2. speakers
  3. 173289-169350

How to fuse bypass in Magnepan 1.7i

Anyone bypassed the fuse on a 1.7i specifically? I read that it's a simple move of the wires but this wasn't the case for me. As you can see in the first photo, the yellow wire connector is stamped to the fuse box, and the yellow wire crimped on pretty tight. I gave it some decent force and it wasn't budging.

I've also heard the Cardas small post works fine, but again this wasn't the case for me. The Cardas post was slightly too large in diameter for the Magenepan wire connector to fit over.

Anyone who has done this and could offer some guidance as to how you accomplished it?

Thanks in advance!

 

zenworm
zenworm OP
4 posts
 

@jjss49 Totally fair question. The wiring of the Maggie's are their weakest part. The fuse and attenuator in particular use low quality parts and there are many steps a signal has to step through in order to make it out of the speaker. Many have found that bypassing the fuse results in a much clearer, brighter sound. As long as you don't listen at ear-splitting levels or have an amp that can't keep up with the Maggies, there's little chance to blow the fuse.

Lots of people also use a copper tube in place of the fuse, which is my back up plan, but I'd rather bypass this low quality wiring altogether.

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,418 posts
 

I just put a slow blow in the fuse block. 

secretguy
1,680 posts
 

LOL SMH

phcollie's avatar
phcollie
342 posts
 

Mine are bypassed. I stream so don't worry about a drop on the turntable and have had no problems for several years.  Yes....to better sound. 

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,686 posts
 

The Magnepan fuse block contains ferrous (steel!) parts, a terrible idea. Maggies can absorb a lot of power with little chance of damage, except for their fantastic ribbon tweeter (found in the current MG3.7a, 20.7a, and 30.7).

I just by-passed the block in the bass panels of my Tympani T-IVa, leaving it in the midrange/tweeter panel. The ribbon tweeter is not that expensive to replace, so some owners bypass the fuse block protecting it as well.

The holes for the stock binding posts in my T-IVa's were just (and I mean just) a hair smaller than the size of the Cardas posts. The gentle use of a circular file (merely running it around the circumference of the hole a few times) enlarged the hole enough to allow the Cardas posts to be inserted. 

More to discover