66 August2019nstereophile.comEQUIPMENT REPORTquasi-ribbon, since to them, the only true ribbon is the
original aluminum-foil variety.
The LRS is a relatively low-sensitivity (86dB/500Hz/
2.83V), low-impedance (nominally 4 ohms) loudspeaker
with a taste for amplifier current. That suggests to me a
speaker that will likely sound different with every amp
I try—and sure enough, after weeks of auditioning these
slender (14.5" by 48" by 1"), quasi-ribbon floorstanding
panels, and driving them with a variety of high-quality tube
and solid-state amplifiers, I realized that getting the most
from the new Magnepans requires not only a sophisticated,
current-capable amplifier, but it also requires a sophisticated
audiophile with some listening room floor space and a
trained ear.Setup
After unpacking their new speakers, the first thing an LRS
owner needs to do is look through the grille cloth (with a
flashlight, if necessary) and identify the side where 12 shiny,
vertical “ribbons” are spaced about^1 / 8 " apart: That is the
tweeter. You may place the tweeter side on the outside (for a
bigger sweet spot) or on the inside (for better focus). All my
listening was done with the tweeters on the inside.
I first heard the LRS in an audio-show space that mea-
sured 24' by 34' (816 square feet), with a 10' ceiling. The
pair sounded clear and uncolored. Their soundstage was
superdetailed and seemingly infinitely deep. But they also
sounded a touch hard and stressed. When I set them up in
my little 10' by 13' by 9' (130 square foot) room, they sound-
ed dramatically more relaxed and fleshed out tonewise. It
was immediately clear: the LRS prefers small rooms.
But getting the LRS to sound just right was a two-step
process. Step one involved moving the panels away from
room boundaries a little at a time, until I heard the flattest
response in the 70-200Hz range. That was pretty easy. At
their final resting point, 37" from the front wall, I still sensed
a minor 3-4dB bump at 100Hz, but there was no mud or
boom in the bass.A
visitor to stereophile.com named billmilosz com-
mented: “Compared to these, everything else
sounded like it was coming out of a cereal box.”^1
When I read that, I laughed out loud.
That reader was responding to my AXPONA report
about Magnepan’s new $650/pair Little Ribbon Speaker
(LRS)—which I presume he also heard at the show.
Naturally, as a prattler who has long served at the altar of
hyperbole, I was jealous of billmilosz’s simile. So I’ll try now
to verify his observation—while fashioning a more thorough
and maybe even philosophical description of Magnepan’s
newest entry-level speaker.Description
Magnepan’s more expensive speakers are available at 70
brick-and-mortar stores, but like the similarly sized MMGi
that proceeded it, the LRS is sold factory-direct and through
dealers, with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee. If you want to
move up to one of the larger Magnepan speakers within a
year of purchase, you’ll receive credit from Magnepan for
your traded-in speakers, depending on the model you’re
trading up to. Sounds like they’re cutting some new bait in
White Bear Lake, Minnesota!
As Magnepan’s head bait-cutter, Wendell Diller, writes on
their website, “The LRS is a full-range quasi-ribbon speaker
that was designed from the ground up to give you a pretty
good idea what to expect from the 20.7 or 30.7. The LRS
was designed using high-end electronics and monoblocks.
The LRS will perform nicely with a receiver, but it was
intentionally designed to extract the most from high-end
amplifiers and electronics. The LRS expects more from a
properly designed high-current amplifier. That is a radical
departure from most entry-level loudspeakers. If you put
your expensive high-end amplifier on the LRS, you will
hear the difference.”
I asked Diller about the technical differences between
the LRS and its predecessor. His answer: All versions of the
MMG were generically planar magnetic—wires connected
to a nonconducting membrane. The LRS, in contrast, is
a ribbon speaker—or, as Magnepan prefers to describe it,HERB REICHERT
Magnepan LRS
LOUDSPEAKER
Description Two-way
floorstanding quasi-ribbon
panel loudspeaker. Fre-
quency response: 50Hz-
20kHz, ±3dB. Nominal
impedance: 4 ohms (3 ohms
minimum). Sensitivity:86dB/500Hz/1m/2.83V.
Dimensions 48" (including
feet) by 14.5" by 1.2" (H by
W by D). Shipping weight:
46lb.
Finishes Natural oak, black
oak, or cherry trim; off-white, gray, or black fabric.
Serial numbers of units
tested 011110-1/2
Price $650/pair Approxi-
mate number of dealers:- Also sold factory-direct.
Warranty: 3 years to original
owner.
Manufacturer Magnepan
Inc., 1645 Ninth Street,
White Bear Lake, MN 55110.
Tel: (612) 426-1645.
Fax: (612) 426-0441.
Web: magnepan.com.SPECIFICATIONS
1 See stereophile.com/content/magnepan-lrs-loudspeaker.ERICSWANSON.
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