailed, and simply more musically convincing. The second speaker was immediately done and I spent last night getting a handle on what had changed.
Simply put, most everything has improved and for most of the night either my jaw was agape or I was just laughing out loud. Possibly what struck me most was the sheer phyiscality now evident with the individual images much more solid. This and an large increase in the rhythmic surity keep jumping out at me, which I'm putting down to extra clarity and the better dynamic shadings. The overall sound is much richer without any dulling of the tops or muddying of the midrange. Dynamics, both macro and micro have stepped up a notch or two, as has detail which really shows itself in the decay of notes which seem to go on forever. The soundstage has possibly deepened and widened a touch, but the main improvement in that area is greater air around each instrument which gives more of a 3D image. All these bits put together help to create a more musically believable illusion and have improved both the sound and more importantly the musicality of my system. The sound is more relaxing yet it's also more exciting if that makes any sense.
I don't know if the caps will continue to improve for a day or two and I also don't know if over time I'm come to spot glaring weaknesses but for now, AWESOME.
Cheers,
Craig.
P.S. My wife, ever the pragmatist, was essentially offended that such a cheap tweak could "improve" a NZ$4.5k (AU$5.5k) speaker so much. She thought they should get it right in the first place for that price.
I've heard a lot about the benefits that replacing the internal crossover on Magneplaner speakers can bring. Magnapan are obviously against this as you're messing with the voicing of the speaker, something that they've worked long and hard to get exactly as they want. Well I'm no tech so apart from thinking about it, I hadn't done anything concrete in that area. A couple of weeks back there was a post on the Planar section of Audio Asylum about these capacitors:
http://www.diyhifisupply.com/diyhs_ob_caps.htm
At US$15 each for the 22uF units, I thought I'd get a couple and give them a go as they're cheap, I can happily solder a couple of wires and if I didn't like the results I could simply put the original caps back in. The worst thing about them is that they're too big to fit in the space vacated by the old caps, so I now have a bulge in the back of the speaker.
After changing one speaker over I put good old Ella and Louis (mono) on the cd player and hit track 3. Being mono I could just switch the balance to compare the speakers and as they say, mono is the best way to hear colourations etc. Well quite simply the modified speaker was more transparent, added much more body to the sound, was tonally and harmonically richer, more detailed, and simply more musically convincing. The second speaker was immediately done and I spent last night getting a handle on what had changed.
Simply put, most everything has improved and for most of the night either my jaw was agape or I was just laughing out loud. Possibly what struck me most was the sheer phyiscality now evident with the individual images much more solid. This and an large increase in the rhythmic surity keep jumping out at me, which I'm putting down to extra clarity and the better dynamic shadings. The overall sound is much richer without any dulling of the tops or muddying of the midrange. Dynamics, both macro and micro have stepped up a notch or two, as has detail which really shows itself in the decay of notes which seem to go on forever. The soundstage has possibly deepened and widened a touch, but the main improvement in that area is greater air around each instrument which gives more of a 3D image. All these bits put together help to create a more musically believable illusion and have improved both the sound and more importantly the musicality of my system. The sound is more relaxing yet it's also more exciting if that makes any sense.
I don't know if the caps will continue to improve for a day or two and I also don't know if over time I'm come to spot glaring weaknesses but for now, AWESOME.
Cheers,
Craig.
P.S. My wife, ever the pragmatist, was essentially offended that such a cheap tweak could "improve" a NZ$4.5k (AU$5.5k) speaker so much. She thought they should get it right in the first place for that price.