Magnepan 3.7i vocals sound harsh

Jonto,
After your amp and pre-amp purchase has the harshness gone away? I ask because I’m also experiencing the same problems with Maggie 1.7 series speakers.  I’m starting to look towards my signal generation (PS Audio Perfectwave transport into a Perfectwave DAC) as the major source/revealer of the problem. Like you, I hear a slight, background harshness - a gravel like quality - underneath vocals; mostly rock/pop male vocals, and most noticeably during the chorus parts when three or four male vocalists sing together at full volume - think any Moody Blues or CS&N album. Solo vocal parts and most female vocals are sweet and clear. Instruments however, are always crystal clear and a joy to listen to.
This makes me wonder if it’s the 1960s/70s recording process itself, that rock/pop male chorus sections are slightly overdriven in the recording process, since I think I can hear some of the same grainy, gravel like underpinnings when I listen to the same CDs on lesser equipment.
Some of the problem left when I moved from a Bryston BP-25 preamp to the BP-26. I really don’t think my Bryston 4BST amps are the problem.  My major listening sweet spot is between 76db and 86db with very occationsl peaks to the upper 80s. 
So, did you lose the harshness, or is it still there?

Thanks,
Tim

John,
Reading through your thread I see you have tried quite a few things already. I will assume you’ve taken a flashlight and inspected your wires, both the front and back side. I also see you have experimented with different jumper material. The wording about your hooking up the resistors in place of the jumpers almost sounds like you hooked them up only to the tweeter attenuators instead of the mid-range attenuators. You might want to play around a little bit with different combination of resistor values and no resistors, and use some on the mid-range, if you haven’t. I have personally found that my setup benefited from some taming of the 400 to 500 Hz vocal range, plus a slight taming of overtones in the 1500 to 2500 Hz range. Not a complete cure, but a help. Then again, YMMV.
I’m really curious about the fact that you played Elton John on vinyl and it was terrible, but then you played a CD and it sounded great. That’s not going to sit too well with the vinyl set.  But, that does lead my to my main question.
Do you turn your equipment off when you are not listening? I am definitely NOT a proponent of leaving amps on 24/7, so that’s not what I’m suggesting.
In my experience, my set-up sounds WAY more harsh the first hour it’s on than the second hour; and it’s the third hour when it really starts sounding great.  I usually let it play for 1-2 hours before I actually sit down to listen.  Are you letting your equipment warm-up sufficiently before you do some quality listening?  I have found that the two hour mark is when my equipment finally starts to get into a groove.  Before that, not so much.
Anyway, this may all be stuff you’ve tried a dozen times.  Keep the faith. Your Maggies are too good to dismiss.

Tim

John,
A couple of suggestions. First, I have found that sometimes harshness doesn’t always eminate from the frequency range you think it’s coming from. I would try attenuating the midrange by trying the resistors there, and maybe put your nice copper jumpers in the tweeter spot. Or, maybe both tweeter and mid-range get the resistor treetment, or both get the copper. Whichever way sounds best. Sometimes it just takes a lot of little steps.
Second, I’m glad to hear you’re going to test the record when your system has warmed up. You’ll probably have to test records one day an you CDs on some later date.
I might suggest you turn on all of your equipment and let it all warm up for 45 minutes, as you usually do. Play just one side of a harsh sounding record (your Elton John record seams like a good candidate), and note the harshness - where it’s most noticable, how loud, etc. It would be good if you had a second pair of ears to verify what you are hearing. By the time you finish the album side your equipment will have been running about an hour and 5-10 minutes.
Now, try not to change the volume setting, or any other setting, and play another 3 or 4 album sides worth of music. Play a different album or two until your equipment has been running for a total of about 2 1/2 hours. It would be better if you had other things to do and left the room. That way you’ll have a better memory of how the harshness initially sounded and your ears won’t gradually get used to the sound of your stereo if it changes. (Also, don’t keep playing the Elton John album. Repeated playings of the same record could introduce new distortion). While I’m at it - no alcohol or other perception altering activities.  Sex with the wife is OK though.  Just tell her it's for science.
After your equipment has been playing music for a total of about 2 1/2 hours, sit back down and listen to Sir Elton again - same side as earlier.  Noting the distortion or harshness - is it the same?  Is it different? Has it improved?
I would also repeat the same test a few days later, using an offensive CD and sticking with CDs throughout the test.
I’ll be interested to find out what you hear.

Tim