[Hear Clifford Brown]

I have pre-owned 1.7s arriving next week, looking forward to trying them in this room:



Those are Coincident Super Eclipse III speakers that I plan on keeping unless the 1.7s completely blow them out of the water.  The SVS sub on the right is only for the separate movie/TV system which is behind the curtain:



With the Maggies I was thinking tweeters inside because I think I read that's best if they can't be far away from the side walls.  I'll only have 20" from the wall on the right side, more on the left due to the odd shaped room.










Plenty of space behind the speakers, 5.5 feet to the wall behind them, but that big screen TV in between them probably has an adverse affect.  Hope the room is big enough for the Maggies.  At it's widest it is 15' and it is 19' long with an 8' ceiling.  If it was a regular 15 x 19 rectangle it might be better, but it first widens 3 feet on the left side about 4 feet from the wall behind the speakers, then widens 16 inches on the right side 9 feet from that wall, and from that point back it's 15 feet wide. 

For 2 channel music there are two Vandersteen 2wq subs behind the curtain.  The amp in the middle is an Ayre V-5xe, 150 into 8 ohms, 300 into 4.  Hope it's enough for the 1.7s.  With the Coincident speakers I switch between that amp and a 25 watt Decware Torii Mk3 in the equipment rack to the left side.  I don't expect to use that amp with the Magnepans.

Any input is welcome.  Thanks,
Jeff

 

[SteveFord]

I think you've got it covered.
The more toe-in you do with the 1.7s the more bass and midrange you'll get.
Let us know what you think.

[guest61169]

I think your amp will be fine.  Don't rule out the Decware either.  At low-->normal volumes it will probably sound wonderful.  I have occasionally swapped in a 5 wpc class a tube power amp on my 1.7s at low volumes in my condo man-cave.

[geowak]

If you attempt to integrate your Vandy subs with the 1.7s it will be interesting to know how that sounds. You picked up some great speakers.

[k6davis]

+1 about the Maggie 1.7 being a great speaker.

I have always paired my Maggies with subs as well, to provide only the very lowest frequencies that the Maggies don't. With proper set up, of course, I prefer them to cone speakers at any price.

[jimdgoulding]

I have a pair of Kenwood LO7 amps gathering dust.  I'm entertaining the idea of mating them with some Magnepan 1.7's.  Anyone have any opinions about either of these components?  Anyone have some 1.7's for sale?  Thanks

[SteveFord]

Magnepan does have that in-home trial deal going with the 1.7s.
If you don't work out or you simply don't like them send them back.

[Hear Clifford Brown]

I've been using these subs with my current speakers and am just thrilled with the results.  They integrate so seamlessly compared to other subs I've tried.  I expect them to work very well with the Magnepans.

[mr_bill]

What are the subs?

[jsm71]

I have direct experience with both the 1.7s and Decware Torii amps, but not at the same time.  I used a Sanders Magtech with my Maggies.  I stepped up in a different way to JansZen zA2.1s which I love and don't need that kind of power any more.  I currently have the Decware Torii MK IV, but am on the build list for the new ZMA model, which will almost double the power.  Despite wanting the extra power my JansZens are rated at 87dB and the Torii drives them really well, albeit not to their volume capabilities.  At reasonable listening levels (up to 80 dB?) your Torii may surprise you.  It clearly won't drive them with authority however.   

I think you will love the 1.7s.  They are clearly amazing at their price point.

[Hear Clifford Brown]

Hi Mr_Bill, the subs are a pair of Vandersteen 2Wq as mentioned in the last paragraph of my room description (I realize it was way too long and probably no one wants to read it all  )

[Hear Clifford Brown]

I picked the box up from UPS during lunch today, rather than have it delivered.  Figured that would be more gentle than another load and ride on a truck.  I used 3 day select so most of the journey from near Boston to Seattle/Tacoma was on an airplane.  The box looks fine from the outside.  Will have them set up by mid morning tomorrow, yeah!

[jimdgoulding]

Do post pictures!

[Hear Clifford Brown]

They sound VERY good just sitting where the other speakers were.  So far have only used the Ayre amp, just connected the speaker cables and started playing music, which means the Vandersteen subs are also in the mix.  Blend seamlessly just like before, but the bass is stronger.  Part of that could be the Ayre amp is being driven harder than with my other speakers (10 ohm impedance, 92 dB vs 4 ohm 86 dB for the Magnepans), although the subs have their own built in amps, so I'm not sure about that.  The bass is very clean and tight as before.  There are 4 Real Traps in the room.

I have the tweeters on the inside and will try them on the outside, as well as experiment with speaker position (so easy to move!) to see if the soundstage changes.  Will try them w/o the subs. 

The Magnepans seem to really come to life when turned up a bit.  My Coincidents sound really alive and detailed at low volumes as well as loud.  I may miss that but I think the Magnepans play louder without sounding stressed at all, which I also like.

Just heard a piano solo in a great Lucky Thompson recording, Soul's Night Out.  I thought, that piano sounds more real than I've heard before 

[SteveFord]

Glad it worked out.
One thing you might want to experiment with is positioning of the subs.
Try them parallel to the 1.7s and then closer to you than the 1.7s are. 
You might like it better, you might not.

[Hear Clifford Brown]

That's a good idea Steve.  A lot of work moving the subs but not really too bad, and worth trying.  There's no room to put them parallel with the 1.7s, not near enough room between the 1.7s and side walls.  But I could bring the subs forward so they they would be right behind the 1.7s and another option is to place them as end tables on each side of the listening chairs.

[SteveFord]

Try them kind of like this crude illustration shows:


                 -----------------1.7-----------------                                                                 ---------------------1.7---------------------



-------SUB--------                                                                                                                                                     ------SUB--------










                                                                                      Hear Clifford Brown sits here


and see what you think. 
Worst comes to worst you get to throw your back out and end up in traction for six months!

The end table idea might work out well - you won't know until you try it.
                       

[jsm71]

Congrats on getting the new 1.7s.  If you like the sound now, just wait.  You will find that the bass really hasn't emerged to its fullest yet.  The mylar has to relax a little and after that the bass will fill out and reach a little deeper.  I found that break in happened over a few months.  Pushing the volume will help stretch things out quicker.  As to placement the room looks great.  I kept mine tweeters in, but tried both approaches as well.  I prefered the more focused center soundstage that having the tweeters in provides.  Enjoy.

[Hear Clifford Brown]

Just an update - these speakers are amazing considering their cost!

They had about six months of use before I got them so might be well broken in.  The bass is so good without the subs that they are not really needed, although they add a nice foundation with some music.  A couple days after initial setup I realized I didn't change the sensitivity setting on the Vandersteen 2Wq subs from 92 dB (my Coincident Speakers) to 85 dB (the 1.7s).  That made a huge difference.  Bass with subs is perfect now.

I moved the the 1.7s sans subs temporarily to our family room/kitchen which is a much larger space.  They sound maybe even better in his space, wish they could stay here.  More distance to the side walls, a little over 3 feet, a 9 foot ceiling, and 18 feet behind the seating.

[Maritan]

I was a little lazy and didn't read all the details yet. Don't kill me!

In your regular listening area, what would you estimate the spacing to be between the 1.7s? Inside edge to inside edge?