Magnepan MG 2.7i Speakers, $6350 Per Pair With Oval Bases

(72h, 22w, 2d)

Magnepan’s BRAND NEW, MG 2.7i has arrived! Magnepan rarely introduces new speakers. When they do, it’s a big deal. With MG 2.7i, it’s even a bigger deal because this is now the least expensive model in the family to use Maggie’s True Ribbon Tweeter design.

MG 2.7i gives us STATE OF THE ART high frequency detail and shimmer due to its use of Magnepan’s True Ribbon tweeter design. If you haven’t heard Maggie’s True Ribbon for a while, you owe it to yourself to test drive it again. Playing the MG 2.7i with quality electronics casts a wall of music in front of you to lust for. The transparency of 2.7i is absolutely to LUST for. The delicate detail of fine guitar and piano work- along with the unique character of every singer is purveyed by 2.7i to the Nth degree.

MG 2.7i also sounds deeper and weightier than its smaller brother, MG 1.7i. It’s a marvelous marriage of materials to hit a very competitive price point.

If you like your bass taut and under control, you’re good to go with Mg 2.7i on its own. If you want subterranean bass response, we have a myriad of JL Audio powered subs to consider.

Up until MG 2.7i arrived, if you wanted STATE OF THE ART Maggie top end, you had to go all the way to the MG 3.7i with its True Ribbon technology, $9k.

As of NOW, MG 2.7i equals the top end of 3.7i for about a third less money. Given that a lot of our customers go with JL Audio subs anyway, MG 2.7i hits a welcome sweet spot in the line, because the extra bass of 3.7i is moot if you add a sub.

MG 2.7i runs $6k per pair with traditional Maggie feet. Permit me to encourage you to spend $6350 and get them with the much more stable and classy oval bases. Plainly put, these speakers are just too good to run with the classic footers!

Please stop in for a listen We know everyone loves to read opinions online. But there is no substitute for hearing the Maggies for yourself.

Also available, but I haven’t heard them yet, is Magnepan’s MG 2.7X, $10k per pair. MG 2.7X is the same panel as MG 2.7i, but all the electronic components in the road are of a higher grade. Magnepan says there is improved resolution and transparency with 2.7X. I’ll report on it when we get some.

Rogue Dragon Power Amp, $4000 (300×2)

Back in the house after a long back order, is Rogue’s awesome Dragon power amp. Dragon is unlike any other power amp on the market. It has a prodigious 300×2 into 8 ohms and 500×2 into 4 ohms. It uses a pair of 12AU7 tubes and incorporates them in the amplifier’s output stage. That’s right, the tubes are not just linked to the amp’s input stage like other hybrid designs.

Rogue’s owner/designer Mark O’Brien implements his secret sauce, TubeD technology, as nobody else can. The result is, you get an uber powerful amplifier with gorgeous tube color, without the heat and problems associated with blazing output tubes.

What defines the Dragon is its hugely dynamic, breathy musical quality. This applies to vocals in particular. We generally think of dynamic range being important in kettle drum thwacks. Dragon hits those hard, of course. But Dragon’s “magic” is that within an emotive singing voice, subtle intonations and expressions stand out. A perfect example is singer Stacy Kent’s tune “Close Your Eyes.” It isn’t loud or powerful. Yet there are times when her voice imbues emotion to the piece, that you’ll appreciate more with a great amp, than one that sounds a bit drab.

Dragon’s bass is tight instead of fat. Dragon’s ability to deliver granular texture is legendary. What a great combination of strengths to drive any speaker, but especially worthwhile for good sized floor standers that are more than a little thirsty. Dragon is happy with low impedances and has the CONTROL to keep your towers from sounding soggy.

There are plenty of big boy towers out there that sound a sloppy mess with average electronics. You can get much more out of them with a Dragon.

If you’re a Maggie fan, and there are many of us, Dragon is right up your alley. Dragon runs in synergy with all the characteristics you luv in Pans. Dragon with Magnepan’s new MG 2.7i is a thrilling combo!

RIP Les McCann (1935-2023)

The inimitable Les McCann died at the close of 2023. Les had a fun, straightforward style of playing the piano. Many jazz pianists sound like typewriters to me. They’re too busy showing off to let me hear the music. Not Les.

His powerful, raspy voice was iconic. Please dial up two Les tunes I luv. “Hustle To Survive” and “Well, Cuss My Daddy.” If you haven’t been on the Les bandwagon, there’s still plenty of room.

Bryston Meets Axiom

In 2010 James Tanner (Bryston CEO) designed a loudspeaker for Bryston to use as a tool to evaluate its electronics. James wasn’t happy with commercially available speakers by the big names due to limited bass, dynamic range and sound stage. So he created his own!

Bryston hired a friendly Canadian company down the road a piece, Axiom, to build these Gibraltar-ish prototypes to his specifications. James and the engineers at Bryston were thrilled with the results of The Model T (for Tanner). The Model T was put into duty in house at Bryston.

There was a massive recession in 2009. Perhaps you heard? This recession punched manufacturers square in the wallet. Companies like B&W, Paradigm and KEF, that were making X number of speakers in Canada or Europe, saw their sales crash over night. It wasn’t long before these companies doubled pricing, as economies of scale dried up. Even worse, the vast majority of production was moved to China.

