For what it is worth, I tried the Grant Fidelity tube buffer between a Azur 640 CD player and a McIntosh MA6300 integrated amp driving a double stack of Large Advents. Could not tell a difference. |
Yeah, I think it all depends on the system synergy. I've become a total advocate for tube-pre, and ss amp. For instance, my office system is a Cambridge Soundworks Model 12 for amp and sub, with Gallo A'Divas for the speakers. It was very involving, but a bit too revealing for my taste.
I added the 283 tube buffer, and all I can say is that the sound is so satisfying now, that this will likely be my permanent office setup.
I bought the 283 MKII for my main system, and I've done an A/B comparison, and for my system it works wonders. I'm actually about to order the new $300 tubes from Psvane for it.
Having said that...once I buy a new preamp and class D amps for the main system, it may no longer make enough difference. Time will tell. :-)
Mot |
Bnrimal, please tell us what your previous pair of speakers were? |
Hi, have been playing with speaker positions and working on the room, sold the Denon and bought a Marantz DV9500 on Ebay and added a 2 ohm resistor. Overall the sound is warmer but not quite what I want yet. My old speakers with POLK LSi 15. |
You can try repacing every component in your system like i did and after years of doing so never be copletely happy with the maggies. look how music is recorded sound wise .The main thing is the room in recording studios. Have you ever seen a music hall that the room was not treated . It is such an important aspect in hearing music and sound. Treat the room . It will amaze you like nothing else .Forget switching this cable, that amp, this dac ,that pramp for now and get some bass traps ! Yes bass traps will improve the highs ! |
Okay - the W4S SX1000 and STP SE have arrived and been listened to for about ten hours - maybe 12 different CD's - mostly jazz and acoustic rock.
Initial impressions:
Yes, Maggies love power. They sound a lot better. The sound is generally fully and much more palpable at higher volume. I have played as high as 40 which keeps the STP in passive mode (threshold to active is 60). Not sure that I needed the 1000 versus 500, but if the wife is going to yell I figured I might as well make it worth it!
I am hearing much more detail such as different voices in harmonies and better resolution of instruments in a mix.
The depth of the sound stage has improved because I can hear much more front to back.
I was not sure about the bass at first. Then I remembered Magfan saying to tweak with what you have. I started moving the Maggies in one inch increments and improved the bass in fullness and texture. I would have never thought that two different amps would require respositioning the speakers but I believe it now! |
Hate to ask but did you actually listen to the Maggies before you purchased them? As good as the M1.7's may be they are not for everyone. |
06-10-11: Realhifi
Hate to ask but did you actually listen to the Maggies before you purchased them? As good as the M1.7's may be they are not for everyone. Excellent post,hits the nail square on the head. |
I definitely listened to the Maggie 1.7's before buying them. Here is my recent "audiophile" history:
I was an double stack Large Advent Loudspeaker guy for about 25 years. Finally told the wife that I needed to upgrade. This is after capacitor upgrades to the Advents (which opened up the sound quite a bit).
My first upgrade was to purchase a McIntosh MA 6300 integrated at 160 wpc/4ohms. Did this because my old Yamaha 760 integrated quit working. It was the "I always wanted a Mac" purchase.
Next up was an Azur 640 CD player. That lasted less than six months but I knew that going in. I was relocating to a new job and my old player died so I bought the Azur quickly on a "good deal".
Then I upgraded to an Audiospace CD8 with tubed front end. Big improvement. Much more detail, bass, and low noise floor.
So now I am a double stack Advent guy with MA 6300 and a CD8 player. Plus vinyl which I will not go into here. This drove the Advents well but I had heard enough to know that the Advents had to step down.
Now the speaker shopping starts:
Snell J7 monitors - in home audition - too small a sound, too analytical
Klipsch towers - just not my cup of tea. Sounded too harsh and not very refined. Probably was the amp for all I know
Jamo 803 monitors - really sweet, musical sound with pretty good, big bass, but I wanted more than that
B&W - several different models including a couple of in home auditions - just too dry and analytical - very specific imaging to the point of not sounding real at all. To me, with B&W, all the sound is there but there is no life. These were through some Classe and Levinson monoblocks at the dealer as well
Martin Logan - just seemed like the bass was not right - just too much of it - like boomy almost. Too much "in your face" for me. Heard through the same Classe and Levinson monoblocks.
