Magnepan 1.7i Impressions

Old Guy8

My Jazz buddy's: Cliff (RIP) & Cleo
Subscriber
I've had these new Magnepan 1.7i quasi-ribbon dipoles a month. Thought I would post impressions. Not a review. I likely don't have a great ear. A little hiss in ears with alergies/ear issues.

Setup in a bright 26' long x 14.5' to 18.5' wide L shape x 7' high finished basement. Vinyl plank floor, drywalled, carpet sided bar. Area rug between speakers and me.

Sources: NAD 546 CD, Linn LP12 and Radio Shack Lab 400 TTs, Schiiit MB dac, CCA streamer.
Power: Rogue Sphinx hybrid tube/Class D, 200 wpc @ 4ohms. (NOS Mullard 12au7 pair)

1.7i are on shortest wall. 4 feet from front wall. ~3 feet from side walls. 7.5' between. 13' to listening chair. Tweeters on inside. Aimed at listening chair.

Impressions:
All my other speakers are vintage. ADS L880, Ohm C2, Canton Karat 200, BA A100.

Mainly listen to jazz - small group, vocal, large band/orchestra. At 45-55 dba average sound levels.

The Maggies seem to turn the whole front wall into music source. Not beaming from two spots. They bloom with a little volume. Doesn't have to be really loud. 10 oclock on my amp. Edit: I'm careful of volume with tinnitus.
I think they like well recorded music. Not so kind to poor or compressed recordings. Modern jazz recordings like any Diana Krall do well.
Bass is on verge of going low enough for me. Do hear double bass notes. A nice fast sub might be added. Mye Stands maybe, also.
Piano and vocals are really the forte of these Maggies, IMO. They give a wide stage. Won't mistake for a live unamplified performannce. But, there can be with some recordings, a LITTLE feeling of being in room with musicians. Closer to live and more detailed than my other speakers.
The notes are faster than any of my vintage speakers. Homogenous tone treble to bass.
A friend came over to hear them. Said he could hear Diana Krall breathing in his ear.

You can add your your impressions if you have this model, or similar Maggies.
 
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I agree with your impression. I think my 1.7I's are great. they where a little bass shy so I added two SVS 12" subs. That made a huge difference. I also got rid of those cheap stands and replaced them with a nice set of Mye stands. Plus I feed them with a set of Adcom 565 mono blocks putting out about 670w per channel. :rockon:
 
Good description OP. Have used these speakers for over 5 years now and your description of "The Maggies seem to turn the whole front wall into music source" is spot on - that is what planar speakers do. Its hard to go back to regular speakers after that Maggie effect of the whole front of the room coming alive with life sized musicians sets in. To be fair, there are some things that "regular" speakers do better, really low bass, thump in the chest sound is not something that Maggies do in my experience. Another thing is that they seem to be particular about the the amplifier being used. This is funny because some amps, even fairly low powered ones do well and others high power ones just sound lousy with shrill unpleasant sound, or poor bass control - Haven't really figured what makes a good amp for these speakers from specs alone - have to listen I guess. And yes, with a really good recording, the performer really is there with you.
 
I also got rid of those cheap stands and replaced them with a nice set of Mye stands.

The stands are one area where Magnepan skimps a bit to keep costs down IMHO. Mye stands are good and I especially recommend Sound Anchors. They opened up the sound very agreeably, in my case anyway. Thanks to the OP for his report. I'd also recommend trying the speakers in a taller room some time if possible. Maggies get happier with more space.

I think they like well recorded music. Not so kind to poor or compressed recordings.

This is quite true. They can be very revealing, which is often a double-edged sword.
 
It seems like a good setup for your 1.7is from your description. I have the original 1.7s, an upgrade from the MMGs that I re-entered the hobby with nearly 10 years ago now. I recognize the characteristics you describe. I too thought the bit about the whole front wall becoming a source really rings true. My setup when they were my main speakers was on the long wall.

Does your soundstage have depth? One time I had the MMGs way out into the room, maybe 2/5, and the back of the soundstage seemed to be way out out in the front yard (!).

Any issues with harshness at high volume? I actually ran them on Heathkit UA-1s for a couple of months - twelve rather rolled-off watts. It was loud enough, but a rather drastic solution.

One of these days I'm going to haul them back out, and try them next to these stub walls in the foreground, between the living room and the dining room, playing to both...



