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Please note that since MAD Surface Array™ systems are unlike virtually every other sound system on the market, it is important to understand how they are like and how they are different from traditional systems. First and foremost, and the hardest aspect to quantify, is quality of sound.

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UhHuh.....

Although the old Magnepan planar speakers were known for good separation and intelligibility, I don't know why a website touting the superiority of their product would post a statement like this before giving the cold hard specifications on the speakers performance. It reminds me of other companies out there touting superiority of their product simply due to the fact that it is a unique design.

I'd be interested to know what the real world performance and reliability is.

Planar speakers lack decent low-end frequency response, so space savings are null because you still need to outfit the room with traditional subwoofers.

If this truly is a revolutionary product for cinema use, why aren't they in Vegas right now trying to sell their product to the masses?

Does anyone know what the field serviceability is on these? I figure you can replace a single driver in the array, but what if a catastrophic thing happens and blows the entire array? Can you replace the ribbon component or are you forced to replace the entire array?
 

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Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 03-13-2008, 09:52 AM:
 
What if we built stage speakers out of Lego's, and amplifiers from tiddlie-winks? Do you think that would work well?
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-13-2008, 10:38 AM:
 
There is a theater in Hurricane, Utah that is using the Big Sky ribbon speakers... Overall the sound is very unimpressive and extremely directional at the higher frequencies. It is extremely clear if you sit in the right "sweet spot". Based on what I heard there I'm sticking with constant directivity horns and plain ole cone type woofers of the likes form JBL or QSC. Word has it that Santikos is also using the Big Sky ribbon stuff... Anyone go to their locations? Whatdayathink? Howdoesitsound? Letusknow....

Over the years I've owned two sets of Magnaplanars... first a pair of MG-2's and then a pair of Tympani 1's. They only sounded really good when driven by toobe amps in either bi-amp or tri-amp fashion and then only really good on certain types of program source... they did not have nearly the dynamic range of a good cone type speaker system because of the limited available range the diaphram can move... and a solid state amp with a high damping factor would make em sound flat as a pancake. I've also owned a pair of Apogee Scintillas... the latter had by far the best sound with just about any source material but were near impossible to drive... the impedance actually dipped down to below 1 ohm! My last pair of planars were a pair of Martin Logan Sequel 2's... these were electrostats above 800 hertz 12" wide by 4 foot high curved panels and a 10" cone type driver below 800 hz... these were pretty dam good speakers but because the electrostat panels were so big and they could play back at high levels they suffered alot(in my smallish listening room of the time) from returning rear wall reflections. I went from planar stuff to the Dynaudios that I still am using today... I've had these speakers going on 14 years now... its probably about time for a new pair though as they have also made great strides in technology since then.

Mark
 

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Posted by Dennis M Dow Jr (Member # 1970) on 03-13-2008, 03:31 PM:
 
Santikos is using the SLS line array that we sell. The Theaters that they are installed in that I know of are Silverado 16 in Tomball (Houston) Texas, and the Paladium in San Antonio.
The line arrays are also used in some of the Wehrenberg Theaters in the Midwest. These are in the Megascreen houses of the Galaxy 14 in Rochester Mn and Bloomington Il. The sound imo is very good as the highs and mids are prevalent throughout the auditorium.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-13-2008, 04:01 PM:
 
Dennis,.
I thought the sound in Hurricane to be very smooth as one would expect of a ribbon but it was unfortunately also VERY directional. That has always been a problem with ribbons.

Mark
 

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