Magnepan 1.7

I feel compelled to chime in as, I too, have to agree with Texas42 and Demosis. For the record, I have been a Magnepan user for over 20-years, having owned models from MMG to MG-IIIA, to include a pair of 1.6's which I based my comparison of the 1.7's on.

The 1.7's I listened to were being driven by a NAD integrated amp and CD player, with Nordost cabling. The speakers were completely broken in.

I'll be very brief; I did not like this loudspeaker. For that matter, I did not like the 1.6's either, finding the voicing of both speakers to err too much in the direction of the upper registers, thus imparting a cool, rather than neutral or warm, tone.

Granted, both speakers do all the things that Maggies do very well, so I am not quibbling about their performance; I just did not care for their tone. Anyone who has ever owned a pair of MG-IIIA's knows exactly what I am talking about.

Are they a worthy successor to the 1.6's? Only time will tell. As with all Magnepan's they will have their following. Whether or not you like them will have to be determined by a thorough audition.

Personally, I feel that Magnepan should have re-released the MG-2.7QR, as for about the same price as the 1.7's, it was simply in another league. JMHO.

WPM

The 1.7 like the 1.6 has "poor" bass response!

They only goes down to 40 Hz and drop off fast below that, even at high volumes.

The Maggies are also a bad match with sub woofers because they do not "blend" well.

Get a used pair of the 3.x series if you want "real" sound!

My approach to getting a sub to play well with my 1.6s is to cross over the sub nearly as low as possible.
When I first did the setup, I let it go for a day or so. Then I slowly, over a period of weeks turned the crossover frequency down and adjusted the level slightly.

At first with the crossover set at about 55 to 60hz, the overlap caused bloat. The bass was fat and indistinct. As I turned it down to where it is now, <40, it is much much better. The only time it lights up is when there is content that low. It fills out the lower end of string bass and timpani very well.

My room of 8 sides and very asymmetrical helps loads. The sub is on the longest wall, about 3 feet from the nearest corner. It sits next to the LH panel.
The sub? Don't laugh! It is a HSU set for max extension.

I'd be WAY surprised if this wouldn't work for the 1.7s as well, which in any successful setup now running the 1.6s, should be a drop in replacement.

Johnnyr, since you have experience with various amps driving 3.6´s, do you prefer an ARC amp over Bryston, Pass, etc?

Thanks for all of your responses.

I was also wondering if anyone uses bi-wire speaker cables with their maggies or do you all use full range speaker cables? Thanks again.

Looks like no one has the 1.7s in their home yet for real world evaluation.