Any Magnepan 1.6 owner who upgraded to 1.7?

It ISN'T complicated. Just take it a step at a time, be careful and you'll be OK.
What's the problem?
Most people report the bleepin' STAPLES are the single worst part of it.

But, that being said, crossover upgrade is not a trivial operation. You will end up with better=larger capacitors. Than you will be into it for an external crossover box, like many other Magnepans. Inductors? Well, you COULD wind your own, but that requires a learning curve and several online calculators with a healthy dose of theory. If you go wacky and use 12ga wire, it CAN be tough to bend and you end up with a pretty good size inductor. The 1.6 stock crossover uses ONE inductor of 3.5uh(?) and .40ohms DCR. Changing DCR, usually to a lower value, results in a trivial change in crossover frequency. 14ga would be fine while my plan, using 13ga is large, but not weird, a theoretically perfect square coil cross section and 0.38ohms.

To short-cut the crossover process, a company called Skiing Ninja makes a duplicate-of-stock crossover using all premium parts. Expensive? Only if you think so. But a nice, real upgrade. I saw the unit for the 1.6 well before the 1.7 was even announced. The may have dropped the 1.6 mod?
http://www.skiingninja.com/

The REAL QUESTION::
What Don't you like about you're 1.6s? Upgrade fever? Some Joneses in your neighborhood need keeping up with?

Have you even TRIED flipping your panels around? You may even LIKE it!
Go to MUG and Audio Asylum. Look at the pictures. Read some of the nutty stuff people do. Read some of the nutty stuff people SUGGEST! The idea to upgrade to 3.6s for about the same (net) money ain't all that bad....if you've got the space.

Hi Magfan,thanks for the intrest you have taken in my attempt to get to the crossover network.I must tell you that I am not going to touch the network in anyway other than to fix it in place. In my left speaker the crossover is loose and and dangling inside being held up by the wires solderd to the back plate. It works fine ,however i am uncomfortable.I must be able to remove the cover and secure the unit once and for all. 3.6s are too large for the space available. Skiing Ninja looks good and I am sure that it will sound better than the existing unit, however I am I am biamping ( vertical) with a pair of tube amps that I likeand with Ninja it is not possible. As yet I have not flipped them, I am waiting for longer cables,as soon as they arrive I will do that and let you know. Thanks again Cyrus.

But to me the 1.7 is not better. It doesn't have the glare stock 1.6's have, and it's (very bizarre) XO artificially tilts everything from the upper bass up with an "edge" that makes it appear to be clearer and "brighter", only it's an incorrect illusion. I can see how it would appear better, but for me it has too many flaws stock, including 2 rather bad humps in it's XO.

Also, IMHO before and after modding it does not have better bass than the 1.6 does. (this was very clear after modding) It was also the first of all of them which did not gain a dbl boost. I attribute these facts to the QR foil which doesn't have the mass it needs to achieve those things.

Petergunn is not entirely right: It does have a bump (a treble/shout) in the upper midrange. Before modding (any of the previous speakers of the last 10 years)the 1.7's present the most dramatic represenation of music naked as they are opf all of them. But dramatic does not mean accurate. It is exciting speaker with all its falsities. It creates streams of sound and reminds me of the way John Coltrane threw out waves of music with its ability to make sudden powerful shifts. The naked , unmodded 1.6's or 3.6's were never intended to behave quite that way. The 1.7's are not fussy. I am sure the Audiogon and audio asylum crew will get to modding the 1.7 and correct its faults. It's ten years are not up yet.

Right on !!! The 1.7's are not a better speaker ,just different. In my side by side evaluation of both i found :1.7 soundstage smaller. Imaging was smaller-more precise. Which i did not care for .The bass did not blend with the speaker well. All being said ,If i had never heard the 1.6 i would be happy with the 1.7 .But i spent three weeks with both !