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Maggie 1.7i's lack detail. Ideas?

Hi,
In about 1979 I had a roommate who had a pair of Magnapan's, an amp, pre-amp (at least one of which was NAD, and a fairly high quality turntable.  I was shocked and amazed about the feeling the singers were present in the room with me.   The accuracy and detail of the sound.

Fast forward 40 years and I purchase a barely used 1.7is.   I have a new Marantz NR1200.  A 15 yo BK EX-440 Sonata (350WPC @ 4 ohms), and optical bit stream out Sony DVD player.  I use optical cable between the DVD player and NR1200.   I have fairly high quality cables between the pre-out of the NR1200 and the EX-440.  I have somewhat high gauge copper stranded cable, about 6', between the EX-440 and the speakers.

The sound is not bad but very much lacking the detail and immediacy I remember in the highs and mid-range.  A great disappointment. My question is what the most likely culprit?

Some possibilities:
1. My hearing has declined.
2. I've a romanticized memory of the sound quality.
3. What I was hearing was the mushrooms.
4. The speakers my roommate had were a bit wider.  Maybe more like the 3.7s.  Maybe 40 year old 3.7s are just that much better than current 1.7is.
5. Stranded wire cables.
6. Turntable that much better than CD.
7. ????
 

jros

Showing 1 response by jhills

jhills
619 posts
 

+1secretguy

For what it’s worth:

I have my 1.7s out 42" from front wall, 5’ between speakers (6’3" center to center) tweeters to the outside, very slight toe in and listening position approx. 9’ from speakers. The entire front wall, behind the speakers, is well dampened with acoustic drapes. Powering with a 35+ year Audible Illusions pre-amp (still dead silent and performing well) and a 350W @4ohm ADCOM power amp. and one ADS sub. Both with my LPs and CDs they sound incredible. I’ve tried the beryllium and the diamond tweeter speakers - I’ll stick with the Maggies thanks....

As others have said - a good pre amp, enough power, a good front end and detail to set up and your little Maggies will sound great.........Jim

 

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