[rw@cn]

Fix your room!  It is relatively inexpensive and will do wonders for your high end. The room is the most important component of your rig.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Stay away from attenuating resistors. They remove a lot of information.

Toe them out an inch.

Problem solved. 

I beg to differ.  The 1 ohm resistors decrease the high frequency by about 2dB.  The sound does not dramatically change till you start using 1.5ohm and higher resistors.   1 ohm and lower in my experience takes some of the high frequency edginess or brightness away, especially in my listening area which is wood floors and multiple large glass windows.  He has a carpeted floor and may only need 0.5ohm to start with.

But I agree, that trying to reposition the speakers would be the first thing to try.  Room treatments can be expensive and eye sores or not feasible for every one.

[Davey]

What information does a resistor remove?

Dave.

Stay away from attenuating resistors. They remove a lot of information.

Toe them out an inch.

Problem solved. 

[SteveFord]

I tried resistors on the 3.7s and now they live in a drawer.  The sound just was not for me.  It might be apples to oranges, though. 
I never found the MMGs to be bright, though.

Michael,
Could you post a photo of your room? 

[Davey]

"The sound was just not for me."  I don't know what that means. 

As long as statements like these are qualified with a "subjective evaluation only" tag then they're perfectly fine.

But to say that a resistor "removes information" is just total nonsense and inaccurate.  If that were the case our hi-fi systems would be inaudible because of all the removed information.    There are most likely many attenuating resistors inside various hi-fi components in our systems.  They (can) reduce signal level, but they don't remove information.

I'm surprised at the number of comments that suggest solutions other than the speakers.  Those may offer audible improvement, but there's no substitute for modifications to the actual sound transducers themselves.  That provides solid audible consequences.

It doesn't seem the original poster is going to return to this thread anyways. 

Cheers,

Dave.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

The resistors dont remove any info!  The purpose of them is to attenuate some of the HF energy for those people whose listening environment  may not have enough sound absorbtion causing the sound to be a little bright.  I was talking with Wendell at Magnepan the other day about this.  And he stated that if you need a 2 ohm resistor than you should consider room treatments, other equipment or different speakers.

I found that with the MMG's the 1 ohm resistor really took too much sparkle away but the lower ohm resistors were just right.  Note that I ran into the brightness problem with a Class D Audio CDA-254 amp that I bought.  The previous amp I was using had no such problem.

I use the 1 ohm in  my 1.6's to attenuate some sssssiblilance that occurs on some of my favorite music.  Unfortunately I found a tube combination in my DAC and Preamp that I really like for its detail, resolution and dynamics but at the expense of sibilance.  The resistors did the trick!

[Rclark]

 
Speaking of rooms  I just moved everything along the long wall  And used the cardas calculator to set my starting points. I was halfway through the movie "True Grit" when I did this, and the change to the soundstage is quite spectacular. Quite a neat tweak.

 It's going to take some getting used to, having everything this way, but it is audibly superior.

 I'm going to experiment with tweeters outboard now..

[Rclark]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWW WW about sums it up. I have them on the long wall now, tweeters outboard and it is blowing my mind. Totally wow wow wow. What speakers!

 I was only a couple minutes into setting everything up last post, I've since spent time listening "critically".

 Playing Charlie Parker "Repetition" right now and it is so textured and rich. I've never had my room oriented this way but this is a new pinnacle in my enjoyment of these planars.


 PS... I am also really loving my very modest ported 10" right now. It keeps up just fine, and where it is in the room now, it is just amazingly tight and level, and very tuneful and pleasant. Wish I could measure it right now. I've never heard a super sub in my system so when I get the, probably dual Epik Legends here in a bit theyt had better destroy this little sub in SQ or someone here owes me lunch.

[oboaudio]

I have had my speakers along the long wall for many years and could not agree
more.   Requires more bass traps at the listening position, but the result is quite
stunning  (huge soundstage, imaging, and coherence is awesome.)   

[Rclark]

nice room  How much music do you have for that tape machine? And what's it like?

 I also greatly improved my temporary makeshift absorbers (blankets), I hung them in a very measured, heavily pleated fashion behind my panels and underneath them hung heavy blankets. The back waves are very much controlled now. And having my sub in this sort of semi-central location..... I'm starting to wonder if I even need to buy nicer subs, and more subs. I mean, I have these spectacular speakers, but my ported 10 is definitely holding it down. I think it's because it's a very large ported ten with I'm guessing a pretty low tune. Low tuned subs are known to have accuracy like a sealed sub and this definitely has it. I can play music with rippingly fast d-d-d-d-d-d-d kickdrums and it belts out every one accurately. And upright bass sounds like upright bass, etc. Think I might be done for a while. Think the itch might be scratched, think it might be over for a while.

