Mapman,
I did purchase my Magnepan 1.7s along with my previous 1.6s at The Listening Room in Pikesville. They assisted me in selling my 1.6s which helped the process along.
I was at the Strathmore Hall last week to listen to Marin Alsop and the BSO. They were playing Brahms Requiem - not my favorite or even close. However, I did come away with the same impression - the Maggies 1.7 nail the sound of the orchestra and the hall. It is not a forward sound, but more recessed as if you are listening through the microphones in the hall and the orchestra is some distance from you.
I had to laugh. I have been trying to get "depth" out of my Magnepans by inching them closer then, farther from the back wall, never getting close to the huge hall sound I read about in Stereophile and Absolute Sound magazines.
Yet, when I closed my eyes in the hall during the concert, I really didn't get a feeling of a significant amount of depth like I read about in Stereophile. I knew the orchestra was in front of me - I was in great seats in the orchestra section - but it didn't sound cavernous. Again, the Maggies seem to catch what I heard, not too laser focused, not with exaggerated depth, just natural width and depth.
Can't wait until this coming weekend. I am visiting a great guy I recently met at a BSO function in Frederick. He invited my wife and I to join him and his wife for dinner and to listen to his MBL 111E speakers and MBL electronics. I am taking my Wyred 4 Sound DAC 1 with me (he has no digital) to test it out on his system. Looking forward to hearing what a cost-is-no object systems sounds like!
He is considering the Magnepan 1.7s for his "second-system" in his California home - I guess it would be his "slumming it" system. I may bring my Maggies over to his place and see how they sound with $$$ electronics sometime over the summer.
I did purchase my Magnepan 1.7s along with my previous 1.6s at The Listening Room in Pikesville. They assisted me in selling my 1.6s which helped the process along.
I was at the Strathmore Hall last week to listen to Marin Alsop and the BSO. They were playing Brahms Requiem - not my favorite or even close. However, I did come away with the same impression - the Maggies 1.7 nail the sound of the orchestra and the hall. It is not a forward sound, but more recessed as if you are listening through the microphones in the hall and the orchestra is some distance from you.
I had to laugh. I have been trying to get "depth" out of my Magnepans by inching them closer then, farther from the back wall, never getting close to the huge hall sound I read about in Stereophile and Absolute Sound magazines.
Yet, when I closed my eyes in the hall during the concert, I really didn't get a feeling of a significant amount of depth like I read about in Stereophile. I knew the orchestra was in front of me - I was in great seats in the orchestra section - but it didn't sound cavernous. Again, the Maggies seem to catch what I heard, not too laser focused, not with exaggerated depth, just natural width and depth.
Can't wait until this coming weekend. I am visiting a great guy I recently met at a BSO function in Frederick. He invited my wife and I to join him and his wife for dinner and to listen to his MBL 111E speakers and MBL electronics. I am taking my Wyred 4 Sound DAC 1 with me (he has no digital) to test it out on his system. Looking forward to hearing what a cost-is-no object systems sounds like!
He is considering the Magnepan 1.7s for his "second-system" in his California home - I guess it would be his "slumming it" system. I may bring my Maggies over to his place and see how they sound with $$$ electronics sometime over the summer.