Magnepan MG-20 loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Full-range planar loudspeaker using a ribbon tweeter and "quasi-ribbon" mid- and bass drivers. Frequency response: 25Hz–40kHz ±3dB. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Sensitivity: 85dB/W/m at 500Hz. Recommended minimum power: 100W RMS (8 ohms rated). Recommended maximum power: 300W RMS (8 ohms rated). Crossover system: single-amp operation with optional XO-20 passive network; bi-amp operation with user-supplied electronic crossover.
Dimensions: 79" H by 29" W by 21/2" D. Shipping weight: 250 lb/pair.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 0163-1 & 2.
Price: $9200/pair, $695/pair for XO-20 passive crossover (1994); no longer available (2019). Approximate number of dealers: 23.
Manufacturer: Magnepan, 1645 Ninth Street, White Bear Lake, MN 55110. Tel: (612) 426-1645. Fax: (612) 426-0441. Web: magnepan.com.

COMPANY INFO
Magnepan
1645 Ninth Street
White Bear Lake
MN 55110
(612) 426-1645
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
yooperaudio's picture

A TWENTY-FOUR year old article is posted here, with some kind of assumption that it will be valued? Jesus god - get a grip.

John Atkinson's picture
yooperaudio wrote:
A TWENTY-FOUR year old article is posted here, with some kind of assumption that it will be valued?

This review is of what was at that time Magnepan's flagship loudspeaker and will be of interest to many. When we launched our website, our plan was to post every review that had been published in Stereophile to our on-line archives and we are well on the way to achieving that goal.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

Bogolu Haranath's picture

The latest version is 20.7 .......May be Stereophile could review them? :-) .........

Bogolu Haranath's picture

"Get a Grip" ......... Aerosmith :-) ........

JRT's picture

I thank you and/or others responsible for posting this interesting content.

My comment here is intended as counterbalance to complaints about posting older articles.

Respectfully,
JRT

prerich45's picture

Bravo!!!!!! I enjoy reading blast from the past!!!! Especially the Infinity Composition Prelude PFR and the MTS reviews!!!!

marklawrence's picture

I'm considering buying some of these used. I find your review quite helpful, thank you very much. The fact that yooper doesn't is TMI.

Jim Austin's picture

We respect tradition, and history, and our elders.

Plus, whatever you might think, these historic articles are widely and enthusiastically read.

Jim Austin, Editor
Stereophile

yooperaudio's picture

Oh please. What a load of BS. Elders? Fuck your pomposity and your lawn.

Jim Austin's picture

You cannot make him drink.

I'm thinking our site is a poor match for you. Do you agree?

Jim Austin, Editor
Stereophile

yooperaudio's picture

Happily, yes. Carry on with your self-aggrandizing myth-making. You’re grand!

Jim Austin's picture

Excellent. I'm glad we agree. Goodbye.

Jim Austin, Editor
Stereophile

scottsol's picture

Unlike printed magazines where editorial page count is limited by ad revenues, posting old reviews has no effect on the number of posts with new information.

Moreover, in the many years that Stereophile has been posting old material they have typically received more reader comments than new material.

So, your comment was not only of no possible significance, but completely wrongheaded in its premise.

Bogolu Haranath's picture

DO's description of 'Planar Imaging', with JA1's comments, are an interesting read :-) .........

gcvanwinkle's picture

The $650 LRS OWNS the older Model 20 in terms of time coherent performance:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/magnepan-lrs-loudspeaker-measurements

The use of a first-order crossover pays off - along with a little care in speaker placement. Now test a newer 3-way Magnepan and see if they can do the same trick with a more complex design.

And thanks for the look back in time!

Joppe Peelen's picture

haha yeah sure, nice all the hype on the LRS. witch still is the normal basic magnepan. foil and conductors in this case being foil. ribbon speaker is a missleading name. And im pretty sure the 20.7 would rock the world of an LRS , as it should. far more surface area true ribbon not a normal planar, and push pull mid... what else do you want to improve over the LRS? the first order filter? yes i personally go for first order on my planars if i can. but time aligned ? NO. the tweeter and the mid/bass use the same foil and are toed in, besides that the midrange/bass is rather big so perfect time alignment is not doable. not that it matters much either. since the frequencies they are crossed are lower then usual, then with a dome tweeter. as for the 20.7 that would even improve since its a 3 way.

volvic's picture

Back in 1989 I auditioned what I thought was going to be my final turntable purchase, it was between the Linn LP-12 and Roksan Xerxes. The speakers used were the large Maggies, I believe they may have been the 20's or at the very least the precursors to the 20's reviewed above. The speakers and Bryston electronics were revealing enough to let me make my decision. I can still remember the addictive sound they had and if I had space in my Manhattan apt I would have swapped my Kans for a pair of Maggies. Love that Stereophile releases these old reviews. Takes me back to a time when physical media was king and when retail hi-fi stores were more plentiful.

BDP24's picture

yooperaudio's comments certainly mirror the unnecessary nastiness I see in so much social interaction these days. Dick Olsher has long been amongst my two or three favorite hi-fi critics of all time, and much of what he had to say about the MG20 is timeless, and still relevant today. I happen to own a pair of Tympani T-IVa, which can be viewed as the basic blueprint for the current Maggie flagship, the MG30.7. Thanks for the reprint, though I still have my copy of the issue it appeared in. A Stereophile subscriber since 1972!

Big eugene's picture

Re: yooperaudio. Wow....what an absolutely pathological, colossal, jerk. No real arguments, just pejoratives.
If this is what passes for civility these days, we're finished as a society.

David Harper's picture

another interesting read would be a review of the original Acoustat monitor, the one that resembled the black monolith in "2001". My friend had a pair of these and they sounded amazing.

scottsol's picture

The Acoustat model that most closely resembled the 2001 monolith was the 2+2 which arrived five years after the first Acoustat. Ironically, they bore a far greater resemblance to that monolith than the first Martin Logan speaker, the Monolith.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/acoustat-22-loudspeaker

David Harper's picture

maybe those were the ones my friend had. I just ordered the new maggie LRS.

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