Magnepan 1.7i speakers

[@MarkMiller-i8q]

I like the fact that you actually play music along with your reviews. Many reviewers don't. They claim that it's impossible to fully gage a speaker's sound through computer speakers or ear speakers. They are not entirely wrong. However, you can still get at least a subtle sense of the sound and also the acoustics of the listening room.

[@kenmcglown6642]

Although you don't necessarily need subwoofers with your Maggies, trust me on this one, you definitely want to add a pair of high quality subs to your system. You've got plenty of room to add a couple subwoofers, which is great. Subwoofers will enhance and add another dimension to your systems FR that you can't possibly imagine until you actually add them and hear the difference for yourself. You will be totally amazed!!! I speak from experience. I had the same attitude as you. I convinced myself that my 1.7i speakers already had enough bass response for my taste and that adding subwoofers weren't necessary for me. Boy, was I wrong. The subs will blend in just beautifully with your Maggies, and also add a foundation and an added dimensionality to your sound quality that, I'm positive, will put a smile on your face. What finally convinced me and closed the deal in regards to me adding subs to my system was, when I heard a pair of 3.7i speakers at my local Magnepan dealers being played with a pair of REL subs. The effect that the subs had on the 3.7i speakers was just incredible!!! Make no mistake. It was the subs that made all the difference in the world. This was one of the very best sounding systems that I'd ever heard in my entire life. And I've heard quite a few. So, trust me on this one. Add the subs, and thank me later.

[@michaelcampbell9459]

Do you run your maggies full range with the subs or crossed over?

[@KenMcGlown]

@@michaelcampbell9459 When I did have the .7 and the 1.7i, for some reason, I found that I liked the way the speakers sounded much better without my two REL subs. However, I couldn't live with the trade-off of not having deep, more dynamic bass, without the subs, so I eventually sold the Maggies. But, I must say, if I had a larger room, much to my delight, I wouldn't hesitate to run a pair of 3.7i with two subs. Now, that would be the knockout punch combo for me!!! Happy listening.

[@garysmith8455]

Thanks for your presentation. Forte Four owner here, AND, Martin Logan Classic 9's too. Love line source TRUE dipole designs. Weather foil or electrostatic, there is just something about them ❤.

[@machman23]

Wow! Amazing, took me back to my electrostatic listening days. I love this setup.

[@yannisspyrakis6098]

Do you prefer electrostatic speakers then magnetostatic ones? How the electrostatic sound? was just wondering :)

[@bollingbryant]

Very nice - balanced, defined, transparent!

[@drde4010]

Thank you!

[@Pierre-Leloup]

I've played with these speakers quite a bit. A friend and I recalculated the crossover to a first-order one, and the imaging and realism were much improved. All first quality components.Then I did some passive tri-amplification, which didn't add anything, and some PLLXO, which "opened up" the already surprising qualities obtained with the new passive filtering. I still use them, but in active mode and with a supertweeter to extend the upper end of the spectrum, all with Purifi amplification and Class AB for the supertweeters. Thanks to the DSP, it's possible to get the most correct sound for your ears and a better coupling to your listening room, it's not easy at all because it's open baffle, you can't just measure and than correct like for boxed speakers, it took me days to find the good slopes and the right tuning with minimal use of PEQ. In my home, it's quite small, but I keep a distance of 1.5m from the frontwall for better spatialization, tweeters inside. So yes, stock they sound pretty good, but you can bring them a significant few steps higher in all sonic aspects. Cheers.

[@stevenhifi2188]

Fantastic quality 👌 I ordered magnepan 1.7i from vinyl renaissance but I didn't get them it's almost 5 weeks. I am so excited to setup and listen 🎶 😍

[@kcr2365]

How much did it cost. Do they go on sale ever

[@stevenhifi2188]

2.999$

[@yannisspyrakis6098]

They take long to be manufactured and assembled from the scratch, they worth waiting! Trust me on this

[@look8234]

Beautiful sound!👍 I like it!

[@gertjanvanderkooij9242]

sounds fenomenal.

[@adaboy4z]

I've always wanted to audition Manepans, but I'm committed to my Yamaha NS-670's powered by a vintage B-2 amp and C2 preamp. Your setup sounds great over You tube.

