Magnepan 1.7 too bright, HELP

Just to follow up, the 1.7's do sound incredible once you have the right components, cables, power conditioning and room treatment. Didn't mean to offend anyone. I can say my current solid state setup does not have any issue with brightness. It's smooth, dynamic and very revealing with a massive soundstage. So I don't think there is an issue with the design of the 1.7's, but one does have to budget extra to get things right (indeed my fault for not realizing that early on) and expect a lot of trial and error. The magazines reviewing these speakers have reference equipment and rooms. Lot's of us buying 1.7's do not, however the low cost tweaks in my prior post can help reduce brightness greatly. Having listened to MG20's for years I do agree with those pointing out differences with the older models, the sound is different. The 1.7's sound closer to planer's from Analysis Audio. Very life like and have more "attack." Because the 1.7's have the ability to reproduce instruments in such a truthful manner any flaws within the system (down to fuses and each power cord) will be highlighted. Perhaps, it may be easier to have a tube component or two in the system, but I have not had the opportunity to try that. Maybe a Rogue Audio Tempest with a Raysonic CD-128 would be a nice combo.

For those that can't get the 1.7's to work or those that are building a 5K-ish system with a strict budget, try an old pair of Martin Logan Accent i's if you can find them. It would not be up to the level of the 1.7's, but the old electrostat's sound excellent, IMO are easier to place in a room and start listening, and the woofers offer much more bass.

you actually don't need to buy anything to bypass the magnepan 1.7 tweeter jumper. Just remove the 4 screws holding the plate onto the speaker, take a wrench and remove the nut and wire on the back of the jumper on 1 side, put the nut back on. Then remove the nut on the other side, slip the wire over and put the nut back on. At that point the jumper is out of the circuit. Be sure that you are doing this on the jumper and not the speaker wire inputs.

Davide256. Can you describe the difference in sound after removing the jumpers from the circuit?

I took delivery of my 1.7 last week. Stock out of the box they sounded bright, diffuse and lacked bass output. The music also seemed to be trapped in the midrange. I replaced the stock steel jumpers with 3 inch copper jumpers made from copper magnet wire purchased from radio shack. I was immediately floored by the improvement. The highs are extended without brightness or grain. The midrange is silky smooth and the bass!!! OMG, tight and fast!! Bass guitar is unreal! (Im sure this has more to do with the MORROW REFERENCE 4 CABLE throughout the system than the homemade copper jumpers).

I also tried a set of Hi-Fi Tuning Supreme fuses in place of the stock fuses. The supreme fuses increased soundstage height and width but decreased depth and imaging. Vocals were noticeably fuller however the supreme fuses also made the bass sound fatter and less defined. The Supreme sound is mellower and less dynamic. I prefer the cleaner, tighter and more dynamic presentation of the stock fuses.

After 3 days of positioning I think Ive found the optimum placement for the 1.7s in my listening room which is 12 x 18 x 10. The Maggie's are on the short wall 61 inches in, 39 inches(distance to tweeter) in from the side wall and toed in slightly toward my listening position. Listening position is 10 feet from the speakers. With this placement sound stage width is wall to wall and depth is through the front wall. Imaging is spooky! (I'm sure this has more to do with the MORROW REFERENCE 4 CABLES than anything else). I also have carpeted floors, a few decorative wall treatments, large potted plants in both front corners and medium weighted window treatments. In the near future I will order a pair of Sound Anchor stands.

I'm totally thrilled with the Maggie 1.7. I have no desire to own any other speakers....until I buy a house with a larger listening room then I'll buy the 3.7s!

Cheers.

Hi Jazzdrummer1969,

What source, pre and amp are you running the Maggie 1.7s with?

Glad to hear you are enjoying them. I had a really hard time getting them to sound right in my room. I have very similar room dimensions, but my room is awkwardly shaped.

Enjoy!