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Magnepan MG-1.7: casual impressions

A friend of mine got blown away after listening to my Maggies, and decided on the spot he has to have a pair for himself. I've promised that I will help him get a suitable model. He told me that his budget is somewhere between $1,800.00 and $2,200.00.

All right, that sounds about right for a pair of 1.6s or even the new 1.7s. Luckily, I've found out yesterday that my local hi fi dealer has just started showcasing 1.7s, so I decided to pop in for an impromptu audition.

The listening room where they've installed 1.7s was great, ideal size, good overall treatment. Let the games begin! (they hooked the Maggies into the all-Macintosh chain, probably worth between $15,000 and $25,000, in my offhand estimate).

I've listened to all kinds of music, from classical to jazz to Brazilian, even Stevie Ray Vaughan and Pink Floyd. My impressions? A bit weird, I must say.

My philosophy when it comes to audio is that is should represent a viable balance between the Yin and the Yang. What I mean by that is that there are certain elements in music that are more feminine, if you will, and then there are certain other elements that are more masculine by nature. Most pieces I've ever listened to consist of a mix between the feminine and the masculine elements. There is softness and tenderness paired with roughness and muscle power. Very hard to find a piece of music that'll be exclusively all soft and airy-fairy and silky smooth. And vice versa (of course, I'm not talking about death metal here).

What surprised me about my initial encounter with 1.7s is how overly feminine they sounded. Even SRV (who, let's not forget, forged his style playing rough bar circuits in Texas) sounded overly polite, gentle, like a woman's touch. I mean, come on, Stevie should be all about grit, gut bucket, impolite, sweaty, smelly rough-at-the-edges blues.

Also, the bass, even though sounding super clean and air tight and extremely melodious, with a lot of right texture, didn't have much body to it. It felt somehow hollow. What's up with that?

Midrange was good, but again, too much femininity, politeness, as if everyone on the stage is playing with silk gloves on.

OK, maybe I'm imagining things, but I was expecting much more substance to hit me from 1.7s. Is this the case where they haven't properly broken in, or haven't been burnt in? What's other people's opinion about these new kids on the block?

At this point, I'm not sure if I should recommend 1.7s to my friend. I think he got bowled over at my house mostly on account of how realistic and substantial my Maggies sound.

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  Kimber Kable  

Topic - Magnepan MG-1.7: casual impressions - magiccarpetride 11:00:50 10/21/10 (60)
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