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Tweaking the Magnepan 1.7s

Looking to tap the Audiogon crowd to come up with inexpensive tweaks for my new Magnepan 1.7s. Here is what is planned so far:

Have room treatments. I am a bigger fan of sound absorption than sound dispursement. I have four 2' x 4' x 2" sound absorption panels that sit on each side of my stereo shelving unit between my speakers. Does a great job of removing the reflections off of my electronics.

Having Magnepans for 30+ years, I do like to deaden the front wall behind the speakers a little bit. From hanging an oriental rug to curtains or whatever. Will be trying out some of these ideas with my new location.

Mye stands. I am waiting for my bank account to grow a bit before I go for these. I believe Mye has the new updates for the 1.7s (although, I can't see any difference between the 1.7s and my old 1.6s).

I want to bypass the fuse and that stupid metal jumper with the least disruption of the speaker itself. Anyone remove the back panel and replace with better speaker connects? If so, what do you recommend? How about wiring tips - anything I should be know before I start the project?

Debating on using a 1 ohm resistor to tame the high end. Any suggestions for high quality 1 ohm resistors?

Anything I am missing?

Sound notes: full description of my experience with Magnepan 1.7s and the electronics I am using in other Audiogon threads, just search for ronwills.
ronwills
edge22
31 posts
 
Cwlondon,

Here is a link to one of the primary posts about the "razor" treatment for a Magnepan speaker that is in the planar speaker section of Audio Asylum:

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=mug&m=155318

There are other posts (e.g., see JBen's posts) about the razor on this same forum. There is a search function within the planar section to find these.
magfan
1,583 posts
 
What shortcomings in your panels are you trying to address?
Do you have crossover schematic?

My 1.6s improved quite a bit just by rotating them in place.....
That puts the tweeter 'in' and the mylar facing the rear wall. Apparently, the mylar to the rear is how all Magnepans were made up until fairly recently. Maybe when the QR tweeter was introduced? I have yet to hear / read a convincing reason for this change.
hotmailjbc
571 posts
 
sorry i havn,t got back earlier. the razor treatment i did was 1/2 so far. i,ve been listening to these mmgs for 2 years trying many tweaks such as getting them off the floor and building a brace to make them more stable. this was fun to do but no wow factor. then i applied the dynamat to the front of the speaker and in very thin strips to the rear. all i can say is i would recommend this to those brave or crazy enough to void their warranty. i.ll give one example. i,ve been listening to alejandro escovedo.s new cd Street Songs of Love and in the song bruce springsteen adds a vocal solo. with the razor treatment i just listened and now realize that he is singing harmonies too. when people write about congested details my mmg.s are now much improved. i understand the reluctance to tear into 2000 dollar new speakers. mine were 599 but the sound is very much improved with this modification.
hotmailjbc
571 posts
 
to ron wills.. a certain cable expert recommended i use my mmgs for a year before bypassing fuse which i did. in that year my 11 yr old son got a bit overboard and blew a 40 dollar fuse. he paid. since then i have bypassed the fuse and he no longer gets the remote. ha. i don,t know how long you have had your speakers but the sound imo gets better as you use them in the first few weeeks to a month thanks john
doak
199 posts
 
I thought the general consensus is that the 1.6 sound better than the 1.7. I've heard this from a number of people INCLUDING a local dealer who's handled Maggies for over 30 years. Why then are people dumping 1.6 to go to the 1.7???
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