Description
LINKWITZ 22MG is a physical drop-in upgrade for the LX521 s low midrange driver.
Panel cutout, mounting screws and voice coil terminals are identical, making the upgrade easy for the end-user to perform.
“Hi Frank!
But nothing prepared to me for what happened after the music started to play. I was blown away by the massive improvement in sound quality, nuances, detail and overall smoothness. And not only in the frequency range that the L22MG driver reproduces. It feels now like a great absence of distortion, like in a clear spring morning.Suddenly I was aware that string instrumentalists have put on new strings to their instruments to make the recording, especially violins and cellos, perceiving many more harmonics than with the U22 driver. I’ve also perceived that the acoustic guitars have been changed to a new string set for the recording, noticing more articulation and a greater number of overtones, mainly in the low strings, perceiving them much more tough and tightened than before.
I know this because I also used to change to a new set of strings on my electric bass when we were going to record a new album many years ago. And this is exactly what I have noticed today when listening to the new L22MG, among many other positive things that I will detail in another moment.But the improvement is so, so huge that there is no need to perform any A/B comparison. I even thought that prior to changing the L22MG driver, my LX521.4 had to be broken down or damaged or something subpar, given the enormous improvement this new driver brought. But no, my LX was working like a charm, it happens that this new MG22 is simply awesome to my ears. I could not get back to the original LX521.4.
Frank, you have really pushed the LX521.4 to a new level of performance. My greatest acknowledgement to you” (Juan B., Spain)
“..the bass is so tight and clean. I have never heard bass sound so good. This new design has done an outstanding job of integrating the bass speakers with the low mid speaker…My overall first impression is that the system is phenomenal, beautiful, outstanding. The system pulls out details in music I had never heard before. ” (Thomas Z. , Tucson, new cascaded ASPv2.0 and LINKWITZ22MG upgrade).
“The magnesium driver is a very worthwhile upgrade – I had a very enjoyable listening session last night” (Gordon W., UK)
(Mikael K, Sweden on new cascaded ASP with Linkwitz22MG drivers) “..a big difference in transparency and details, and this filter is completely silent if you listen close to the speaker elements. ….The ASP change was a big upgrade, so I do not know exactly how much difference happened when I also switched to the new midrange L22MG. Can’t tell if ASP of midrange. But the sum is really good. Frank the magician 🙂”
“The combination of the new cascaded-topology ASP, full-XLR cabling now to the Hypex NCore amplifiers and the new low-mid drivers let the speakers play at a new, very high level. The bass, driver integration, the silence close to the drivers etc etc all very impressive…” (Eddie D, Netherlands)
Its newly developed magnet system drives a stiff and light magnesium diaphragm on a titanium voice coil former. A quality product made in Europe. 5kHz cone resonances are well beyond the 1kHz crossover frequency and are canceled by notch filters in the crossover network.
The magnesium cone is immune to cone break-ups/reflections in the 600-900Hz range. This results in lower distortion and a more linear frequency response. Thus, the second order harmonic distortion level measures far below the masking/perception threshold:
The level of third order harmonic distortion also remains extremely low and below perception level:
LINKWITZ 22MGs low distortion levels provide:
- greater accuracy
- improved clarity, especially in the human voice range
Adapted filter curves are available for PowerBox 6pro Ncore and for LX521 precisionASP V2.0
Power Handling IEC 268-5:
Short term 500W
Long term 200W
In Siegfried Linkwitz midrange distortion performance test a 800Hz sine is amplitude modulated by 80Hz i.o. to see harmonic and intermodulation distortion of the drivers. Top performer at 800Hz used to be SS21W
The new LINKWITZ 22MG with distortion products well below -60dB (0.1%)
The same test with at a different frequency: 150Hz sine is amplitude modulated by 15Hz i.o. to see harmonic and intermodulation distortion of the drivers. Top performer in Siegfried Linkwitz’ evaluation at 150Hz was the (smaller) 18cm driver SEAS W18EX, all harmonic distortion products below level of masking:
The new LINKWITZ 22MG at 150Hz offers harmonic distortion below masking as well:
Both, the 150Hz and the 800Hz measurements are relevant to judge a driver for the use in LX521.
Electric drive levels in LX521.4 @800Hz (compared to @150Hz) are ca 14dB lower.
At the same time, we are much more sensitive to low order harmonic distortions at 800Hz (ca 20dB lower masking threshold compared to 150Hz). So, 800Hz and 150Hz measurements are important when judging a low distortion driver for LX521.4.