[@CarlVanDoren61]

Great entry level speaker 😊 Ran Ampzilla ll 350w@4ohms Tweets out, wider sound stage

[@kenwk2283]

I like to try it someday but I can’t place them that far out so I will be stuck with box speakers

[@yannisspyrakis6098]

I think that is not so much of a problem @kenwk2283, I have mine also very close to the wall arroynd one feet and a half approximately. What matters mostly is the dynamics and shape of the room that someone has, experiment in changing the tow in and tow out…just my two cents. Lastly, I believe that in order to get a close audio sonic performance with box speakers you need to spend way more money…just my two cents again.

[@kcr2365]

Just got my LRS+ plus and love em running from yamaha as3200 There is enough bass for most music. I may add subs later but not in any rush

[@steveness7909]

I would like to hear the Jeff Roland gear driving these speakers.

[@drde4010]

The Rowland gear is good but in my opinion not as good a match because it’s extremely dynamic and very analytical sounding. A bit on the brighter side of neutral. The 1.7i’s need a bit more warmth driving them. Also the Rowlands’s don’t quite drive the Maggies as well as this 300b hybrid.

[@orwhat24]

Daniel!!! You’ve become my go to guy! Very interesting evaluation. I’ve got an unorthodox set up combining Gallo Nucleus Ref and Emotiva T1 and the combination punches above its weight. Kinda weird. So I am very tempted to try and move up market, but… Anyway, thanks for the review!!!

[@drde4010]

That’s great to hear and thanks for the thoughts!

[@amrikmahal7380]

Can tell me what kind of cables are these that picked up from Home Depot? Thanks

[@Jack96993]

I really wanted the 1.7's but my room wouldn't accommodate them so i went with the .7's I did the Magnarisers and Stereo11 fuse and jumper I was driving them with my old Spectron musical MK lll class D 54 lb amp designed by John Ulrich output 500watts@8ohm 650@4ohms and 1,200 watts@1ohm 65 amps I just lost the right channel : ( it sure made my Maggie's beg for mercy I also use two SVS Ultra 13 subs with the upgraded plate amps I must say your 1.7's sound sublime 👌

[@drde4010]

Thank you for sharing.

[@edbrumbaugh9202]

Did you take the link to the article down? Thanks for the review, enjoyed it ... completely agree on the speaker cable. Plan to purchase the 1.7i

[@drde4010]

The link somehow got removed. I’ll try to find it.

[@carbon_wavelight]

Are you still using the Alan Eaton 45 Mono's? The space-tech hybrid amps look cool too. I'm looking forward to your in depth look at the space-tech amps

[@Victrola777]

Hard to believe you are running Maggies with 300b's ! I have found Maggies hard to drive in the past.

[@majicogarcia8417]

Maggies sound amazing. I just wish they had more bass and slam.

[@michaelcampbell9459]

Add dual subs and get plenty of bass and slam.

[@majicogarcia8417]

@@michaelcampbell9459 It would help with the bass, but its not going to help with the mid bass. Crossing the subs over higher to include more mid is just going to muddy the sound.

[@michaelcampbell9459]

@@majicogarcia8417 My subs are always crossed over 80hz or lower. I've had Vandersteen 3A Sigs with dual subs that had tons of bass slam and don't feel like I'm missing anything with the maggies, it's just more accurate less bloated bass; mine are 4' from front wall in a 17x21x10' room. The 1.7i are not missing any bass notes down to 40hz, they just have a different presentation that I suppose could be heard as less slam but that is the nature of planars in general that I can gladly live with and I sometimes listen to bass heavy bands like Tool, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, etc. You could always add eq if wanted.

[@s.t.e.r.e.o.]

Nice vid from ocean way. Could you tell us what cables you are using specifically. He said copper welding wire in the vid.

[@Dododaler]

i got 1.7 added outside crossover, and Mundorf caps, (my DYO)and they sound excellent, I said to see if there is any dif with the sub, my old Yamaha sub, output from preamp for a sub, it is still in the system!!

[@krwd]

wow. i love them

[@davybloggs1564]

They, the 300b amps, don't have SotA OTL output transformers - OTL = Output Transformer Less. = NO output transformers. I use 1.7i's myself, driven by a Threshold S300II which suits perfectly, BUT, the addition of my REL T9x really complemented them and made them a true full range speaker. Those 'attenuators', coiled up like that, are actually air cored inductors! YUK! But get rid of those awful steel, yes, STEEL, jumper bars. It's easy to make up a couple of small jumpers with some decent speaker cable. Even better is to completely remove all the steel banana sockets and replace with 'proper' binding posts, and then fully by-pass that jumper cable position entirely. You really hit it when you said these speakers REALLY NEED a good amplifier to drive them - flea powered integrateds need not apply. They want/need current. How well does the JRDG amp drive them? Malia - Excellent album btw.

