See my original review: "GB the Stereo Guy" Oct 02, 2017. UPDATE: I've recently added "Mye" stands made by Grant VanderMye in Kelowna British Columbia. This took the speaker to a new level at least a 50% improvement. Everything was turned up a few notches, clarity, smoothness, bass extension etc,. As a result I've had to turn my REL R-305 subs down in both volume and x-over settings. If you own ANY model of Magnapans you should seriously consider the Mye stands they're very reasonably priced and exceptionally well engineered and constructed!

I find "Thunder1295's" claims of the odd symptoms he experienced some what puzzling i.e. fatigue, harshness etc,. It could be the Luxman receiver was possibly not up to the task power wise when used with the much more revealing 1.7's compared to his old 2's? I've never read one review that had these issues and maybe with his new x-overs that made the Luxman much more compatible/agreeable who knows? My speakers are extremely sweet sounding absolutely NO fatigue what so ever! His used 1.7's came with "Mye" stands which, as I've described, added SO much to the presentation maybe there was an issue with the "used" 1.7's? That's not to say that upgrading the stock x-overs couldn't improve performance some what - maybe a few years down the road but I'm not keen on modifying the internal x-overs on the 1.7's, peeling the grill cloth back and then not knowing for sure if one will be happy plus when a "new" 1.7 comes out ( 1.8 ? ) the re-sale will be not as good once modified. Thank you.

Let me begin by saying I have been a Maggie for the last 3 yrs. Had 2 sets of MG2b's, 1 set with upgraded crossovers, Smga's I upgraded the crossovers. The sound " music " these speakers made was to die for. So onto the Maggie 1.7 I bought this spring used with Myre stands. Went to listen to them and I wasn't blown away with them, thought maybe the amp being used but I purchased them anyways. Hooked them up to my Luxman R-117, fantastic reciever, used it with my other Maggie's, 230 watts 8 ohms, 290 watts 4 ohms and 800 dynamic watts into 2 ohms, plenty of power. After a week of playing I just wasn't happy with the sound, high wasn't clear, I would get ear fatigue in 15 minutes playing fairly loud, mids, vocals just wasn't happening, this is comparing them to my MG2's. To say the least. I was ready to put them up for sale. I gave them one last shot and upgraded the crossovers with top of the line Solen caps and Litz inductors. Right away I noticed a difference, now their starting to sound better. Fast forward to at least 200 hrs of breaking in the crossovers, now I'm back to audio heaven. No more fatigue, super clear highs, no need for resistors, mids are breath taking and even clearer tighter bass. The crossovers cost over 400.00 the best money I spent. These Maggie's are here to stay. I added 2 velodyne subw and that takes care of the bottom end. If you own Maggie's do yourself a favor, upgrade upgrade those crossovers. It takes your Maggie's to a hole different level, This is the way they should come from White Bear.

Upgrade the crossovers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Breathtaking air and space around your sound, pinpoint precision, seductive tone with piano, disappearing speakers, three-dimensional staging. Close your eyes and they will truly transport you. Use quality amplification for best results. The biggest problem might be the temptation to move up the Maggie scale to the 3.7i or even further. In which case the cost of some sapphire jewelry for the wife might add to the price.

You need to be in the right spot. But it's a small price to pay because these speakers do things no other speakers in the world can, except perhaps other Magneplanars. I have the 1.7i and you'd have to pry them out of my cold,dead hands. Wife acceptance factor may be an issue. They're not tiny but on the other hand they're not too heavy either. Important: buy aftermarket stands from Mye or Sound Anchor to get these off the ground. Makes ALL the difference. Finally, don't think you can locate these near the walls. Won't work. They need air but they'll reward you for it..

I bought a new one three years ago and never had been satisfied with the speaker. I never listen to pop music so that I didn't need excessive bass but it was still lacking compare to real concert. And the high frequency clipping on full blown orchestra drove me insane. So I decided to add DWM as first remedy but the dealer didn't carry as a normal stock fortunately. After doing more research I changed my mind to replace the preamp and amp instead of adding DWM. What a surprise! the 1.7 has more capacity of the bass than tattoo ridden rapster's monster subwoofer and high frequency gets as clear as canary except squeaky noise.

Magnepan willfully(?) avoid giving precise answer to buyer related to the power requirement of the mag speakers. Mag definitely needs super power to run it. But the Parasound A21 provides 50 more amp than Adcom 5500. It seems Parasound's functional performance excels the Adcom in every aspect. At last 1.7 is giving out the real sound with new preamp and amp. I think I can live with this combination for the next twenty years without having ulcer. Thought about replacing with 3.7 but not anymore, it would be overkill for an ordinary living room. The speaker is the last thing you should blame. And I had to use the 1 ohm attenuator to reduce the squeak with new amp. It is a wonderful speaker.

