Magnepans Best Friend
Presenting The MD Series Bass Augmentation Speaker System
There is something magical about the way a Magnepan speaker couples to the room and to our ears. I’m not here to promote the brand. Those are just my observations. And my opinion. And I know I’m not alone. Many moons ago a friend asked if I could design a subwoofer to supplement his beloved Maggies. To be honest, I was familiar with the brand, but had never owned a pair. This was the beginning of the development of the MD Series – Bass Augmentation Speaker Systems. His issue with subwoofers was that they always sounded so different from his Magnepans. He could not get a seamless blend between the two. The reason has a lot to do with moving mass. The Maggies have a large surface area and low moving mass. It’s where the magic comes from. Subwoofers, on the other hand, exhibit less surface area and have a lot more moving mass. This causes an audible discontinuity that is hard to ignore. To reproduce low frequencies with authority we have to move a lot of
air. No matter what the advertising implies, no one has managed to beat the
laws of physics yet. The logical choice is to use large drivers to move large
amounts of air. But there’s always that moving mass thing…..
What if we used smaller drivers? They react quicker due to their lower
moving mass. They also move less air…..unless you use multiples of them.
In the case of the MD6 system, we’re using six 6.5” subwoofer drivers. These
very special drivers combine to move as much air as a 15” subwoofer while
maintaining the agility of a 6.5” subwoofer.
This is the system I presented to my friend. He was quite pleased with
the results…..and proceeded to build his own based on my design. What are
friends for? Of course I failed to tell him about all of the design parameters I
had incorporated into that design. Like I said, what are friends for?
I used the 2019 Florida Audio Expo as a test bed for market research
introducing the MD6. The response was really good. At the 2020 show we
received an even better response. Online and in print. I was using PS Audio
gear and had the wonderful Magnepan LRS’s at that time. The 2021 show
was canceled due to, well, you know.
During that time frame I finished the development of the MD2 system. I
had been thinking about that design for a long time so a lot of the preliminary
details had already been worked out. We launched the MD2 at the 2022
show. Again using the PS Audio electronics and the Magnepan LRS’s. And
again, the response was over the top. Our room was standing room only
most of the time. I do believe a great time was had by all. We put on a really
impressive presentation, if I do say so myself.
But enough of all this self promoting…..
There is much more to this story. Explore this site. You’ll see why we have
applied for a Patent. You can read what other’s have to say.
You’ll understand why we consider the MD Series
Bass Augmentation Speaker Systems
a Magnepans Best Friend.
Happy Listening
air. No matter what the advertising implies, no one has managed to beat the
laws of physics yet. The logical choice is to use large drivers to move large
amounts of air. But there’s always that moving mass thing…..
What if we used smaller drivers? They react quicker due to their lower
moving mass. They also move less air…..unless you use multiples of them.
In the case of the MD6 system, we’re using six 6.5” subwoofer drivers. These
very special drivers combine to move as much air as a 15” subwoofer while
maintaining the agility of a 6.5” subwoofer.
This is the system I presented to my friend. He was quite pleased with
the results…..and proceeded to build his own based on my design. What are
friends for? Of course I failed to tell him about all of the design parameters I
had incorporated into that design. Like I said, what are friends for?
I used the 2019 Florida Audio Expo as a test bed for market research
introducing the MD6. The response was really good. At the 2020 show we
received an even better response. Online and in print. I was using PS Audio
gear and had the wonderful Magnepan LRS’s at that time. The 2021 show
was canceled due to, well, you know.
During that time frame I finished the development of the MD2 system. I
had been thinking about that design for a long time so a lot of the preliminary
details had already been worked out. We launched the MD2 at the 2022
show. Again using the PS Audio electronics and the Magnepan LRS’s. And
again, the response was over the top. Our room was standing room only
most of the time. I do believe a great time was had by all. We put on a really
impressive presentation, if I do say so myself.
But enough of all this self promoting…..
There is much more to this story. Explore this site. You’ll see why we have
applied for a Patent. You can read what other’s have to say.
You’ll understand why we consider the MD Series
Bass Augmentation Speaker Systems
a Magnepans Best Friend.
Happy Listening
John