[@drde4010]

This 300B is a hybrid and uses a solid state OTL on the back end. The 300B is on the front end.

[@zenchannel_]

Awesome video. What's the amplifier model that you're using? Thanks

[@drde4010]

Everything is listed in the description of this video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2GTfqKOa9OkoMksi=-kgBVz0LAjqXqlNk

[@stevendog510]

Great review, hard to find honest youtubers who are hobbyist not salesman. How would you compare this setup to your low power single ended triode and liionadas high efficency speakers? Both open baffle approaches. Purist vs High power/curent.....

[@drde4010]

One system is more for critical listening while one system is geared more towards all around fun. I’ve always felt if you’re enjoying the music, then you’re doing it the right way. Klipsch Heritage are fun speakers too.

[@steveoh4511]

I've used the 1.7i for long. Your review makes me totally rethink about it in terms of the amplification. Best and authentic user experience. Could you tell what specific cable from Home Depot you mentioned? Thanks.

[@drde4010]

I’ll try to find the link. It somehow got removed.

[@kcr2365]

LRS+ or 1.7i for three times the price?

[@drde4010]

If your room is small go with the Plus and a Rel T Zero. If your room is large then do the 1.7i

[@kcr2365]

@@drde4010 Does lrs+ integrate well with subwoofers, without a hole in frequency response

[@drde4010]

@@kcr2365 You can listen to the sound demos here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n56waWeihtxphMksi=xGjiZBgTDrK5N6XZ

[@rikhoefs9519]

O.T.L stands for output transformer less, so no output transformer used.

[@Peter-ii4xq]

I bought refurbished 0.5's from the widow of a technician. What his upgrades were is not known. But they sound unbelievable even if my small 10 x 15 feet. To be honest a Ayre 2x300 power amp is used. I wonder wether I wanna try a 1.6 or a 1.7. What do you suggest?

[@drde4010]

If your sound good already, it’s probably good to stick with it the new 1.7i are apparently more transparent on the top end,, then earlier versions.

[@Peter-ii4xq]

I think my Spectral preamp gives enough transparantie. But maybe more bass is possible? @@drde4010

[@jeremiasgarcia2969]

What cable fro, Home Depot?

[@Untilitpases]

Question for us "space limited" folks. How do these sound if pushed closer to the walls/corners? Also, does room correction works for these?

[@drde4010]

Not good. I would recommend the lrs plus for smaller rooms.

[@yannisspyrakis6098]

Absolutely, room correction help a lot

[@TheCryptoHulk]

I will agree that these are amazing speakers for about $3,000. I paid $2000 back when I bought mine. I disagree about the bass. I kept blowing fuses, so I got me a subwoofer and never blown one since. Maybe it's just me, but the bass is ok. Now that cable from Home Depot...ahahahahah, that's awesome!!! Gonna save me many thousands of dollars. Thanks for the great video.

[@SweatLaserXP]

How are you getting 200W from a 300B tube amplifier? Just wondering, because tube amps don't normally produce that type of current unless they cost $100,000.

[@drde4010]

The back end uses solid state OTL transformer technology.

[@shokrykhaledful]

can u please tell us more about the 300B amp as well as link to the manufacturer, thx,

[@nrab773]

The amp is SE-300B-100W-Ultra by Space Tech Labs

[@net_news]

what stand are you using? I got the 1.7i too

[@drde4010]

These little stands were custom made at a machine shop and the wheels added.

[@net_news]

@@drde4010 oh!! thanks!! They look amazing, nice job!! I would love to have a pair of those

[@rulerofrecords1]

thanx for posting this. Pardon my ignorance (I'm a panel virgin) but with the 1.7 how close can you sit to the speakers for them to still work (maybe compared to the .7 or LRS+? thanx and kind regards, Uli

[@drde4010]

If you mean sit close to the speakers the LRS Plus are actually best for that.

[@rulerofrecords1]

@@drde4010 yup, that does make a lot of sense - however, if I have to place the 1.7i in a small room - how close can I get for this big boy to work/sound coherent? Explanation - Germany has no local distribution/dealer-network anymore. There are however quite a few pairs of 1.7 / 1.7i / .7 present on the used-market. LRS+ is available via the European distribution located in Sweden. It's complicated ...

[@drde4010]

@@rulerofrecords1 we tried to test the 1.7i at a distance of about 7 ft away from us. At that distance it didn’t sound as coherent as the LRS. Plus it’s best to have them further from the wall. You may want to consider all that with a smaller room.

