Magnepan 1.7 too bright, HELP

Hi guys, I'm a audiofreak from Norway so my english isn't perfect. Hope you'll understand anyway.

First things first - the Magnepan 1.7 is a BRIGHT sounding speaker - objectively speaking. This model have a different sound compared to MG 12, MG 1.6 and older models I'm familiar with. I have compared 1.7 side by side to MG 12 and MG 12 have a fuller, darker and more laidback sound in the mid/treble. Mid bass is also stronger on this smaller model. I have also compared MG 1.7 (side by side) to one of the most detailed and open sounding (and bright) speakers i know of - Burmester 961 MKIII. MG 1.7 have the same bright, detailed and open sound as this Burmester speaker. So no doubt about it, what I stated in the beginning - MG 1.7 is a bright sounding speaker in general. This may be the new sound from Magnepan. I talked to my hifi dealer today and he had some problems getting the new 3.7 to play well in the demo room they have. He told me that he felt the 3.7 had a even leaner sound than 1.7 - but at the same time did extend much lower in the bass and of course it had more details. Some of the advice given here is based on "older" maggie models and will not solve the "bright" sound issue, but can be a minor step in the right direction.

If you really like your music played varm and full - then MG 1.7 might not be the best speaker for you. Try the MG 12! At least you need to apply varm and darker sounding electronics all the way if want your music presented in that way. Wall to wall carpets will also help a lot, hard wooden floors will not. Concrete walls and hard wooden floors together? Forget it!

Non-expensive electronics that can work well with MG 1.7? NAD C375 Bee (Sam Tellig / Stereophile test). This is a full and warm sounding powerhouse. You can even try the smaller models, but they aren't quite in the same league as this amplifier. The best solution should be to get some used models from Mcintosh, Electrocompaniet or other brand you now have that warm sound. Tube preamp with SS power amp migth also do the trick.

Yes I'm somewhat critical in my opinion about MG 1.7. Maybe because I was a bit disappointed with what I felt was a lack of the "old Magnepan musicality" the MG 12 and MG 1.6 have in spades. I have played 500-600 hours on mine and there have been little change to the brightness issue. I'm selling mine now - since their sound is not for me. Take a look a the other forums - there are other people having the same feeling about this new model. Rave reviews? 1.7 might be the perfect speakers for satisfing a detail oriented hifi journalist but it might not be every music lovers dream!

Anyway, I still consider Magnepan 1.7 to be one of the best speakers ever made in the price range, but you need to listen to it before buying since it does have a very "modern" and highly detailed sound.

I have been a Maggie owner for over 35 years with my first set, Magnepan IIa that I had for 35 years and just sold them last year! My second set was a pair of Magnepan 1.6s which I had for five years (along with the MG IIa which I switched in and out). Now I have upgraded to the Magnepan 1.7s.

The MG IIa were a warm inviting speaker that worked well with an old Pioneer receiver, Adcom Amp or powered with just about anything. These were very forgiving speakers.

The 1.6s were a major step up in clarity but moved away from the very forgiving mode of earlier Magnepan loudspeakers. I actually found them tipped up in the treble. Clarity was good but I had problems integrating them with a subwoofer. Also, I always was well aware of where the tweeter and midrange/woofer panel handed off. Still, a very good speaker.

The 1.7s continue the trend towards accuracy and losing much of the "forgiveness" that Magnepans were once known for. However, to balance this off, they provide detail beyond belief showing immediate changes when you switch out a cable or change your electronics. Unbelievable!

But, this characteristic of the 1.7s makes them much less forgiving of all items in the chain. The good news is that you don't have to spend a ransom for great, unbelievable music! I use a Wyred 4 Sound DAC2, Wyred 4 Sound STI 500 integrated amp and a NETGEAR 9150 as the music source. I also have an old Denon 2900 that is fed into the W4S DAC2 when I want to play and individual CD. My cable to connect the DAC to Integrated amp is a MORROW MA1.1 which costs about $140 on sale and I use Xindak Power cords for all equipment at about $150 each.

Total invested (excluding the Denon 2900 which I use very rarely) is about $6,000. You could do this for a whole lot less and still have great sound. Pacific Valve has some terrific integrated amps for around $1100 and DACs for 500-750. All in all you could probably get an entire system with 1.7s down to about $4500 all in for an amazingly accurate and pleasurable system.

The point of this is that I don't really have any problems with "Brightness" of the sound. The lesson is that you just have to be much more careful when selecting components to use with the 1.7s vs all previous Magnepans at this level but this level of quality doesn't have to cost you an outrageous sum of money.

Sample system right at $4070:
Bada DC222 Hybrid Amp 190 watts into 4 ohms <$700
NETGEAR 9150 music server <$325
Pacific Valve Audio GD NFB2 $500
Magnepan 1.7 $2000
Morrow SP2 Speaker Cable 3 Meters $305
Morrow MA2 cables typically on sale for $140
Xindak Digital cable $100

You could fill out this system with a number of other options, but you need to watch out for harder sounding electronics such as Rotel, Emotive and many many others. As long as you listen at moderate levels, a good tube amp would be amazing on these speakers. I almost purchased Pacific Valve Ming Da MD 75 integrated amplifier at $2100 to $2400 depending on tubes or the JD1000RC Integrated Stereo Tube Amplifier at $2100 to $2400. I just weakened on having to deal with the heat and other issues that tubes bring.

I'm driving mine with a Classe CA-300 amp and McIntosh MC2300 preamp through MIT interconnects and speaker cables. They are not bright to me, nor were they when I had a Meridian 502 preamp in there. As a matter of fact, when I first got them I thought they were not bright enough. Over the months, however, I have found that on female and male vocals, and especially choral works, these are the most realistic and natural sounding speakers I have ever owned. I have a Paradigm subwoofer with them as well, crossed over at about 40 Hz, and this may help to balance the overall sound as well. Just a thought.

I have Maggie 1.7's initially throught they were too bright, then as I experimented I realized they were accurately passing what they were fed.

1) invest in good quality interconnects and power cables, cheapest place to start. I went through about 5 vendors on interconnects but the PS Audio Jewel power cables were an immediate help
2)if your CD player has digital out, consider a separate DAC as the DAC section of integrated CD players is usually power supply compromised
3) amp is important, try a different amp comparison to see if that edge goes away. I just did this and it saved me from spending money on a newer DAC when the remaining brightness was my amp.

David, I wholeheartedly agree about upstream, but I would never suggest wasting money on super expensive cables, especially power cables.

Once you gotten past the stock cable, with say a Signal Cable power cable, I think the changes are between the ears, not at the ear drums.

Interconnects definitely affect sound, but once again I would suggest putting that money towards better upstream gear and staying with moderate (once again Signal Cable, Blue Jean Cable, Kimber Kable Hero's, etc) interconnects.

Better, more effective use of captial dollars.