New Magnepan 1.7 R


Did anyone else see the CNET article about the new Maggie's? It's a true ribbon 2 way speaker, wow. I had not heard anything about these anywhere before, or seen them at a show. Was the whole mini Maggie testing last year really about these?

I may have to break down and try these.

Any thoughts, or better yet, anyone on here who actully heard/saw them during the testing??
macdadtexas
Darkkeys, I have mine five feet out into my room and 2.5 feet from the side walls with a bit of toe-in. My room is 17x25. I drive them with Portal Paladin monoblocks. I think they sound great. I never found setup that difficult. Planars simply sound different from dynamic drivers. One either likes the sound or they don't.

Wendell
Darkkeys, I looked at your system pics and if you're speaking of your living room system and would have part of the speaker firing directly into the side of your sofa, then no, I don't think that set up would work very well for Maggies. Since the actual driver extends close to the floor, it would be putting an acoustic attenuator on one side.
Plato, That was my reasoning also. The info on the Maggie website contradicts this reasoning. Thanks.
Darkkeys

I always found 5 feet out from the wall to be the magic number for Maggies, any less and the bass draws attention to itself. fwiw the rooms I had them in were smaller than yours...

ymmv

also fwiw, if the new 1.7 is as good as they say it seems they would eliminate the need for the 3.6 - (or else they will come out with a 3.7!).

I really look forward to hearing the 1.7
I think we will eventually see a “trickle up” effect with the 1.7s. By that I mean the 3.6 and 20.1 will also be put out to pasture by new models eventually based on the 1.7 improvements. Magnepan’s market research probably reveals that the 1.6 is the best selling and most profitable product in their lineup. Accordingly it makes sense to upgrade this speaker first and then follow with newer models later on for the rest of the line. As good as the 1.7 is likely to sound; I doubt it will sound more realistic than the 3.6R. Especially given their relative price points.