Groovy Magneplanar ribbon speakers
By James Grahame
Bohus recently wrote about an eBay Auction for some groovy vintage Magneplanar speakers. I'm a sucker for anything flat and electronic, so I poked around the 'Net to see it the company is still alive and kicking. Much to my delight, they are.
"In 1969, Jim Winey invented the Magneplanar, a thin-film magnetic equivalent to the electrostat and started the company Magnepan, a speaker based company currently manufacturing home theater system speakers. Live music creates large area soundwaves having characteristics that can't be duplicated by little box speakers. Soundwaves emanating from live music help us determine 'is it Live or is it a speaker?' Reproducing large area soundwaves requires a speaker with a large surface area."
The company has sold more than 200,000 speakers over their 37 year history. Their 48 inch tall MMG is billed as the world's least expensive planar/ribbon speaker. It's sold direct from the factory at the outstandingly reasonably price of $550/pair. The MMG is available in natural or black solid oak trim with off-white, grey or black fabric. It offers 50 - 24 kHz frequency response (±3 dB) and requires an amplifier capable of driving a 4 Ohm impedance.
