I have a pair of Loreleis, but with much heavier amps. Not in love with them, but they do sound very good if that matters. Just more bass than I like, and that's the big difference you'll notice. I've heard the 1.7's driven with PS Audio amps. Not bad, and in some respects better than the Lorelies. Depending on the room shape and size, the Maggies will produce a bigger sound stage, but also be lacking in bass. 3.6's have a much better sound stage in my opinion. Kinda think of it as life size sound verses sound from a box. I honestly think the Khartago amp is a little small for Maggies. But if I owned 1.7's, I would have a 60 watt tube amp in front of them.
I've been playing around with the idea of blocking some of the rear port on the Lorelies. But results are still mixed. They are better at ten feet out than six feet out. Sound seems more focused and the sound stage is better. I wish they were front ported! And I'll never buy another box type speaker with rear ports again. I don't care who says different. On the otherhand my girl friend thinks they sound great (she's used to listening to Allison speakers), and they really are not bad speakers in anyway. I think they could use a better tweeter and a slightly larger (say 7.5") bass driver or maybe two 5" drivers for the bass. The bass is not a tight as I want (but still good), and I miss the sparkle of the upper high end (maybe a super tweeter or a Heil tweeter). The imaging is there, but still the upper highs are just slightly lacking. That's where Maggies shine. On the otherhand my kid has the next size smaller Odyssey speakers, and these are just fantastic. A little short on bass, but not very much. The mids and highs seem tighter. I think the bigger ones image a little better, but I mostly listen to trios and quartets in acoustic jazz so the soundstage is only looking for depth.
Before I bought the Lorelies I used a pair of Meadowlarks (Kestrel Hot Rods). Different in sound, but very smooth and slick. Did female vocals like nothing I've yet to hear. Pretty much all the bass I cared for, and maybe could have used 2KHz more top end. These speakers were made for tubes, and the amps really worked well with them (I think Odyssey amps work better with higher impedence loads). The Lorelies probably have 8Hz more bottom range. Yet you'll never see it with a CD due to their stupid recording curve. But you sure can tell it with an LP. Interestingly, the Lorelies really do rock & roll well, and fusion and funk as wll too. They do jazz very well, but not as well as they do rock music. I like jazz and classical the most, and for some odd reason they seem lacking in classical music (could be the recordings, I just don't know for sure). Somethings (instruments) they do very well, and others pretty good. An upright bass is outstanding with them, as well as the tenor and alto sax. Piano is better than average, but could be better. Clarinet seems OK, but have heard better. Stringed instruments are pretty good all the way around as long as they are electric (acoustic upright being the exception). Acoustic guitar is above average, but for me lacks the decay.
This is not a critique, but just what I've found over the years and living with a pair of Lorelies
gary
