[Emil]

Furthermore, I seriously doubt Johnto’s speakers are defective.

If that's the case, johnto is heading for a trip down the rabbit hole. Get the credit card out
The 3.7is may be exposing deficiencies in his system that the 1.7s were able to hide.
Its like buying a Ferrari with K Mart tires and wondering why you're spinning out in the turns.

[johnto]

I had some doubts myself so I had a few audiophile friends over to listen to make sure it wasn't my aged ears and they heard the same on certain records and CD's.
Have more listening planned for tomorrow, will also take resistors out and replace with copper stranded wire.

[mick wolfe]

I'd get the "dealer" involved in a listening session.  Sounds like something is defective.

[SteveFord]

A call out to all 3.7i owners that purchased their speakers brand spanking new.
Have you experienced harsh, grainy vocals similar to what Johnto is experiencing during the first 200 hours??

No.  What I did notice was the bass output wasn't as pronounced when new.

I do know that what sounds just fine on 1.7s sounds not so wonderful on 3.7s and what works with 3.7s isn't so great with 20.7s.
As you go up the food chain with the speakers any deficiencies with the rest of the equipment will be revealed.
Mine are 3.7s, not 3.7i's although I doubt that makes much of a difference as far as vocals.

[charmerci]

I had some doubts myself so I had a few audiophile friends over to listen to make sure it wasn't my aged ears and they heard the same on certain records and CD's.

Yeah - a lot of older recordings sound really harsh - especially at high levels. What about the best sounding recordings?

[WGH]

For some reason I am noticing a lot of harsh grainy sounding vocals especially during chorus singing on both lp's and CD's.

Let's try a different source. I have the Chris Hillman album Bidin' My Time in 24/48, the vocals are definitely not harsh or grainy but crystal clear, almost analog. This album will be on everyone's demo list as soon as it is discovered and the best part is the music is terrific.

I can upload a cut from the album (your choice) to my server and then send you a link via PM. Download the .flac file then connect your laptop to the Parasound with a USB cable and play with the free Foobar 2000 (WASAPI output). If you have a Mac then someone else will have to help with a flac player.

[Elizabeth]

New Magnepans? I just got a new pair of 20.7s two weeks ago.
On some stuff the sound was a little not wonderful for particularly the end of week one. (the speakers had a problem which could be rectified, but was not OK), and I got a new pair today.
So I am on my second new pair after two weeks.
The sound is pretty good.
The main issue is loss of low level detail that two weeks cured..
And bass which is more one note and less defined. (but not bad bad.)

However I use big power conditioning. Have a great DAC, and use a separate glorified tube buffer. A VAC Standard I bought used.
All these things 'fix' digital grunge.

My take on the op problem is he has a new window into music which is more resolving than he used to have.
It is showing flaws in the rest of the setup.

[johnto]

Thank you for the offer. I agree that Hillmans music is outstanding. Let me see if my grandson can do the download as I do not have a computer myself.

[timind]

How is speaker positioning? I'm assuming you have them in the same position as previous speakers, but these are a bit bigger. I had an issue that only showed itself on certain female vocal tracks where it sounded somewhat distorted if I sat perfect dead center. If I moved a few inches off center it sounded fine. I removed quite a bit of toe-in and the problem was solved and center fill remained strong.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I agree with Mr. Ford.  Moving up from the 1.7's to the 3.7's should not bring out harsh vocals.  Magnepans are revealing and will let you know when your electronics or music is not on the same playing field as the speakers, but what sounded good on the 1.7's should sound good on the 3.7's.  Removing the resistors should not make a difference.  Something is wrong some where, either in the speakers, electronics or cables.  The tweeters in the 3.7's are more revealing but they are smoother than the 1.7's.

I did audition the 3.7i's at a dealer and a friend of mine has a pair of 3.7's that I have heard on several occasions.  And another friend has the 1.7's that I am very familiar with so I have a good idea how these sound with various gear.

By the way, I did find my Parasound A21 to have a bit of grain and fatigue with my 1.6's, MMG's and a friends pair of $14K Revel Salon 2's.  I switched to a Pass Labs X250 and all was right in the world. My friend also ditched his A21 and went with a pair of Pass XA-100.5 monoblocks.  I am not saying your Halo Int. is the problem but just something to think about in the future.

Hope you figure things out,

Larry

[SteveFord]

I take it these are brand new.
Can you take them to your dealer and hook them up there?  That will tell you if it's the speakers or one of your components.
Failing that, maybe they can loan you an amp/preamp/CD player for a day or two and you can isolate the problem that way.

[johnto]

They were part of an estate sale dealer was handing only had about 18 hrs on them. Place of purchase is about 5 hrs drive and I would need a rental again to carry them. I'm wondering if there are just lots of bad vocal recordings out there as some things sound okay. Will keep listening for a bit and try to borrow another amplifier to see if anything changes.

[thunderbrick]

You can probably borrow a better amp without needing a van...

[Elizabeth]

The op has $6,000 speakers with a $2,500 combined preamp+DAC+amp.

When I bought my then new Magnepan 3.6 I also got a $5,000 amp, had a DAC retail was $1,000 when new, and a $5,000 preamp. Toss in a $3,500 power conditioner. Plus some good wires. (IMO the Magnepan speakers are that good, and as many before have stated, they clock in way above their price class)

With all that, I still noted enough harshness to decide I needed a tube buffer
I tried a $20 bit of junk. Tossed it as useless.
 Went out and found a 'real' tube buffer, a VAC Standard, bought used for $1,500 (retail $4,500 but this one had an additional set of factory mods for another $1,500)

So that glorified tube buffer, yeah! it  did the job of clearing up the annoying digital grunge for the most part. I still certainly could use a better DAC

What I am saying is the Magnepans are just letting the op know what is actually there from his electronics.
When he gets the sound from the 3.7i to be good.
He can upgrade to the 20.7 and not have any issues.
I know.

[johnto]

After reading about the sound of your 20's I only wish I had the space and $ to make a jump in the future. Unfortunately I am limited to a 12 x 15 room which some said was even to small for the 3.7i.

[johnto]

Just listened to George Harrison's great cd Brainwashed some cuts sound fine and some are so grainy as to be almost unlistenable. Tried to different cd players with same results.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Do you have any pristine audiophile recordings?  If so, try them and see how they sound

[WGH]

Just listened to George Harrison's great cd Brainwashed...some are so grainy as to be almost unlistenable. Tried to different cd players with same results.

That's just George.

Are you using the optical or coaxial digital inputs from the CD players to the Halo? The DAC in the Parasound may be better. What are the CD players used and how are they connected?

The reason I suggested downloading a digital file is because it is a known excellent quality. Your phono needle may be worn or mistracking or the CD players electronics are not filtering out all the grunge.

[Rusty Jefferson]

Where do you live?  Often, having a trained listener walk in and hear your system can be helpful determining an issue.

[johnto]

I live in the Boston MA area.
Have tried optical, coaxial and analog outputs from oppo 103 also have another dvd player I've tried.
My grandson has a MacBook I can try at some point.