Magnepan 1.7 too bright, HELP

I think if you had mentioned the room size in your original post the majority of the replies would have stated that the room is too big for the 1.7s, in addition to other info.

Get cheap power cords/an AC filter from RAT SHACK, and you will be pounding nails into those Walmart tires.

Having owned Emo gear I would say replace the pre amp first and also then the source for something with tubes or try a tubed pre amp. Personally Emo has always sounded bright to me whenever I've used it and I will not use it ever again in two channel due to this.

If your looking for budget run a Jolida ect if you wanted to get started in tubes and not have to output a lot of coin. Also not sure about cables but I would try the pre amp first as to me cables do make a difference but the pre will make more. Also the source before cables. IMHO.

You should be 7.4 feet from your back wall. Just try it.

www.cardas.com/content.php?area=insights&content_id=26&pagestring=Room+Setup

A good tube pre under $500 maybe a bit hard to find. Two budget unit with good review comes to mind are the AES DJH and Mapletree 4 SE. But both of them is in the $700-$800 price range. You can keep an eye on those if you can stretch your budget a bit.