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Magnepan 1.7 crossover capacitor improvement?

In my never ending quest to eliminate "glare" from all components I've recently realized that my MG 1.7's are a contributor. The crossover caps in them are nothing to write home about, a mixture of non descript caps including an Axon totaling 116.8uf in the mid range and an additional 10uf Axon for the tweeter. Since Axon is basically Solens which does have glare issues, I'm ready to move on. After snooping aroud it sounds like a mixture of Clarity ESA series/ 250V + Mundorf supreme replacements in the mid range and Mundorf Supreme for the tweeter would be a good choice. But i'm curious if someone here has already trod this path and found a different path thats reasonably affordable ( not Duelends and Vcaps...grin)
At this point I have glare about 95% tamed but there are still certain CD passages that cause that chalk board scraping sensation.
128x128davide256
jordi's avatar
jordi
110 posts
 
After 3 months with my upgrade I have been able to now power them with my 50 watt per side Quicksilver 6c33c mono block with plenty of room to spare no need for the 500 watts of solid state I had to use before this upgrade . Took all the trash magnepan put in their crossover circuit and deleted it and replaced it with quality crossover components and now is just a pure state of serious clean musical pathway to my source material.... The problem all along is this crossover trash they used!!!!!!!!!! Feel free to email me for detailed pics on a step by step re-modeling of your seriously and horribly compromised 1.7's
4hannons's avatar
4hannons
187 posts
 
Jordi, I'm interested in doing the same to my 1.7. Wondering why you prefer an amp with lower power now that you've done the upgrade. What did you notice changed the most using the 50 watt amp?
jordi's avatar
jordi
110 posts
 
Well the Quicksilver 6C33c'S UP TILL THIS POINT COULD handle any speaker I threw at it and these was just a ton left on the table before the upgrade and then after the upgrade more power then I ever will need full robust power typical of what I came to expect from the 6C33C TRIODE Quicksilver . After questioning SANDERS at Q-silver what I said above are basically his words...for pics just e-mail me pretty pugsley at r c n dot com
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
12-23-13: Jordi
The upgrade requires 115.8mf not 116.8 as stated above and a 10mf and 1.4uf inductor. Best is to use alpha core inductor and 3 sonicap 33mf a 10mf and 6.8mf to create your 115.8. You will not fit this in the panel base and must do it external and this will cost about 5-600.00 and will make your 2k speakers soUnd like 20k speakers.

Jordi, you pique my interest in finding a way to do this Xover upgrade to my 1.7s. However, I don't think it's fair to take Magnepan to task for their business model. It may be a $500-600 improvement for a DIY-er, but the retail price of just about any manufactured product has to be 4 to 5 times the cost of manufacture to be able to turn a profit, once you account for labor, utilities, rent/mortgage, warehousing, utilities, shipping, and distribution, Therefore, an additional $600 in the crossover would bump the 1.7's price up to $4400. While at that price the 1.7 might be an unbelievable value, so is the stock 1.7 at $2K.

I concede, however, that it would be nice if Maggie had (or would officially outsource) a factory-warranted upgrade path that included such a crossover upgrade.
stickman451
553 posts
 
Sell the 1.7's and buy a used pair of 3.7's; much less work overall and the 3.7 is a far better transducer in every respect. The 3.7's will sound 'smoother' than the 1.7, have better bass and mid-range magic, and are better intergrated; the panels and ribbon speak with a single voice. Also, try increasing the angle a bit by raising the rear and tilting the panels forward slightly, this will help to shelve-down the high end.
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