I purchased my 1.7's in 2011 after trading in my 1.6 QR's. I bought the 1.6's in 2004 and never had a problem as described by one reviewer who said the "wires" on the panel itself became detached and hence distorted the sound just 3 months out of warranty. Now $587 including shipping doesn't sound unreasonable to me - but to each his own. I also think he was talking about the 1.6 QR's as the 1.7 didn't appear until 2010 if memory serves correct.

I had the 1.7's on loan for a week to compare to my 1.6 QR's and immediately noticed a marked improvement without any break-in period! I'm powering them with an Audio Space Ref 3.1 integrated tube amp using KT 88's and putting out 45 watts per channel at 4 ohms which has plenty of power to drive them properly. Reviews I've read invariably say how much power they need, minimum 100 watts/channel and up. What you have to realize is that tube amps remind me of diesel powered vehicles - not as much horsepower but tons of torque, the part that actually does the work. I had a solid state amp that was producing 200+ watts at 4 ohms and the Audio Space Ref 3.1 with KT 88's plays as loud with a much fuller sound i.e sound-stage, timbre and imaging - all the positive attributes related to tube amps. So don't be afraid to partner the 1.7's with a moderately powered ( i.e 40+ watts @ 4 ohms ) high quality tube amp, the operative word here is "high quality"!

The 1.7's are by far THE best value in the $2000 - $4000+ range hands down. Before I bought the 1.7's I tried B&W 's 705's which are very good sounding stand mounts but the 1.7's were FAR superior in every way - bigger sound-stage, better imaging etc, almost like a "wall" of fidelity when compared to the 705's which are no slouches in this regard. Don't get me wrong I love B&W speakers and had a lesser pair of stand mounts for a few years after I sold my Electrostatics.

Since my purchase of the 1.7's I've managed to get a great deal ( half price ) on a pair of REL R 305 subs and that's rounded out the bottom nicely even though they're turned down quite a bit, it's almost like bi-amping the 1.7's - everything improved and was a little more "fleshed out" for lack of a better word. It's nice to know that the better components that you acquire in the future the 1.7's will definitely rise to the occasion so plan on keeping them for many years as such they're a great investment! To prove this I average out the cost over the years roughly $1 per day thus far and going down! Whenever I go to our main hi-fi store and listen to some very expensive speakers and components I have to say I'm so glad I picked up the 1.7's never a regret!

The rest of my system consists of the following:
1) Michell Gyrodec SE and Rega RB 250 tonearm with a BENZ SH wood body MC.
2) A highly modified Rega P5 with a Denon DL-S1 MC with a ruby cantilever done by "SoundSmith" cartridges.
3) Fosgate Signature tube phono pre-amp.
4) "Klyne SK 1" solid state step pre-amp for the Denon DL-S1.
5) Shanling CD 300 tube CD player.
6) "Anti Cable" speaker cable 2 pairs per speaker ( left from my bi-wired 1.6 QR's ).
7) Kimber Kable "Hero" and silver KCAG interconnects.
8) Last but not least an "HRS" record stabilizer.

To sum up if you're looking for speakers in the $2000 range and have a very good integrated amp or pre-power combo do yourself a favour and get the 1.7's you'll be glad you did!

Thank you,
GB. "Happy Listening"!

These are fantastic speakers. One of the best for your money. Only thing that holds it back is low end IMO. Otherwise, the best you can get for $2k.

Only negative is you will likely need a subwoofer if you like all types of music.

If you're thinking of buying a pair of these speakers, stop thinking. Just do it. You won't be sorry.
I've had them now for several years and they just keep getting better. I guess it helps to have a powerful amp to drive them.

Simply put, no other $2000 speaker can make music sound as lifelike as these. A few other speakers in this price range can reveal details of the recording, these Maggies draw you in to the performance. Everything you hear from these Maggies is the truth. The 1.7's do some things better than many $20,000+ a pair speakers. No other $2,000 speaker can make that claim.

Great detail and Image, not the sweet spot anymore like of old. Very well built and a huge bargain even if you throw in the very odd anomaly (Jim the Audiophie) had. Its very rare these speakers degrade over a 5 year period and I know this because a friend of my has a pair of SMGs that are still kicking and plenty of happy customers have MMG ver. 1 which are well over 10+ years. I been a box speaker guy for years and love PSB/Dynaudio and Joesph Audio etc. but if you look at their higher end speakers your in some cases puying 4-6 times as much on a high end model. these speakers give you 99.9 % of what those speakers do and for a fraction of the cost, even if you have to re-glue some tweeters back into place after 5 years which is very rare.

Smokin detail and clarity! A true bargain in the high end, thanks for making a wonderful speaker!

It's a shame that a "review" by 1 person who clearly doesn't know what he's talking abut can pull down the overall rating of these. He claims he bought these in 2001. These weren't even dreamed of in 2001, being introduced many years later. Rest assured that these are GREAT speakers, bettering anything in their price range. Put them with decent gear....I use an Anthem 225 to power them....and they will SING. Buy them. Love them.