Ascend Acoustic Sierra Ones - in home audition - Liked the sound but really did want a bigger sound and not a monitor size sound
Paradigm Signature towers - couple different models - Too brittle, not enough real bass, no texture
Maggie 1.2' - Heard these and fell in love. To my ear they had a sort of Advent sound. One reviewer had stated about 20 years ago that Advents have a sort of electrostatic sound, so maybe I am not that nuts. I could live without the Advent bass because there was so much more detail to hear. However, it did not take long to think that the 1.2's needed more power.
I home auditioned a Krell S300i integrated with 300wpc/4 ohms that blew the Mac away - no warm, woolly Mac sound but the bass and detail were big improvements.
Then the Maggie 1.7's came out last year and I listened to them twice and puchased them last Thanksgiving - five week wait. I was somewhat apprehensive because they did not sound as musical as the 1.2's although they had a lot more detail and more bass.
The 1.7's continue to break in and now have about 250 hours on them. They sound much more musical than they did at the end of last year. Still thought that I was missing the "edges" of the sound and that is how I got to the 1000 wpc W4S gear.
The bass has improved with the location change and I suspect that it will continue to improve as the new W4s breaks in. The Maggie 1.7's will never be the ultimate in bass but the trade offs to go with Walsh Ohms or ML's, for example, seem to great too me at this time. |
Good call, as the W4S breaks in, you will get more bass. Not booming bass, but down to the 42 hrz range, that Magnepan advertises. I love the Bass on Maggies, especially the bigger models, it's very tight and fast.
The amps I currently use with mine have incredible bass, and the speakers have measured consistantly down to 32 hrz in this imperfect room. The kick drum always sounds great, in fact I can listen to Outlandas D'Amour over and over again, just to listen to Stewart Copelands drum work, especially on the kick drum, and the high hats on the other end.
Spinning that record right now!! |
MacDadTexas,
You have 3.6's correct?
Outlaws of Love - I have never heard that album - first by the Police, right? |
|
You can get resistors in tons of variants. I used just a .327 ohm on my 1.6's, and it took off just enough. When I used a 1 ohm on them it took most of the magic away and sounded lifeless. |
So if I am following this correctly, the 1 ohm resistor took away more energy going to the speaker which reduced the sound compared to the .327 ohm resistor which took away less energy and kept more to produce the sound at the speaker.
Do I have this right?
If so, it seems like a resistor is supposed to be an inexpensive way to correct how a component sounds? |
Yes....and no.
Magnepans are 'voiced' under certain listening conditions with certain upstream equipment.
You CAN use the resistor to attenuate HF output. The DIY crowd is also, for some reason, a big fan of Low DCR inductors in the bass, which raises bass output in relation to HF output, and therefore has the same effect.
I hate to bring up ohms law, but simply put, a resistor in series with another, in this case say....1 ohm in series with 4 ohms, will take away about 20% of the power which formerly went to the 4ohm load only.
Just my opin, but have you exhausted setup potential yet? A couple 'fake ficus' behind the panels or perhaps a staggered bookshelf or even a small tapestry or maybe flipping them around would take off the HF edge.
The flipping worked wonders in my room and I'm now about to spend some money on some home built/designed sound panels. I may post a photo or design.
If anyone has Google Sketchup, I'll send a simple drawing of the panel and how to join the wood..... |
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. |
Panels are bright and sterile sounding , deal with it . |
When one remains silent others may believe you are wise or ignorant. Once you speak they will know for certain. |
Djcxxx, classicly well spoken. |
Tmsorosk, have you ever heard Quads driven by good tube amps, or even ML-2's. Stax F-81's driven by OTL's, or Maggies driven by Jadis? All with good upstream gear, of course. Sterile? Bright? Are you serious? |
Davide is right. Using a different amp makes a difference with magnepans. |
Hi, have you taken care of the brightness Yet. If not you should be able to dim the tweeter using a higher value resister. I have the mg3a's and have used up to a 10 ohm resister to soften them with great results. It's maybe the best way to go, certainly the cheapest.
Goog luck |
I think you are right about the new maggies being bright. I heard the 3.7 yesterday and like them but they sounded a bit thn and bright to my ears. were hooked up to some nice ARC gear too. Maybe they were not broken in yet? I really like the sound of the older Maggies more. To me the 12 and MMG sound much more relaxing to my ears. Sure they don't have the hyper detail or bass and treble extension as the newer 1.7 and 3.7 models have but the just seem more musical to me. And can sit back and relax not worried about any nasty peaks or sibilance to them.
