Magnepan 1.7

Listened to 1.7s and bought 1.6. I could not tell any real difference other than a smidge better base in the 1.7 so the $800 price difference between 9/10 1.6 used and new 1.7 was not justified to me. Also, I disliked the look of the aluminium caps on the sides of the 1.7, but now I am told those are optional.

Maplegrovemusic,

I just picked up my 1.7's last night so this is a very early comment. I am upgrading from the 1.2's. I have started out with tweeters to the outside.

My initial impression is that the 1.7's are much better than the 1.2's in a lot of ways. Sound details that I never heard before seem to jump out of the things. The bass is really much stronger. On certain tracks I can feel it which never happened with the 1.2's. The bass is not boomy and is very articulate. The different timbre of the instruments is noticeable.

I think that placement with the 1.7's will be a bit tricky and understand your soundstage comment. They seem to need more space than the 1.2,s. In my first night of listening I was never able to obtain a good solid center as I moved the speakers around. However, they are supplying so much more detail that I may not be hearing the center even though it is there.

There seems to be a larger sweetspot. Also, I noticed that when I sat outside of one speaker, I could still hear sound from the other speaker across the room. Very impressive.

Finally, I was worried that the 1.7's sounded a little bit clinical in the dealer showroom. In my home environment, that is not the case. The 1.7's are engaging and musical.

Time will see how they improve.

Not that it actually matters, Dsper, but the 1.7 book recommends tweeters 'in'.

Also, in the interest of experimentation, after you get used to them, why not just rotate them in place and put the pole piece side to the listener?

That is the current orientation of my 1.6s

Magfan that is interesting that they now recommend the tweeters on the inside after all these years. IMO moving the tweets to the inside helps to center the stereo image, at least in my room it did.

Hi Magfan,

I started with the tweeters to the outside for no special reason.

The currrent instructions for the 1.7's, just two sheets of paper with a thank you letter on top, no longer recommend tweeters in.

They explain how to orient the speakers based on serial numbers and that the listener should determine what sounds best to them. They do recommend toeing in the speakers to the center of the listening position and advise against them being parallel to the front wall for better phasing.

So...tweeters in, tweeters out and then back to front...tweeters in and tweeters out...and that is before any mods!

Second day of listening - a lot of bass that you can cleanly hear and differentiate instruments.

Still amazed at little details that pop out at you. On some Stevey Ray Vaughn cuts, the hum of the guitar amps is clearly audible for what it is at the end of the tracks. On a Joan Jett CD I clearly heard fingering thta wsa not audible before