Magnepan MG 2.7i Speakers, $6250 Per Pair With Oval Bases

(72h, 22w, 2d, 86dB SPL, 4 ohms)

Magnepan’s MG 2.7i’s are the company’s latest loudspeakers- and they’re SPECTACULAR!

MG 2.7i is now Maggie’s least expensive speaker to offer its TRUE RIBBON tweeter. The True Ribbon is a diaphragm comprised purely of aluminum, controlled by Maggie’s push/pull magnet array.

Its little brothers use Maggie’s Quasi design. Quasi technology consists of foil strips adhered to a Mylar substrate. It’s fantastic- but not quite as lythe and breathy as Mag’s True Ribbon technology.

The True Ribbon is faster, more extended and delivers superior feather-like detail in your music and spatial presentation.

MG 2.7i gives us STATE OF THE ART high frequency AIR, detail and shimmer. When you combine that with classic Magnepan transparency and taut, unboxy bass response, this is a speaker to lust for.

MG 2.7i gives you all the precision and soundstage of its bigger brother, MG 3.7i, with a tad less bass, at a third less money. If you’re running a sub anyway… MG.2.7i is right up your alley!

A little history …

The original Magnepan design of the 1960s consisted of skinny piano wires glued to a light, Mylar, film like diaphragm. They were ground breaking, highly resolving speakers.

In the 80s Magnepan added a TRUE RIBBON (TR) tweeter to some of its higher end models. The TR tweeter consists of a pure aluminum diaphragm suspended within a push/pull magnet array. The TR tweeter provided state of the art high end extension and detail- beyond what the original Magneplanar technology could provide.

If you want to hear the unfettered nuances of human and instrumental voices, overtones to die for… you want Magnepan’s True Ribbon tweeter in your loudspeakers.

In 2010. Magnepan came out with a new line of speakers with the suffix .7. The new .7 series, and Magnepan MG 1.7i in particular, consisted of Magnepan’s QUASI technology. That is a cousin to the Magneplanar technology, but is much superior in that it uses foil strips, which are superior to the skinny piano wires. Yet Quasi isn’t as light and airy as the TR design described above.

For over a decade, the customer’s choice was to buy MG 1.7i (full Quasi) or go all the way to Mg 3.7i, which had a Quasi bass/mid- mated with a TR tweeter. MG 3.7i is a fabulous speaker that runs about $9k per pair, while MG 1.7i runs about $3k per pair.

I’m always whining to Magnepan. I want this, I want that and I want, a partridge in a pear tree. I wanted the TR tweeter in something less than MG 3.7i.

Well, in MG 2.7i they’ve shut me up.

That’s because MG 2.7i is nothing short of a home run. It splits the difference in price between MG 1.7i and MG 3.7i. Yet, it beats 1.7i with deeper bass and the SOTA, TRUE RIBBON tweeter design.

MG 3.7i’s TR is 60” tall. MG 2.7i’s TR is 41” tall.

MG 3.7i is a larger and a bit more powerful speaker.

MG 2.7i is a tad smaller than MG 3.7i, but somehow, when you see them in person, MG 2.7i looks significantly smaller. Clearly MG 2.7i is more domesticated.

Magnepan provides the MG 2.7i for $6k with basic feet. I’m OK with them on MG 1.7i given its price tag. But MG 2.7i is way too nice and refined to go with their basic metal feet- says me.

Please spend $250 more to get MG 2.7i with the much more stable and aesthetically appealing oval bases. For speakers of this size and weight, the little metal footies leave me wanting.