Magnepan 2.7QR owners...please.

I had the 3.3 and then the 3.5. These too had tweeter attentuators. This design allows for component/room matching that is more cost affective and "pure" than a continuous level control that exists on many other models.

The speakers come with metal shorting bars. By removing these bars, and inserting a 1, 2, or even 3-ohm 10-watt resistor here, you can tame what I too found to be too exaggerated of a top end. I have no experience with midrange attentuators but I suspect this would not be needed.

Just throwing tube amps at the Maggies will not resolve the forwardness in the trebles. I had to do this with the Counterpoint hybrid amps as well as ARC, Wolcott and CAT tube amps. Experiment with the resistor value based on the amp you are using. Start with a 1-ohm value and increase in 0.5 increments until you get the tonal coherency to your liking.

I am sure others will say that adding resistors here would take away the ultimate in transparency but this is not really a strength of the Maggies. The attentuation will allow for a greater tonal coherency which removes the otherwise fatiguing sound. And once this is removed, the great midrange and awesome 3-dimensional presentation of these speakers can be more appreciated.

John

Maggie MG1.6 come with 1 ohm resistors (attenuators). The instructions say that the speakers are flat without the resistors, but, because many recordings are equalized with a "hot" high end to compensate for rolled off speakers, it may be desirable to use the resistors. I am not familiar with other Magneplanar crossovers, but in the MG1.6 there is no tweeter padding resistor in the crossover. Most speaker crossovers have tweeter padding resistors in the range of 1 to 3 ohms, so the Maggie attenuators are just tweeter padding resistors, of lower-than-usual value. And, you get to pick the value you like.

Jafox, where would I purchase these 10w resistors and how are they attatched to the posts?

Thank you for your time.

Vvrinc: Radio Shack sells 1-ohm 10w resistors. They are a dollar or so each. What I suggest you do is buy 4 of these. This would allow you to use 2 per side to try out 0.5, 1 and 2 ohms to find a value that gets the level to your liking. Once you find the value you like, you can find a higher quality "audiograde" resistor to replace the RS parts. There are many online sites that cater to DIY audio hobbyists with high-grade electronic components.

These power resistors have relatively thick leads. You can bend the ends 2 or 3 times and put these directly in the socket currently being occupied by the metal jumpers. There's no need to solder the resistors to banana or other connectors first.

Hope this helps.

John

John,
Many thanks for your guidance. Will post results in a few days. Also thanks to the other members that have helped clarify the terminology.

Best regards,
Santiago