My theory is that many new products are becoming brighter. I could be wrong but i think that many of these icon designers are getting older and they don't take into account there loss of hearing in the upper ranges when they design there new speakers. Hence the brightness. Just a theory guys. |
I suppose if you find it acceptable to compromise you can use the resistor.. i did that initially but basically that was akin to using an equalizer... the treble was lower, out of balance with the midrange. Have patience with figuring out what's wrong in your system outside the Maggies... the solutions will bring you closer to a "you are there" level of playback. |
Have you tried flipp'in them around and listening to the pole piece side?
Take you 5 minutes and you'll be surprised. in a good way, I hope.
The panels are NOT the same front and rear. The pole piece to the listener is the way they were shipped until sometime in the '90s.
I prefer the old way, like my original MG-1s
Don't screw with anything until you try the flip. |
(((I suppose if you find it acceptable to compromise you can use the resistor..)))
Suppose???
WTF Resistor is supposed to be installed to begin with....
Most all rooms need the supplied resistor
Its not a compromise.....
Its an important part of the set up.
Every room is different having this flexibility with different value resistors and experimenting is the right way toward a solution.
Best Johnnyr |
sorry, audioconnection, thats not science. A resistor in series will cause a dB drop thats fairly flat between the crossover point and natural frequency roll off of the tweeter. That means you are using a resistor as an equalizer. If a room is reflective, you kill the reflection with wall hangings, not damage the tonal balance of your speaker.
Calling it bright is a misnomer... its a new level of detail and unfortunately exposed in that detail is distortion thats irritating and which can distract your attention from the additional good you hear until you clean the cause out of your system.
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for what its worth, I auditioned the 1.7's with the Rogue Chronus last month. Blissful musical, no listening fatigue factor with musical detail popping out all over. Could be that's all the cure you need |
Everyone and his uncle knows that Maggie speakers require lots of current. Anticables are too thin to carry the required current.
Also, regarding the alleged brightness, I have heard 1.7s and believe it is NOT a level issue, it is the effect of the tweeter being much faster than the midrange/bass panels. Not much that you can do to alleviate this problem. Attenuating a fast tweeter with a series resistor will not make it slower, it will still arrive early as compared to the midrange, though attenuated.
I agree with the posts about improving your source. After the music signal gets out of your source, nothing can improve it. Colorations, distortions, time smear and undue emphasys are added by each and every component in your system, including the room.
So, my sure-fire bets would be start with the right source and dampen the room reflections.
Good luck |
Try to use Class A amplifier w 100 watt for your 1.7. The Threshold 400A is a very good amp as recommended by HP. I had it once several years ago. I still miss it. Good luck. |
I went through same issue. I listened to them through high end ARC tube amps in my dealers showroom. Loved them. Purchased the 1.7's with a new ARC LS17 and brought a pair of BelCanto M3 mono blocs home with them for demo. I hated the sound when I got home and set up. I then went to my other local dealer and purchased a new Bryston 4B SST2 to try with the 1.7's. 10 minutes after installing the Bryston in place of the BelCanto's I loved the sound. The bass was so much warmer and more natural and the highs lost the artificial sheen I was hearing with the class D amps. I also installed two absorbsion tubes in the corners behind the speakers. Everything sounds wonderful now. These are amazing speakers if paired with a tubed pre and a high quality and potent SS amp. As others have made clear, they will show you any mismatches or weak links in your audio chain rather quickly. |
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Another minor tweak is replacing the hard metal bar jumper with either a copper or silver high quality jumper. This is by no means a make or break tweak IMHO, but it is well worth the few minutes and minimal cost. I have tried both copper and silver and settled on silver Audioquest jumpers that cost $25. It removes a minor bit of upper end shine (for lack of better term) at least with my components. |
I tried a couple of different subwoofers with my 1.7's including a Genesis 928 with dual 12 inch woofers. I did not like it - could not seem to get the bass right in terms of loudness. I was changing the gain all of the time depending on what I was listening to. It seemed like the Genesis was too much woofer for the 1.7's.
While this subwoofer auditioning was progressing, I started to hear distortion from one of my Maggie 1.7's - sort of a slight "crackling ssshing" noise from high up on one panel. I switched the two speakers just to be sure it was not some other component problem. The sound followed the one speaker.
