Magnepan 1.7

I was in that same Texas town Austin at Audio Systems. I listened to the 1.7 also but their main amp they drive the 3.6s with was sick. It had to go back to the shop. Hey Texas42 which amp were you guys using? Maybe the amp was sick.

We are driving the Magnepan MG 1.7s at AC in NJ with an ARC power amp and I can assure you they sound amazing.
using a .75 ohm resistor on the Tweet panel and speakers are about only a couple feet plus out from the front wall.
Some folks forget to install the resistor at all and
there ya go
Do we need to read the manual as they say in Minnesota You Betcha.
cheers Johnnyr

Hi Texas42, I agree with your assessment of the 1.7s. I have been looking into buying a pair of Maggies for quite some time and was looking forward to hearing the 1.7s. I was able to audition and directly compare the 1.6 with the 1.7 in the local dealer's showroom last February. Therefore, same music, electronics, cables and room set up. The 1.7s had been broken in for over 200 hours. To me the 1.7 sounded somewhat more forward and bright, perhaps slightly more detailed than the 1.6, but more "sterile" as well. Overall I preferred the sound and musical presentation of the 1.6. So would you believe it, I ended up buying a pair of the 1.6s !! Some may think I am nuts for buying the "old" model, but I liked it better so there you go...

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!