Tuning Project: Wings for the Magneplanars

Tuning Project: Wings for the Magneplanars

It has been some time since Sonic posted anything in relation to tuning my room and system. This is indeed so, as I have been largely satisfied with the sound of my system since Sonic Beaver’s farewell post of May 25 this year ( https://tuneland.forumotion.com/t397p150-tuning-and-musical-adventures ).

Since then, Sonic Voyager did write something on using Michael’s Cable Grounds and that is about all.  

Now Sonic has done a Tune that appears to have unlocked a lot of energy in my room – this was done by increasing the baffle-area of the Magneplanar MG1.5AQ/Rs with Wings. Here is the thought process:

a.          in my room, a lot of the bass energy is running along the side walls.

b.          I get better bass if the Magneplanar MG1.5Q/Rs are brought closer to the side wall but the downside is the imaging and treble response suffers after a point. My placement where the nearest edges of the Maggies are 14 inches from their respective side wall is a workable compromise.

c.          at the same time, Magneplanars, being dipoles, send as much sound energy behind them as towards the listener.  This backwave has been known to compromise the bass and imaging if it bounces back and mixes with the front wave too soon. This can lead to reinforcement or cancellation at specific frequencies.

d.          fans of dipole speakers have been known to build extensions to increase the baffle area of their panels.  These baffles are often referred to as “Wings” and have been known to increase the bass response. The improved bass response reduces or delays the time where the rear wave starts to mix with the front waves to cause cancellations or reinforcement at specific frequencies. Sonic has seen DIY wings mounted on Magneplanars and SoundLabs and even the bass cabinets of Altec A5s and A7s (done by M. Jean Hiraga).

The Project
Sonic made a set of Wings using heavy corrugated cardboard as a test, two Wings each 65 inches (H) x 14 inches (W) – the thickness is ¼ inch.  They are mounted on one side of my Maggies, on the panel edges nearer the side walls. Here are the pictures:



In the Maggie User Group, the effect of Wings on frequency response have been measured and it shows reinforcement in the bass from about 100 hz down, smoothened out peaks and dips in response with a little more average bass response that goes a bit lower.

Have a look: http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/tweaks/wings/mike.html

My listening tests correspond to the effect shown in this charts.

The effect of these Wings on music and poetry is powerful! I could hear that:

a.          The efficiency of the system went up – the sound for a given setting on the volume control appears louder, more energetic and alive. Transients throughout the range from the bass through the midrange have more snap.

b.           The bass improvement is significant – goes a bit deeper but a big benefit is some peaks and dips have been smoothed out.  The bass now anchors the music better. The bass has more drive, the kick drum and bass line is better separated and Sonic can hear better how the bass line is pushing the music forward.

c.           Even though the Wings have made the Magneplanars more visually noticeable, the sense of the speakers disappearing as sources of sound is even better.  The whole soundstage is more 3D and projects forward and Sonic can sometimes hear effects around me.  It is a bigger sound (though overall soundstage width is similar) that is more “here” with me.  Things are now occurring more in my room with greater impact and sense of musical (for musical programmes) and dramatic impact (for poetry and drama).  The benefit has been greatest with digital, very impressive with vinyl (stereo and mono) while with 78 rpm and SPs sound appears the same as before, which is already of a good standard. Guests listening to jazz vocals from vinyl and from 78 rpm have commented “this sounds lovely”.

In the next week Sonic will experiment with speaker placement and toe-in to see if this set up is optimal or could be improved on further. A test might also be done to hear what happens if the inner edges of the Magneplanar MG1.5 Q/Rs get “Winged”.

Perhaps in time we will install tunable wings from Michael Green?

Any comments Michael?

Sonic