[@rulerofrecords1]

@@drde4010 thanx for this - really appreciated. Well I can place myself roughly 8-9 feet away from the speaker. At this distance the 1.7i would be 3-4 feet from the back-wall. So it is a close call indeed.

[@dajikbatarang1]

@@rulerofrecords1 I have my 1.7i about 4 feet from the wall and i sit about 9-10 feet from the speakers. It works well but it took alot of tweaking with the placement to get things right.

[@wa4aos]

Comparing Klipsch to Electrostatics is a lot like comparing Apples and Bananas. Both can move you in special ways and both can be a lot of fun. Kind of like comparing different women, they are all very special and probably more than we deserve. So Doc, now that you have a pair or ES speakers and have enjoyed their bliss, are the Klispch speakers now excess to your needs or do they enhance your audio pleasure??? My guess is you'll enjoy both about the same. I have been in a monogamous relationship with my sweet wife for just over 42 years, HOWEVER, being on a diet does NOT mean, I can't look at the menu..LOL Good luck.

[@drde4010]

Still enjoying the Klipsch Heritage series overall. They’re good at a lot of things while the ES are a bit more limited in other areas of music but I love them all. I like the wife analogy. 😂

[@legrandgroves8560]

How are they for Rock?

[@drde4010]

For rock I would generally recommend the Klipsch Heritage series like the Heresy, Forte or Cornwall.

[@arupgowda]

they are awesome on any genre, I have owned these for 10 years. Still in awe

[@FrankZappa1959]

What kind of feet are under your 1.7i? Some kind of little furniture roll?

[@nrab773]

Custom dolly wheels added to the frame

[@simeongeorgiev9171]

Holy hell, seriously 😮😮😮 Must have …

[@drde4010]

😂

[@dougdavis8986]

How long to break in the speakers? Did you notice a dirrerence after break in?

[@zacharydoering313]

I know what I am going to say will not sound good, but I mean it as a lover of tubes and Maggie’s, I don’t think your system sounds transparent. It sounds pretty veiled especially on top, in fact the bass sounded disjointed in the first track which is usually an amplifier issue, I think the 300b and the Maggie’s are both on the warm side and too much of a good thing, you probably need some brighter cables more than likely with silver to even things out. Or something like a nordost cable, things sound like they are blushing and romantic too much.

[@user-ex9zm7bg3x]

what are you listening on?

[@zacharydoering313]

My Martin Logan’s, suffice to say it pretty obvious to me

[@mochipepper]

I have a pair of 1.7's and I drive them with a tube DAC (lampizator) and a tube preamp (Schitt Freya+) and two solid state high current monoblocks capable of delivering 600wpc (Emotiva HC-1). Compare to my system, I think this Space Tech system sounds little too tubey, little too mellow, transients rounded off, and reduced transparency. To my ears, it seems Space Tech gears are adding coloration to Maggies that should instead sound neutral and transparent. @@zacharydoering313

[@RogerVandereyd]

The tweeters must be on the inside for better focus and overall performance. Trust me I also own a pair of Maggie 1.7 I

[@michaelcampbell9459]

It's subjective as my LRS and 1.7i and 3.7i all sound much better with tweeters outside with more cohesive linear sound and more extended less closed off tweeter.

[@JingoLoBa57]

Very different sound… mellow almost hollow upper bass…

[@justlovelyaintit]

Ha.Had 1.7i and 3.7i. Sold both when I got my Lii f15's. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqScln6IgrqHmM0si=GbKmvmy1PggKmY9w Crazy improvement on Maggies.Had my Maggies for over 10 years.But the Lii beat them both.

[@michaelcampbell9459]

Are those DIY or finished open baffle and what is cost?

[@justlovelyaintit]

@michaelcampbell9459 Yes.But had them made by a carpenter. About 700 e the pair.Two inch wallnut.

[@mjot2360]

Home Depot cable to connect $3,000 speakers. Yeah, you know what you're doing.

[@drde4010]

You think this guy doesn’t know what he’s doing? Did you not listen to what we explained in the video? kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWTOaqeCr9eNfbMsi=qGKDUg5ts4WUD5hI

[@garthdev]

Not as good as ESL's

[@cudfoo1cudfoo247]

Hi could someone please post a link to the HD cable used. Don't any welding wire with 12g rating? thx

[@j-rod6420]

Yes this was a little confusing as in the Oceanway video he said they used 12 gauge welding wire which is quite a bit different then welding cable and yes 12 gauge welding cable doesn't seem to exist.