Any Magnepan 1.6 owner who upgraded to 1.7?

But to me the 1.7 is not better. It doesn't have the glare stock 1.6's have, and it's (very bizarre) XO artificially tilts everything from the upper bass up with an "edge" that makes it appear to be clearer and "brighter", only it's an incorrect illusion. I can see how it would appear better, but for me it has too many flaws stock, including 2 rather bad humps in it's XO.

Also, IMHO before and after modding it does not have better bass than the 1.6 does. (this was very clear after modding) It was also the first of all of them which did not gain a dbl boost. I attribute these facts to the QR foil which doesn't have the mass it needs to achieve those things.

Petergunn is not entirely right: It does have a bump (a treble/shout) in the upper midrange. Before modding (any of the previous speakers of the last 10 years)the 1.7's present the most dramatic represenation of music naked as they are opf all of them. But dramatic does not mean accurate. It is exciting speaker with all its falsities. It creates streams of sound and reminds me of the way John Coltrane threw out waves of music with its ability to make sudden powerful shifts. The naked , unmodded 1.6's or 3.6's were never intended to behave quite that way. The 1.7's are not fussy. I am sure the Audiogon and audio asylum crew will get to modding the 1.7 and correct its faults. It's ten years are not up yet.

Right on !!! The 1.7's are not a better speaker ,just different. In my side by side evaluation of both i found :1.7 soundstage smaller. Imaging was smaller-more precise. Which i did not care for .The bass did not blend with the speaker well. All being said ,If i had never heard the 1.6 i would be happy with the 1.7 .But i spent three weeks with both !

Maplegrovemusic
Were the 1.7's fully broken in?

Pinoy6 -Having owned and enjoyed the 1.6 myself, I am also curious to know if the 1.7 is "better" or worth the upgrade. My local dealer has a pair of each side-by-side, so I believe I will compare them. Although it is subjective, I doubt you will get a straight answer on the forum due to so many different opinions. I have owned and listened to Magnepans since the 70's (Tympani, MGI, MMG, 1.6) along with other fine speakers from Thiel, Vandersteen, Martin Logan, etc. One thing that amazes me about Magnepan - they are the only speaker I am aware of that has a small user group with some people who feel they know more about the speakers than the company that has designed and built them for the last 40 years?