Magnepan 1.7 too bright, HELP

Oui, Mssr.

You can get resistors in tons of variants. I used just a .327 ohm on my 1.6's, and it took off just enough. When I used a 1 ohm on them it took most of the magic away and sounded lifeless.

So if I am following this correctly, the 1 ohm resistor took away more energy going to the speaker which reduced the sound compared to the .327 ohm resistor which took away less energy and kept more to produce the sound at the speaker.

Do I have this right?

If so, it seems like a resistor is supposed to be an inexpensive way to correct how a component sounds?

Yes....and no.
Magnepans are 'voiced' under certain listening conditions with certain upstream equipment.
You CAN use the resistor to attenuate HF output. The DIY crowd is also, for some reason, a big fan of Low DCR inductors in the bass, which raises bass output in relation to HF output, and therefore has the same effect.

I hate to bring up ohms law, but simply put, a resistor in series with another, in this case say....1 ohm in series with 4 ohms, will take away about 20% of the power which formerly went to the 4ohm load only.

Just my opin, but have you exhausted setup potential yet? A couple 'fake ficus' behind the panels or perhaps a staggered bookshelf or even a small tapestry or maybe flipping them around would take off the HF edge.
The flipping worked wonders in my room and I'm now about to spend some money on some home built/designed sound panels. I may post a photo or design.
If anyone has Google Sketchup, I'll send a simple drawing of the panel and how to join the wood.....

Hi guys, I'm a audiofreak from Norway so my english isn't perfect. Hope you'll understand anyway.

First things first - the Magnepan 1.7 is a BRIGHT sounding speaker - objectively speaking. This model have a different sound compared to MG 12, MG 1.6 and older models I'm familiar with. I have compared 1.7 side by side to MG 12 and MG 12 have a fuller, darker and more laidback sound in the mid/treble. Mid bass is also stronger on this smaller model. I have also compared MG 1.7 (side by side) to one of the most detailed and open sounding (and bright) speakers i know of - Burmester 961 MKIII. MG 1.7 have the same bright, detailed and open sound as this Burmester speaker. So no doubt about it, what I stated in the beginning - MG 1.7 is a bright sounding speaker in general. This may be the new sound from Magnepan. I talked to my hifi dealer today and he had some problems getting the new 3.7 to play well in the demo room they have. He told me that he felt the 3.7 had a even leaner sound than 1.7 - but at the same time did extend much lower in the bass and of course it had more details. Some of the advice given here is based on "older" maggie models and will not solve the "bright" sound issue, but can be a minor step in the right direction.

If you really like your music played varm and full - then MG 1.7 might not be the best speaker for you. Try the MG 12! At least you need to apply varm and darker sounding electronics all the way if want your music presented in that way. Wall to wall carpets will also help a lot, hard wooden floors will not. Concrete walls and hard wooden floors together? Forget it!

Non-expensive electronics that can work well with MG 1.7? NAD C375 Bee (Sam Tellig / Stereophile test). This is a full and warm sounding powerhouse. You can even try the smaller models, but they aren't quite in the same league as this amplifier. The best solution should be to get some used models from Mcintosh, Electrocompaniet or other brand you now have that warm sound. Tube preamp with SS power amp migth also do the trick.

Yes I'm somewhat critical in my opinion about MG 1.7. Maybe because I was a bit disappointed with what I felt was a lack of the "old Magnepan musicality" the MG 12 and MG 1.6 have in spades. I have played 500-600 hours on mine and there have been little change to the brightness issue. I'm selling mine now - since their sound is not for me. Take a look a the other forums - there are other people having the same feeling about this new model. Rave reviews? 1.7 might be the perfect speakers for satisfing a detail oriented hifi journalist but it might not be every music lovers dream!

Anyway, I still consider Magnepan 1.7 to be one of the best speakers ever made in the price range, but you need to listen to it before buying since it does have a very "modern" and highly detailed sound.