:music:
 
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My opinion, most speakers don't do all genres of music well. When I read opinions on a speaker, I want to know reviewers music tastes. Not to judge, reviewers tastes, just to know point of referance. What they are playing when they evaluate. Might help me figure how loud, when they say loud.
Magnepans are not best choice for rock, blues or pop music that is compressed or computer generated, IMO. I don't listen to pop, so not much experience there. They don't push air like cone woofers.
 
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Looking good!

At the expense of perhaps repeating myself, what dipoles really like is having some diffusion behind them. I use bass traps and skylines behind the stats and fake ficus trees at the first reflection points along the walls just in front of the speakers. You don't want to completely absorb the back wave, but image focus improves when it is dispersed.

Ejman, for example, is getting diffusion from a couple of different sources: the CD/cassette racks, the chairs and the blinds.
 
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E-Stat,
Added body pillow bass traps in the three front wall corners. Future, may see ceiling hanging absorb panels at first reflection. And diffusers behind speakers on short walls. And Mye stands later, as budget recovers some.
Thanks for ideas.
Really enjoying the Maggies.
 
Hey Todd, how do the pillows work for bass traps? I need to improve room acoustics?
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E-Stat,
Added body pillow bass traps in the three front wall corners. Future, may see ceiling hanging absorb panels at first reflection. And diffusers behind speakers on short walls. And Mye stands later, as budget recovers some.
Thanks for ideas.
Really enjoying the Maggies.
 
Added body pillow bass traps in the three front wall corners. Future, may see ceiling hanging absorb panels at first reflection. And diffusers behind speakers on short walls. And Mye stands later, as budget recovers some.
You're doing all the right things! I used rolled insulation as Q&D bass traps years ago. A S-I-L stitched covers for them. They definitely help.

Have to smile at what appears to be an anti-climbing apparatus. :)
 
View attachment 1426532
E-Stat,
Added body pillow bass traps in the three front wall corners. Future, may see ceiling hanging absorb panels at first reflection. And diffusers behind speakers on short walls. And Mye stands later, as budget recovers some.
Thanks for ideas.
Really enjoying the Maggies.
What kind of sound changes did you notice with the pillows in place? As E-Stat mentioned above, I found for my system that adding "random reflective stuff" behind the Maggies seemed to improve the imaging and particularly the depth and "realness" of the stage. I seem to have plenty of nice bass with my setup so I've never really considered anything special in that department.
 
The 3 body pillows replaced 2 rolled sleeping bags, which didn't stay upright. I'm not sure of thier effect. I will try to do an A-B test, to hear if I can make sure, before reporting back here. Don't want to mislead anyone. Pillows with zip covers under $15 each at Wallyworld.
 
Hey Todd, how do the pillows work for bass traps? I need to improve room acoustics?
Jeff,
I've removed and returned pillows a few times. Playing some Diana Krall with orchestra backing. Much Difficulty evaluating difference. MAYBE a little less brightness with them in place, more midrange. Maggies are mirror image. I have them with tweeters on outside, right now. Would pillows have different effect if tweeters were on inside? Don't know.
I really don't know what I'm doing with treatments. Just copying what I see. Trial and error.
Room started as all hard surfaces, except carpet on bar face. Bookcases on back wall. Added rugs in front of speakers. Added lawn chair cushions against side walls. Now body pillows. All together have tamed echo I had.

Edit: I wonder if body pillows right behind dipoles, do a little different effect than bass traps used with box speakers.
 
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Update at three months:
I've done a little setup fine tuning. Moved body pillows from front corners to left and right side walls. Think I prefer reflection instead of absorption on front wall. Set stacked plastic record bins on front wall for little diffusion. My back wall is mostly diffusion from bookcase storage.
Added Fosgate Accoustics sub to front corner. Set low, sometimes used. Maybe a better sub in future (REL T7 ?).
Have Magnepan furnished one ohm resisters in place of tweeter jumpers. This I've had since installed, for bright room. 1.7i tweeters are currently on inside. Possibly more bass with this orientation.
The 1.7is driven by my Rogue Sphinx, 200 wpc @ 4 ohms do my jazz vocal and small group ensembles well. Piano I like on them. Even at low volume they sound good.
I use a Schiit Loki 4 band equalizer on the CD input, to slight boost bass.
 
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