A light bulb went off for James. The Model T, which was intended for internal Bryston use, could now fill a gap in the actual marketplace. With the big advertisers doubling and tripling prices or buying from China, there was a great opportunity to bring Bryston quality speakers to audiophiles at reasonable pricing- made in Canada with 20 year warranty no less.

James created several more models as derivatives of the T, all based around brick outhouse like 8” woofers that blacksmiths would be proud of. James also created a line of speakers he dubbed the A Series, based on 6.5” woofers. Within a couple of years, Bryston speakers of Tanner’s design and Axiom’s facilities and work force, were highly successful and the companies merged.

The resulting company was/is simply called Bryston.

It turns out, there’s even more sunlight to this story.

Engineering talent at Bryston and Axiom merged. Two heads are better than one. With collaboration and mentoring, Bryston decided to expand its foot print.

Bryston speakers and electronics are the company’s bell tower efforts- pushing the state of the art in a number of categories. Of course James realizes not everyone can afford Bryston, so the company has opted to make Axiom its brand name for more price sensitive products. Since all of my customers (and I!) work for a living, Axiom is right up my alley.

What’s exciting to me, a guy who has sold Bryston since the 80s, is that Axiom is also made in Canada and comes with a 5 year warranty. You might call it Bryston Light.

Axiom products incorporate a number of fascinating, innovative ideas, and hit price points not much higher than the world of Chinese imports. Have I mentioned that Axiom is also made with TLC in Canada with a 5 year warranty? Let’s look at these exciting new POWER AMPS from Axiom.

Axiom Power Amplifiers

Axiom amps are beginning to ship now. They offer tremendous power with much superior headroom to the Chinese built names (typically with 2 yr warranty) you’re familiar with.

There’s no substitute for building fanny kicking, fire breathing amplifiers. Axiom accomplishes class leading results by not cutting corners. Axiom builds its amps differently and BETTER than the Chinese imports at similar price points.

It’s all in the details of the nuts and bolts. There’s no smoke and mirrors here.

I’ll outline a few specifics and then let you visit our home page, where down at the bottom we have a yellow tab labeled Axiom. That’s where we’ll do the deep dive for those of you who like to read about the minutia.

Axiom power amps are D designs with their own secret sauce. Axiom doesn’t use any off the shelf modules (from B&O, Hypex, Purify etc). They have their own technology that regulates its MOSFET output transistors to work in the highly efficient D domain.

Some audiophiles are dismissive of D amps. That shouldn’t be the case. Axiom builds its amps with linear (vs SMPS) power supplies and huge banks of storage capacitance- compared to the pebbles of the mass marketers. When you employ a D design with these tools, it’s a whole new ballgame. Not to mention, but I will, again- Axiom amps don’t just use a D module off someone’s shelf.

Axiom uses huge toroidal transformers (wattage is denoted by model number) which are superior to the EI cores you’ll see from big advertisers.

Axiom uses enormous filter capacitance (60,000uF, 108,000uF or 144,000uF depending on the model), compared to the peanuts used by the imports. Axiom amps weigh 45-55 lbs while their Asian competitors are 10-25 lbs.

Axiom has dramatically better headroom as a consequence of its mass and topology- D technology with discrete output transistors- running in a tightly regulated form to ameliorate any miss matching of the transistors themselves.

The result of these choices is that Axiom amps have excellent clarity, bass control and unusually high dynamic headroom- compared to anything similarly priced.

Models:
ADA-1000 $1390 (125×2, 8 ohms, 250×2, 4 ohms) 60,000uF capacitance

ADA-1250 $2390 (225×2, 8 ohms, 450×2, 4 ohms) 108,000uF capacitance

ADA-1500 $2990 (325×2, 8 ohms, 650×2, 4 ohms) 144,000 uF capacitance

Rogue RP-1 Tube Preamp $1800

RP-1 is an affordable, high performing audiophile tube preamp. RP-1 isn’t laden with bells, whistles, hats & horns. RP-1 delivers the best musical performance for the price point.

The Asian imports are stuffed with chips! You have DACs, Bluetooth, streamers, HDMI inputs… some of which are convenient BUT, take money away from where your money SHOULD go- into parts that make your sound BETTER.

RP-1 has an excellent MM/MC phono section. It uses a toroidal transformer to harness the magnetic field. It has two 12AU7 tubes on board. It has four high level inputs and 3 outputs. THREE! One set can drive an amp, the other can drive a powered sub. The third output is FIXED.

Why not consider a great N American package? How about Rogue’s RP-1 with Axiom ADA-1000 above. You have a full N American musically faithful electronic combo for only $3190.

Denon DCD-1700 CD/SACD Player, $1500

Please consider this Japanese built disc player in lieu of anything less. While Marantz SACD30n is still the heavyweight champ at $3k, DCD-1700 offers far superior build and more rich, solid sound than lesser players made in China or Malaysia.

Parts Is Parts

How many parts does a Steinway piano consist of? That’s right, over 12,000! Great music from the grandest instrument of them all, is a labor of love as much as a manufacturing project.