Magnepan 1.7 too bright, HELP

I am not surprised you find the combination of gear currently harsher/too bright. I would suggest a cable set change (I have been unimpressed with single smaller gauge wires) and that you use the Denon 2900 as transport to an Eastern Electric Minimax DAC (reviewed by myself for Dagogo.com).

If you obtain a good quality digital cable the Denon/Minimax combo is extremely good and will give you the following benefits:

1. Massive upgrade in sound quality (i.e. detail, definition, sound stage, etc.) Note: The detail and definition is never the problem; the problem is how it is presented tonally.

2. Addition of tubes to mellow out the sound from all the mid-level SS components. This will assist in addressing the harshness, poor tonality.

3. The EE DAC has its own attenuation, so you can feather the output of the DAC in relation to the preamp. This allows you to have whatever degree of brightness or warmth you wish. It is an extremely effective way to tonally control the system.

You can get far, far better sound from your rig; you are not anywhere near the limit of its capacity. This should be welcomed news to you, as you will likely be able to approach your ideal sound with some more work on the rig. :)

room,room and room...forget the cables and concentrate on the room.

How many hours on the 1.7's although used they may not be broken in yet. Also tell us about the room. How big, lots of glass, hardwood or carpet, furniture. How are the 1.7's setup? How far off the back wall, toed in? How much? Next to a TV or wall units? All of these things will effect SQ. Planar speakers tend to be fussier in setup than dynamic speakers.

If your tweeters are on the outside swap the speakers from left right placing the tweeters on the inside then toe the speakers in. This will mellow out the top end and it may ever improve your imaging.

Of course all cables may sound different on different systems, however, I find Anti-Cables very flat in frequency transference..as a matter of fact, I tried almost every cost no object cables in my system, and Anti-Cables were the best. Magnapans are hard to drive and if the Rotel is having problems and clipping than you will hear what could be a bright sound. Replacing the Anti-Cables with Cardas for instance will get you a more mellow sound, but increase the "mud" along with it. Rotel amps are good for the money, but not the last word in performance. Maggies ARE good for the money AND in the upper reaches of performance.