- Joined
- Mar 1, 2003
- Location
- Mechanicsburg, PA
Hello everyone,
I recently got a hold of a pair of Magnepan MG-IIB planar speakers. They were in pretty good shape other than the "tweeters" being blown. In case your wonder what planar speakers I'll try to explain it to the best of my knowledge in a minute. Since the speakers are needing some work I'm planning to rebuild them. I need to replace the tweeter wire and do some touch up cosmetic work. I'm going to be working on them over the next month or so. Anyway I thought some of you guys might appreciate the speakers so I thought I would post some pictures. I'll try to get some of the rebuild process but It really shouldnt be to eventful. If I do take some pictures I'll be sure to post them!
So you may be asking what are Planar speakers? Well they are a very different type of speaker than the standard "cone" speakers you see these days. Instead of woofers and tweeters they use a VERY thin sheet of mylar to make the sound. The mylar sheet is stretched across a frame and glue in place around the edges. Then they run coated wire up and down the mylar to act as the "voice coil". Next there is a strip of magnets placed on one side of the mylar which will attract or repel the wires which are attached to the mylar sheet. Planar speakers still use magnets and a voice coil wire like normal cone speakers but instead of the actual cone (paper or plastic or metal etc) it uses the mylar sheet.
Magnepan is a company that has been making full range planar speakers for quite some time. They are a very interesting type of speaker in that they are dipole. Most speakers have one or two types of drivers in them (or more in some cases). One driver will handle the high frequency sounds (tweeters) and the other the low frequency sounds (woofer) In some cases you have midranges or midwoofers etc. The drivers are what radiate the sound. The cone moves back and fourth which generates the sound. In most cases with cone speakers the backwave (The sound which is generated by the rear of the speaker cone) is isolated so the person only hears the sound from the front of the cone. With most planar speakers the back wave is not isolated. It is called a dipole configuration. What that achieves is a much more open airy sound. The backwave from the mylar sheet will bounce off the walls behind the speaker and create a more open sound.
So now that you know a bit about the speakers heres some pictures .
Heres both Magnepan speakers next to my line arrays for size reference.
Heres the side of the Magnepan speaker.
Heres the rear. You can see the lines (wire) that run up and down the surface of the mylar. I know they dont look pretty but since these speakers were made in the 80's they have gotten pretty dirty over time.
And heres the crossover.
So I ordered a magenpan repair kit which contained a spool of 31 Ga coated aluminum wire (which is what the tweeter wire is) and some glue and other various bits. I will have to strip all the old broken tweeter wire of then use acitone to remove the old glue. Then I need to spray the sheet with spray adhesive and glue the new wires down. There is also a sock that goes over the "inner" baffle to hide the mylar sheet. The stock one is an off white but I'm going to buy the black replacment socks.
Heres a link to a site with a bunch of specs on a lot of magnepan speakers (mine are the MG-IIB's). There is also some pictures of what they look like with the stock sock on there.
Ryan
I recently got a hold of a pair of Magnepan MG-IIB planar speakers. They were in pretty good shape other than the "tweeters" being blown. In case your wonder what planar speakers I'll try to explain it to the best of my knowledge in a minute. Since the speakers are needing some work I'm planning to rebuild them. I need to replace the tweeter wire and do some touch up cosmetic work. I'm going to be working on them over the next month or so. Anyway I thought some of you guys might appreciate the speakers so I thought I would post some pictures. I'll try to get some of the rebuild process but It really shouldnt be to eventful. If I do take some pictures I'll be sure to post them!
So you may be asking what are Planar speakers? Well they are a very different type of speaker than the standard "cone" speakers you see these days. Instead of woofers and tweeters they use a VERY thin sheet of mylar to make the sound. The mylar sheet is stretched across a frame and glue in place around the edges. Then they run coated wire up and down the mylar to act as the "voice coil". Next there is a strip of magnets placed on one side of the mylar which will attract or repel the wires which are attached to the mylar sheet. Planar speakers still use magnets and a voice coil wire like normal cone speakers but instead of the actual cone (paper or plastic or metal etc) it uses the mylar sheet.
Magnepan is a company that has been making full range planar speakers for quite some time. They are a very interesting type of speaker in that they are dipole. Most speakers have one or two types of drivers in them (or more in some cases). One driver will handle the high frequency sounds (tweeters) and the other the low frequency sounds (woofer) In some cases you have midranges or midwoofers etc. The drivers are what radiate the sound. The cone moves back and fourth which generates the sound. In most cases with cone speakers the backwave (The sound which is generated by the rear of the speaker cone) is isolated so the person only hears the sound from the front of the cone. With most planar speakers the back wave is not isolated. It is called a dipole configuration. What that achieves is a much more open airy sound. The backwave from the mylar sheet will bounce off the walls behind the speaker and create a more open sound.
So now that you know a bit about the speakers heres some pictures .
Heres both Magnepan speakers next to my line arrays for size reference.
Heres the side of the Magnepan speaker.
Heres the rear. You can see the lines (wire) that run up and down the surface of the mylar. I know they dont look pretty but since these speakers were made in the 80's they have gotten pretty dirty over time.
And heres the crossover.
So I ordered a magenpan repair kit which contained a spool of 31 Ga coated aluminum wire (which is what the tweeter wire is) and some glue and other various bits. I will have to strip all the old broken tweeter wire of then use acitone to remove the old glue. Then I need to spray the sheet with spray adhesive and glue the new wires down. There is also a sock that goes over the "inner" baffle to hide the mylar sheet. The stock one is an off white but I'm going to buy the black replacment socks.
Heres a link to a site with a bunch of specs on a lot of magnepan speakers (mine are the MG-IIB's). There is also some pictures of what they look like with the stock sock on there.
Ryan
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