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My New Magnepan 1.7i's sound dull and lifeless on the top end...why?

First time Magnepan owner - 5  days old 100+ burn-in hours on them
Associated Equipment:
-Denafrips Terminator Plus
-Holo Audio May KTE version
-Pass Labs X22 Pre-amp
-PrimaLuna EVO 400 Pre-amp
-Pass Labs XA100.8 Monos
-PrimaLuna EVO 400 Monos
-AntiCables interconnects and speaker cables
-Stock tweeter attenuator jumper replaced with AntiCables level 5 spade jumpers on the 1.7i's

My spectrum analyzer indicates both speakers highs are falling off beginning at 1.25K and are 9db down from 2.5K on
Been playing around with speaker placement and room treatments for 2 days now without any remediation. What am I missing? Suggestions appreciated.
128x128nayls02
homer_skins's avatar
homer_skins
30 posts
 
Sounds strange. I bought my pair of 1.7i's about 2 years ago with never have seen or listened to a Magnepan in my life. I figured for that low dough it was worth taking a chance. Hooked them up to my Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP Integrated amp with KT-150'S and was blown away by the sound! Plenty of highs and mids. I also use AntiCable speaker wire and the stock jumpers. I run two subs from the single out on the Primaluna. Blows away the Vandersteen 3A Signatures that I replaced. Dana
yzfr1mike's avatar
yzfr1mike
13 posts
 
All Magnepan speakers require a lively back wall to generate the proper sound at the listening position. If the back wall is too damped, it will muffle the high frequencies. Remove any damping panels, foam, etc from behind the speakers and listen. Maggies do not respond well to rooms extensively treated for cone speakers.
boomerbillone
329 posts
 
Hello nayls02 . Check the fuses on the lower part of the rear of the panels. Replace them with 1 or 2 amp fast blow fuses, preferably ceramic.
jimf421
42 posts
 
That is very unusual for Magnepans...usually the opposite...speaker placement is very important with Maggies. I would try different positions and angles and make sure they are a couple of feet off the wall.
dain
60 posts
 
Agreed, very odd, especially since whenever some solo violin comes up at random it's actually impossible to skip or change the tune since it's so darned engaging. One thought, you have a lot of 'gear' going on here. Maggies really aren't that finicky, I recall using some of the priciest Nordost Blue heaven cable and it really dulled things down. Mostly bass, but plain 10 gauge wire sounded much better. If you are 'upgrading' anything based on cables, I'd start there, replace with more ordinary and especially high gauge stuff since Maggies like current. 
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