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
Magfan,

I did not rotate the speakers, but did the left right swap. The original owners guide from magnepan wanted the tweeters to the outside. Is that still what they recomend?
For purposes of a test, you can ignore the directions. Try any and all of the 4 logical ways they can be arranged.
1. mylar to listener, tweeters out (per directions)
2. Swap 'em L/R for mylar to listener, tweeters IN.
3. Rotate in place: results in mylar away, tweeters out
4. Swap em back L/R for tweeters IN and mylar away from listener.

#1 is Magnepan preferred.
#4 is the way I have my panels.

I'll go with whatever YOU prefer, in your system! It's too easy NOT to try, don't you think?

My original MG-1s were mylar away. I am told that sometime in the '90s, Magnepan decided to face the mylar TO the listener.

This will be the cheapest tweak you EVER try. Even removing the fuse will cost a few grams of solder and the electricity to heat up your soldering iron.

OH, each swap will require a little effort to optimize. When I did the rotate, they fell so naturally into place I have yet to mess with them again. But, I've been setting up panels for a long time and can get 'em pretty close to perfect in pretty good time. Perfect setup? takes longer.
I do want to mention a "tweak" that is not specific to Magnepan that has worked incredibly well. I ordered 4' x 2' x 2" sound absorption panels. I place one on each side of my audio system (which sits between the two speakers). I find the best set up when the two panels, one on the right and one on the left, are turn at a 45 degree angle facing the listener.

There is an immediate increase in clarity due to the reduction of reflections off of the audio equipment rack. The music is much more focused and instruments are more easily located in space (although, I have still not gotten the 3D effect of musicians spread out behind the speakers to any major degree).

I have been incredibly lazy and not finished off my new listening area, as yet. Have to paint the room and remove a rather large rear projection TV out of the space. When I have it set up, I will try once again with the reversed positioning.

One final note, I believe the Magnepans continue to get better over time. I have had them for about 5 months and for the first time the other evening, I heard a very familiar Rodrigo Y Gabriela CD but with a difference. For the first time the two guitars in several of the selections seemed to be floating behind the speakers about 3-4 feet. Most of the time, I get very realistic and natural sounding instruments without much depth. This was spooky real and what keeps me "tweaking" my system.

Just ordered XLR cables from BetterCables to connect my Wyred 4 Sound to my Bada Preamp. This is my first test of XLR cables vs. RCA and I didn't want to spend too much money if it wasn't going to make a difference. We'll see.
I read the 1.7 manual on the magnepan website. Tweeters in! you bet!
Mylar front is how they come.....which puts the connection panel in back, safely out of tripping range and sight.
I'd try it both ways....ALL 4, actually, since you can either do a L/R swap or a simply rotation-in-place.
That give 4 logical ways to place 'em....any of which may yield the best results in any given room.