The dealer said that it would be fixed under the warranty; I just would have to bring the speakers back to the store.
While at the store I got to hear Maggie 3.6's and thought that they sounded darn good. I ended up taking them home as my loaners until the 1.7's were repaired.
As it turned out, I kept the 3.6's.
I would have to say that the 1.7's sounded bright and sterile compared to the 3.6's in my listening place with exactly the same components (W4S amp and preamp and Audiospace CD8).
I think that the 3.6's sound warmer, sweeter, and definitely more mellow - much more of what what I prefer to hear.
In addition, the 3.6 bass is another whole level above the 1.7's.
Also, the 3.6's create a much bigger soundstage. In my listening space the soundstage extends across the whole 15 front wall.
So...while I thought that the 1.7's were pretty good, my vote is that the 3.6's are much better. |
I found that the gold hifi tuning fuses had a greater effect than the 1 ohm resister (approx $80). Second buy a pair of ATS Acoustic panels and place them on the wall behind your speakers ($120 shipped) to reduce reverb. The tweeter jumpers are also a source of brightness, try the cardas jumpers sold at dedicatedaudio.com ($40). The 1.7's have a horrible tendency of revealing dirty electricity. This is a costly problem. I found an excellent solution at blue circle called the PLC Thingee FX2 (weird name for a weird looking device). I can plug the entire system into it and not have any effect on dynamics. It had the most impact on reducing harshness ($320 or the lower model $220).
I second the NAD equipment, the M3 has been well suited for the speakers. A similar source unit is the Oppo 95, very smooth sounding player. Try to get as much Cardas cables into the system. Golden Cross interconnects if the brightness issue is really bad, Golden reference if you can. The Neutral's will take away too much details, but you can listen to the system all day long with the Cardas Neutral's. If you are having to play the speakers loud to derive lot's of bass you'll need a lot of acoustic panels in your room. You could consider adding a small REL subwoofer to help with the bass and play the speakers at a lower volume. A Martin Logan Grotto i could also do the trick. I've had luck with ESP reference power cables (most balance and smooth cable I found), but I wish I new of a lower cost alternative. If you are running low-end speaker cables you may want to try Clear Day Cables. They will lower distortion, provide ample deep bass, and present exactly what's being fed to the speakers. They are the best value for the $ in my opinion and compared very well with purist audio cables costing several times as much. They will be revealing on the top end, but without added harshness. Lastly, if all else fail's use the plastic rings provided with the stands to tilt the speakers back. This will fire the highs upwards and you'll hear more bass. However, you will lose top-end details.
I love the Magnepan's but they have cost a lot to get right. However, I demo'd them along with the Martin Logan Vantages and found the Vantages to be even more harsh running on the same McIntosh set-up. I wish I still had my old Martin Logan Accent i's to compare side by side. I actually used those speakers with windows behind them! System was simple with a Consonance Calaf (warning not reliable), Consonance CD120, Wireworld III cable's and ESP reference power cables. Threw in some Amprex PQ White Labels in the Calaf and life was great... |
"I love the Magnepan's but they have cost a lot to get right." Magnepans are SO RIGHT; they reveal EVERYTHING and ANYTHING that's wrong, with the rest of your gear. That's the price of any ACCURATE/DETAILED speaker system. |
fwiw this person got a different perspective with his 1.7's
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1332030982&&&/Magnepan-1-7-w-Tubes-lots-of-Class-D-Pow |
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! |
jazzdrummer I haven't really detected any difference but on general principle think the jumpers were a bad idea, only put there for systems that were too bright, needing the resistor. |
Jazz, happy you have the 1.7's working! Try the Hifi Tuning fuses pointed down towards the floor. I had luck with the Gold ones, I'll stick with that. I found the SilverStar fuses in my amp demonstrated what you heard on the Magenepans.
Happy Listening! |
I wouldn't be surprised if what you really are hearing is just a lack of low end. Try a sub and see. I don't like Magnepans without a sub. They appear to be bright, and that is because the low end is typically weaker then most are used to. Room treatments can be a great option for getting a smoother sound out of panels too.
Rote might be a bit bright, not sure about Emotiva. There XPA amps were never really bright IMO. Not sure about there preamp though
Just my opinion. |
It's a panel speaker, it's going to be bright no matter what, get used to it or get ride of it. |
