For those of you wanting to know a little more about Magnepan, here is a little background: The company was stated in the seventies and based their products on a new planar driver technology they had developed called Magnetic-Planar. This technology is very similar in principle to a Ribbon driver, but with some advantages including potentially lower production costs. Magnepan speakers have been described by more than one reviewer as the greatest bargains in high-end audio, and not without reason. Although their newest designs use ribbon and quasi-ribbon drivers exclusively, the company continues to bring planar speaker models to market at prices lower than any other company. Part of Magnepan’s business formula is a methodical approach to all aspects of their business including cost control. This includes not changing models very often — sometimes not for almost then years!

Historically, two of Magnepan’s best selling speaker ever where the 1.6 and the 3.6. The 1.6 was replaced two years ago by the first of a new design approach that abandons Magnetic Planar drivers altogether in favor of Quasi Ribbons, the 1.7. In spite of such a substaintial upgrade, the price of the 1.7s is about $2,000/pair, very close the 1.6s. Last year, they upgraded the 3.6 to the 3.7. These speakers are three-way, but the 3.7 is larger than the 1.7, has a true Ribbon tweeter, and sells for around $5,500/pair, depending on finish. Recently, Magenpan introduced a speaker system that addresses a totally new catagy for them: the Mini Maggie, a$1,500 desktop system that is included in their new home trial program — if your interested, let us know. Later this year, Magnepan will introduce a replacement for their top-of-the-line speaker, the 20.1 — the most involving speaker I’ve ever heard. It will be called the 20.7 and will sell for around $14k. I can’t wait to hear it!

We have both the 1.7s and the 3.7s in the showroom, ready to audition. If you like planar speakers and haven’t heard these models, you owe it to yourself to come by for a listen. The 1.7s have been included in reviewers’ mega-buck systems without embarrassment, and the 3.7s are even better. Come check ‘em out.  - Jon

This past Saturday, the Sierra Nevada Audiophile Society held its monthly meeting at the home member Gavin Fish at 1:00pm. During the meeting, the society:

1. Revisited last meeting’s notes, including the idea of launching a society website, posting contact information of the club members in a secure area online, and creating a more broad organization including a vice president, secretaries, etc.
2. A decision was made that Gavin Fish would put together a website with a forum installed so the group could easily communicate online.
3. Discussed fundraising ideas and what to spend the money on.  It was discussed that the club may want to file as a non-profit organization and raise money for music education and other worthy causes.  It was decided that members David Sykes and Gavin Fish would speak with Bob Levy, president of the LA/Orange County Audiophile Society to see what his advice was on the matter.  This meeting will take place at T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach.
4. It was decided that the group needs an activities director.  We nominated and seconded John Berry for the position.
5. It was decided that Tim Palin would be our communications director.
6. We discussed the possibility of implementing an annual membership fee, whereas now the $15 fee is for a lifetime membership.
7. We decided to invite Tony Weber of Cary Audio to speak to the group.  Dave Marihart is going to extend the invitation.

From there, we spent three hours listening to music from various genres and artists on Gavin’s home system, which features a Light Harmonic Da Vinci DAC, Wilson Audio loudspeakers, MIT Cables interfacing, and Pass Labs components.

http://www.lightharmonic.com

http://www.wilsonaudio.com

http://www.mitcables.com

http://www.passlabs.com

We are having the meeting at Gavin Fish’s house this weekend on Saturday, May 19 at 1 pm.  The address is —- R—–g C—t, O——-e, CA, 9—-.  Phone number for contact is Dave Marihart at 530-320-1576.
Gavin has quite a system, featured will be the Light Harmonic da Vinci DAC, Pass Labs pre and amps, Clearaudio table, MIT Oracle wire, and the new Wilson Sasha speakers.  So bring your LP’s, CD’s, and USB sticks.
See you there.

Due to the quantity and quality lately of used and consignment gear I will be changing the posting process.  The hold up has been taking pictures of the gear, as this takes at least 15 min a piece to do it right.  So from now on I will list the piece but add the pictures later as so to get it on the web faster.  This should enable me to get it on 2 days after reciept of the piece rather than the week to two weeks it has been taking me.  I will also be using a rating system like the one used by Audiogon to aid the buyer in their selection.  I am very conservative with Audiogon’s system, most rate the same piece 1-2 points higher than I do.  1 will be the lowest, 10 the highest (absolutely perfect condition).  Refer to Audiogon for the complete descriptions of the individual numbers.  Thank you for bearing with me on this.

Hi! Jon here. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that we are working to update our website so that more of the products we carry are represented. Brands not yet listed in our Products section include: Magnepan’s famous planar speakers, Bryston audio electronics (with twenty-year warranties), Nottingham turntables, Peachtree DACs and integrated amps, Tannoy speakers, and Parasound amps, preamps, and cool new half-size ZCD player. In Home Theater we have JVC D-ILA projectors, and the amazing Black Diamond Screens from Screen Innovations that allow you to watch a projector in a lit room! Some very new brands not yet listed include: Linn, Feickert turntables, Triplanar, Transfiguration, and Brodmann speakers from Austria.

Some of the products from these manufacturers that we have on the floor:  The incredibly high-value Magnepan 1.7 and 3.7 speakers. Magnepan’s sales have been skyrocketing since they introduced these recently. Both the Peachtree iDac and Bryston BDA-1 DACs and  have been getting great press. Linn is making what we believe may be the ultimate solution for playing music files from a hard drive, their line of DS and DSM digital music systems. (They’re so good that Linn has stopped making CD players!) And their speakers are very cool also. We are now set up to service Linn turntables as well. We have a Feickert Blackbird turntable with a Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge mounted on a Triplanar MarkVII Ultimate tonearm. Wow! Customer’s have been amazed by the timbral (is that a word?) accuracy and realism of the Brodmann F2s. And they’re gorgeous to look at too! If you’ve not been to the showroom yet, you’ve got to check it out. Or call us if you have questions. The surest way to reach Dave or me is on our cellphones. My number is (530) 559-2847. Dave’s is (530) 320-1576. Happy listening, and remember: Music matters!