1) Yes, the Cardas insulator plate’s width, matches the original Magnepan holes(both are standard 5-Way dimensions). 2) No, I’ve always(only) upgraded the stock, Stainless Steel(yuck) Input binding posts, with better 5-Ways. Then- internally bypassed the fuse holder and tweeter attenuation circuits. 3) I noticed a cleaner(less high-freq grain) presentation, with every model. But- always addressed everything at once, so- cannot specifically attribute the improvement, to any particular step(sorry). Caveat: Bypassing the fuse, means NEVER clipping/over-driving your power amp(or, bye-bye tweeter).