Magnepan 1.7 too bright, HELP

Great advice here. I offer a small addition. I had a similar issue with my Mirage OMD-28s, and solved it by spending less than $200 on a Grant Fidelity Tube Buffer. I run it between my DAC and Preamp. It gives you some of that tube warmth and dynamic nature for a tiny investment. Worth a try, as its cheap and easy to resell if you don't like it.

Also, get the book 'Get Better Sound', as your room is uber important in sound quality. Good luck.

Mot

Magfan, my MGIIIA's were "modded to their limit" with:

-replacement of all xover components with Solen air-core inductor coils (Litz for the ribbon and midrange), and bypassed MIT capacitors..
-everything outboard in a well dampened wood box, with attention paid to the placement and orientation of the coils for minimum interference.
-all wiring was Siltech pure silver, completely hardwired. Not a single mechanical connection after the amplifiers' (Manley) binding posts.
-fuses bypassed (living dangerously)
-custom stand/frame for rigidity
-removal of the speakers' socks
-Harmonix Tuning Dots

I am sure some would not consider MIT caps to be "the limit", but very good nonetheless.

Good mods. I'd do it a little different...not necessarily better, but different.

Just 2 examples::
I won't use a rigid, mechanical, bridgework style stand for my panels. Living, breating wood is where I'll head, and as light and rigid as I can design. Minimum metal. I'm designing them in Google Sketchup for construction in a wood working class.

Inductors? Since my 1.6s have only ONE, I'll wind it myself using simple 14ga wire and a form made from standard PVC sizes. My design has the same number of layers as turns per layer, so the coil itself is square in cross section and the entire coil is just over 4" in diameter.

Capacitors? The worlds SECOND largest can of worms! Followed, perhaps, only by the 'bypass or NOT' discussion. I don't have deep pockets and may have to compromise with a cap from the Clarity line....SA, maybe. The stock Solen caps are good value, but easily bested.

#1 priority? Enjoy.

I would change the denon first and spend as much as you can as this is your main source then change the pre which I have had and buy a tube pre which will open up everything from a good source then the amp and the maggies will sing.

For what it is worth, I tried the Grant Fidelity tube buffer between a Azur 640 CD player and a McIntosh MA6300 integrated amp driving a double stack of Large Advents. Could not tell a difference.