My New Magnepan 1.7i's sound dull and lifeless on the top end...why?


First time Magnepan owner - 5  days old 100+ burn-in hours on them
Associated Equipment:
-Denafrips Terminator Plus
-Holo Audio May KTE version
-Pass Labs X22 Pre-amp
-PrimaLuna EVO 400 Pre-amp
-Pass Labs XA100.8 Monos
-PrimaLuna EVO 400 Monos
-AntiCables interconnects and speaker cables
-Stock tweeter attenuator jumper replaced with AntiCables level 5 spade jumpers on the 1.7i's

My spectrum analyzer indicates both speakers highs are falling off beginning at 1.25K and are 9db down from 2.5K on
Been playing around with speaker placement and room treatments for 2 days now without any remediation. What am I missing? Suggestions appreciated.
128x128nayls02

Showing 4 responses by ps

Either the tweeters on OP’s speakers are working properly or they’re not.

I say the following based on my decades of experience with Magnepan speakers. Amps, room, placement, source material, cables, fuses, the alignment of the stars, and so forth, and so on, have only had relatively minor, not dramatic effects on how the tweeters sound.

Whether I’ve used beefy tube mono amplification, a not-so-beefy tube integrated, a moderately-beefy hybrid integrated, or robust solid-state integrated, I find that I want to tame the tweeters a bit using resistors. The rest is refinement.

That is all.
I reiterate: The tweeters in OP's speakers are either working properly or they are not.  And nobody here knows what other variables/factors are present in OP's situation. Not every problem nail needs a sledgehammer. (HUH? whatever does that mean?)

I suspect that @dekay  is on the right track.  

I will say it's (sorta) fun to read all the responses in this thread.  But I think it's time for me to unfollow. Best wishes and I hope OP gets it sorted out.