But yeah, WOW, the long wall is quite an upgrade if you can pull it off.

[Crimson]

The resistors dont remove any info!  The purpose of them is to attenuate some of the HF energy

You said it. Attenuation of high frequency energy is removing info. Air, space, an instruments' HF attack, etc. are all affected by this attenuation. Either way, seems the OP made some changes and all is good.

[Æ]

You said it. Attenuation of high frequency energy is removing info. Air, space, an instruments' HF attack, etc. are all affected by this attenuation. Either way, seems the OP made some changes and all is good.

Removing info? Ha! No.
Ok, then you better not ever turn your amp off, because you are "removing information."

Attenuation doesn't change the waveform or the frequency, only the amplitude. You accomplish the same thing by reaching out and adjusting your amp/preamp volume control.

[josh358]

Most of the sound that strikes our ears comes not from the speaker, but from room reflections. The brain combines it with the initial direct sound to get a sense of timbre, which is why in-room response is better at predicting how a speaker will sound than on-axis response.

OK, so room materials vary quite widely in the frequencies they absorb. Carpets, drapes, and so forth tend to absorb only high frequencies. Glass reflects mids and highs, but is transparent to low frequencies, so windows are the opposite.

Professional acousticians go to great lengths to keep absorption even over the entire frequency range, but at home, it can vary widely. So a resistor that works for one person won't work for another. And it isn't really right to think of the resistor as something that distorts the signal. The room has a frequency response, and the resistors help tailor the frequency response of the speaker so that the balance at your ears is right.

However, the resistor is a coarse adjustment, in that it shelves down the entire tweeter, and it should be possible to achieve a more accurate response by adding or removing high frequency absorption in the room, or by using electronic equalization.

[jimdgoulding]

So, Michael, how's it going now?

[Berndt]

Not all pro amps sound the same.
SS can be really brittle sounding.

[rw@cn]

Most of the sound that strikes our ears comes not from the speaker, but from room reflections. The brain combines it with the initial direct sound to get a sense of timbre, which is why in-room response is better at predicting how a speaker will sound than on-axis response.

OK, so room materials vary quite widely in the frequencies they absorb. Carpets, drapes, and so forth tend to absorb only high frequencies. Glass reflects mids and highs, but is transparent to low frequencies, so windows are the opposite.

Professional acousticians go to great lengths to keep absorption even over the entire frequency range, but at home, it can vary widely. So a resistor that works for one person won't work for another. And it isn't really right to think of the resistor as something that distorts the signal. The room has a frequency response, and the resistors help tailor the frequency response of the speaker so that the balance at your ears is right.

However, the resistor is a coarse adjustment, in that it shelves down the entire tweeter, and it should be possible to achieve a more accurate response by adding or removing high frequency absorption in the room, or by using electronic equalization.

Exactly (well almost)  Diffusion can also be very important for Maggies and Logans.

Too many people overlook the room and feel that they can "tweak" the rig. These "tweaks" do make changes but can only be truly effective once the room has been attended to. Making a better sounding room can be done in many ways. One can use plants, rugs, wall hangings, etc. somewhat effectively. You use what you have available and can afford.

You can also use products from GIK or others to do a better job. These commercial solutions can be expensive and can ruin the aesthics of your room.

It is your choice, but the room must be considered.

[josh358]

Exactly (well almost)  Diffusion can also be very important for Maggies and Logans.

Too many people overlook the room and feel that they can "tweak" the rig. These "tweaks" do make changes but can only be truly effective once the room has been attended to. Making a better sounding room can be done in many ways. One can use plants, rugs, wall hangings, etc. somewhat effectively. You use what you have available and can afford.

You can also use products from GIK or others to do a better job. These commercial solutions can be expensive and can ruin the aesthics of your room.

It is your choice, but the room must be considered.

Agree -- completely. I didn't mention diffusion because I was trying to address the OP's problem with brightness. I think this is the most common complain I see about MMG's and 1.6's. I can understand why because I've heard MMG's in a room that's too bright and they're hard to take, particularly on commercial recordings.

[Berndt]

Sorry

[michaelkingdom]

So much great advice has been given in this tread. I have been traveling and have now arrived home. I will begin some positioning tests tonight. Sorry to have been absent.

[Davey]

You said it. Attenuation of high frequency energy is removing info. Air, space, an instruments' HF attack, etc. are all affected by this attenuation. Either way, seems the OP made some changes and all is good.

Does amplification 'add' information?

Dave.