third magnepan post (it's different and interesting, i promise!)

[xy]

ok, i've been hogging bandwidth on this whole magnepan thing, so i
promise i'll chill after this one.

but i had a fascinating idea for the MMG-C. it's the "center channel"
for their new low-cost line of speakers.

the trick is this: it's *curved like a bow*. let's say you put a pair
of those on the wall as your nearfields, and mounted them
"vertically". since they are convex, the sound will radiate outward
in the shape of a vertical rainbow.

when the sound hits the backwall, it will be hitting at all different
angles (infinite variation in fact). so when you do "ray tracing"
it's not like the rear wall will slap straight back at you. it's kind
of like automatic diffusion. which means you won't have to treat your
backwall with diffusion, which saves money and clutter.

plus if you stand up or sit down, there is always a portion of the
sound coming at your ears. forget having to have the speakers at the
"right height" they are *always* at the right height!

i'm feeling really brilliant right now, thank you very much! but the
true-geniuses around here might have a way to bring me down to earth
on this one.

[Logan Shaw]

xy wrote:

> ok, i've been hogging bandwidth on this whole magnepan thing, so i
> promise i'll chill after this one.
>
> but i had a fascinating idea for the MMG-C. it's the "center channel"
> for their new low-cost line of speakers.
>
> the trick is this: it's *curved like a bow*. let's say you put a pair
> of those on the wall as your nearfields, and mounted them
> "vertically". since they are convex, the sound will radiate outward
> in the shape of a vertical rainbow.
>
> when the sound hits the backwall, it will be hitting at all different
> angles (infinite variation in fact). so when you do "ray tracing"
> it's not like the rear wall will slap straight back at you. it's kind
> of like automatic diffusion. which means you won't have to treat your
> backwall with diffusion, which saves money and clutter.

Um, don't most (home hifi) speakers do this anyway? Wide dispersion is
supposed to be a good quality if you want to be able to listen to the
speakers from more than one position in the room. The idea is that
the sound (particular frequencies -- namely high ones) shouldn't drop
off noticeably if you move out of the sweet spot. Dome tweeters are
supposed to be good for this.

- Logan

[Logan Shaw]

xy wrote:

> ok, i've been hogging bandwidth on this whole magnepan thing, so i
> promise i'll chill after this one.
>
> but i had a fascinating idea for the MMG-C. it's the "center channel"
> for their new low-cost line of speakers.
>
> the trick is this: it's *curved like a bow*. let's say you put a pair
> of those on the wall as your nearfields, and mounted them
> "vertically". since they are convex, the sound will radiate outward
> in the shape of a vertical rainbow.
>
> when the sound hits the backwall, it will be hitting at all different
> angles (infinite variation in fact). so when you do "ray tracing"
> it's not like the rear wall will slap straight back at you. it's kind
> of like automatic diffusion. which means you won't have to treat your
> backwall with diffusion, which saves money and clutter.

Um, don't most (home hifi) speakers do this anyway? Wide dispersion is
supposed to be a good quality if you want to be able to listen to the
speakers from more than one position in the room. The idea is that
the sound (particular frequencies -- namely high ones) shouldn't drop
off noticeably if you move out of the sweet spot. Dome tweeters are
supposed to be good for this.

- Logan

[xy]

i was just thinking of "diffusion in reverse". alton everest, etc.
talks about the importance of diffusing wall-reflected sound into a
myriad of return angles to avoid slapback.

since the new magneplanar mmg-c is curved like a bow, it's 100%
"self-diffusing". every ray-trace from a wall-bounce will be at a
different angle. then when a sub is added, that's omni directional
anyway. so the whole idea of dropping $1600 on diffusors could be
eliminated. just an idea!

i could see how dome tweeters would have hemispherical dispersion.
but there still are the midrange cone drivers which are directional.

maybe i'm making too much of a big deal about the "bowed-shape"
magneplanars. but when something new comes out, i always try to ask
"what does this mean to me?". for example, lcd flat panel monitors
emit no emf. that "means to me" that i can track an electric guitar
overdub right in front of the computer screen without adding unwanted
hum and noise.

so i'm trying to figure out what the bowed magneplaner "means to me".

[xy]

i was just thinking of "diffusion in reverse". alton everest, etc.
talks about the importance of diffusing wall-reflected sound into a
myriad of return angles to avoid slapback.

since the new magneplanar mmg-c is curved like a bow, it's 100%
"self-diffusing". every ray-trace from a wall-bounce will be at a
different angle. then when a sub is added, that's omni directional
anyway. so the whole idea of dropping $1600 on diffusors could be
eliminated. just an idea!

i could see how dome tweeters would have hemispherical dispersion.
but there still are the midrange cone drivers which are directional.

maybe i'm making too much of a big deal about the "bowed-shape"
magneplanars. but when something new comes out, i always try to ask
"what does this mean to me?". for example, lcd flat panel monitors
emit no emf. that "means to me" that i can track an electric guitar
overdub right in front of the computer screen without adding unwanted
hum and noise.

so i'm trying to figure out what the bowed magneplaner "means to me".