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
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.
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
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???
They are very different animals. Even with out putting them side by side you can hear it. Sometimes they feel sharply focused- other times all over the place because of the crossing points. I thought them slightly clearer. A friend had them. I find the 1.7's more pleasureable when listhening for long periods of time and a little bit closer to the old Martin Logan Clz 1 (1987)(which I once owned) in making a balanced sound. If you have the 1'6's they are great. And the 1.7's are much harderto tweak if that is your thing. But people seem to be giving them away?

I have 1.6's.

My minor tweaks:

*) 1.5 ohm resistor in series with an inductor (choke tweak).

*) Maggie Rear Wave Attenuators (google/ebay search). Not too well known. Should be.