Old vs New Magnepan 1.7 vs Tympani IV

You should include as a third choice good deal on a 3 series .... used pair of 3.3 at less than $1500 or 3.5 at less than $2k.

If you have a large enough room and plenty of amplifier power, I'd go with the Tympani.

If you have the space go for the T IV

With a little work the T IV can fit into a 13X15 room. But easily go into my 17 X 19/20 room.

They are great speakers. Nothing much lost vs. MG 20.

Then there is the upgrade potential. The fact that the bass panels are separate helps substantially with the midrange and trebble.

If you are more adventurous, the modification to bi/triamping and taking out the passive crossover components to put in high grade parts or active crossover can bring these to world class at a modest investment.

I've never heard the Tympani so can't give you an opinion there but I would endorse Jayfox's sentiment & suggest you check out one of the older III series. IMHO they are the current sweetspot in the $'s versus SQ tradeoff.

GO FOR THE TYMPANI'S !!!