The 1.7i is much better balanced than the 1.7, mids are clearer, so is the treble. The 1.7i displays the dynamics much better too. The 1.7 was a dealer demo, well broken in..it had some wrinkles in it, I contacted magnepan, they replaced my 1.7 with 1.7i's. The newer speakers sounded better than the older version.