Thanks to everyone for your for the help with this question. And if any more want to comment, please jump in.
Bdp24, Great video. That is very tempting. And he mentions there are 5 brick and mortar stores you can visit for a listen. I'm close t the SFO bay area so will see if any are close. Thanks for this.
Jeffbij, Yes, Magnepan was ok modding these particular "Gunn" modded speakers.
mclinnguy, The 1.6 panels look to be removable from the wood surround such that any other 1.6 could be installed. All the electronics are in a ~12"x8"x6" box that sits on the base of the stand, behind the panel so are completely separate from the speaker itself.
dayglow, ...yes, I'm thinking on that. Turns out for me anyway that leaving these gorgeous speakers behind with their high end aspects is proving difficult. From a $ aspect and just the whole "throw it away vs repair it" aspect. My "set point" is to repair and not throw away, especially with something like this. I'm a bit stuck.
pryso, yes, the mylar is definitely split. As you mention the back of the speakers are open and easy to see and you can get your eyeballs right up to the damaged area of mylar. And on mylar repair, some amount of damage can be repaired. PG used to do some of this and in talking with Magnepan, they also --depending on the extent of the damage-- will patch the mylar split(s) instead of replacing the whole mylar sheet. --My initial idea when approaching Magnepan for repair was, "...these are old speakers to begin with and even if a spot repair was done for the mylar and wires, I'd perhaps encounter other age related issues going forward so get new mylar and wires attached via the new adhesives they're using and I'd have some future proofing." I just didn't realize the high cost of repair. And on PG's website, it's been down for a while but I know exactly what you're referring to when you mention to, "reread his comments on newer Maggie models." PG perceived a whole list of issues with the newer models to the extent some of them he'd refuse to mod.