New member with Maggie 1.7i's

Elizabeth · « **Reply #20 on:** 14 Dec 2021, 12:43 pm »

Break in? yes long . I have to say there are perhaps two sorts of breaking in. The first is for bass. Playing loud music with a lot of bass should get that part sorted "enough" after a few weeks. Though that too to fully be broken in may take longer. The second is detail. Getting the full possibility of detail in lower level material on my 20,7s did take many months. six months easily. (With the understanding I did not ever play "loud" (90+ dB). just normal for me music. at about 50 to 80 dB at listening position. The problem was low level detail would just kind of get cut off at lower 50dB SPL in Classical music... but over time that problem vanished. it was minor, but noticeable. After over six months t was less of a problem, but for totally gone took about a year.
When I had new3.6speakers I didn't notice as much of a break in problem. But at that time all the equipment as new, so I was less tuned in on just the speakers then.
The 20.7 are miles ahead of the 3.6 in detail.. just to mention.
I doubt I would have heard the differences in AC outlets, and the tuning wood with the 3.6, where with the 20.7s it was easy to hear the differences (once the speakers had broken in for a few months ... even though not fully broken in LOL

johnto · « **Reply #21 on:** 15 Dec 2021, 06:34 pm »

I agree Maggie's can take a while to sound great with my 3.7i it was probably in the 300 to 400 hr range prior to that they sound grainy. Don't give up it's worth the trip.

JARSH · « **Reply #22 on:** 15 Dec 2021, 08:10 pm »

Sent an email to Wendell. Received a reply from him earlier to let me know he is "no longer" with sales and marketing. He told me the email has been forwarded to Mick in their service department.

As for the speakers, I was adjusting toe-in last night. Listened for a bit and tried adjusting again to try to bring out the bass a little more. When I returned to the MLP, I was taken by the surround sound. I was completely immersed. Couldn't really tell L/R and the speakers disappeared. In all my audio years, this is a first for me.

SteveFord · « **Reply #23 on:** 15 Dec 2021, 08:16 pm »

Was the dealer unable to assist you, is that what happened?

slefley · « **Reply #24 on:** 15 Dec 2021, 08:22 pm »

Sorry if I missed this somewhere, but what does MLP stand for?

Saturn94 · « **Reply #25 on:** 15 Dec 2021, 08:33 pm »

Quote from: JARSH on 14 Dec 2021, 01:54 am

Hi Elizabeth, thank you for the info along with the the link. I'll be sure to check it out.

Saturn94, you did read that correctly. While researching, I came across a thread where someone had an arching situation. Turned out it had something to do with the jumper plate. I've also read of where some individuals had sizzle here and there. Weird! I was sitting at my computer the other night which is near the left speaker, the one incorrectly wired. Heard this loud pop/bang that just about made me jump out of my skin. Thought it may have been the ductwork but I swear it came from that speaker.

It was disheartening that the tech didn't offer to replace them as I'd hoped. Sigh! Wrote the salesman the other day but haven't heard anything. The store is closed Sunday and Monday. Hopefully he'll get back to me tomorrow. Shipping is high being I'm on the east cost.

Steve, I'll be sure to post if there are any changes. I'm disheartened about the whole thing and quite skeptical. I swear if it weren't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all. Don't mind going through the break-in process if I knew for sure I had something to work with. This isn't impressing me as first time customer of their product(s). The guy didn't ask for serial number or anything. When I mentioned I have about 400 or so hours on them, his response was, "Maggies take 3-4 month to fully break-in".

So I'm hoping the sales person will come through for me. Otherwise, my initial intentions of purchasing a smaller set to run HT at some point will be a no go!

As you describe it, something is wrong and Magnepan should replace your speaker. What you are describing is not a break-in issue.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #26 on:** 15 Dec 2021, 08:41 pm »

Quote from: slefley on 15 Dec 2021, 08:22 pm

Sorry if I missed this somewhere, but what does MLP stand for?

"Main listening position" would be my bet.

josh358 · « **Reply #27 on:** 15 Dec 2021, 11:22 pm »

Quote from: I.Greyhound Fan on 13 Dec 2021, 01:26 am

If you find them too bright, buy a pair of Mills 1 ohm and 1.2 ohm resistors for the tweeters.

https://www.partsconnexion.com/MILLS-71901.html

They are much better than the crappy sand resistors that come with the speakers. Those sand resistors introduce noise. The Mills add some warmth and they sound clear.

I have a pair and but prefer these Duelunds but they are expensive-

https://www.partsconnexion.com/DUELUND-74958.html

I find that they have a more transparent sound.

I would buy both and see what you prefer. I found that the Duelund 1.2 ohms work best on my Magnepan 1.6's. However, you can always go up to 1.5 ohms or down to 1 ohm.

I must be nuts because I tried some Deulands, didn't like them, and went back to the Mills!

josh358 · « **Reply #28 on:** 15 Dec 2021, 11:39 pm »

Quote from: JARSH on 15 Dec 2021, 08:10 pm

Sent an email to Wendell. Received a reply from him earlier to let me know he is "no longer" with sales and marketing. He told me the email has been forwarded to Mick in their service department.

As for the speakers, I was adjusting toe-in last night. Listened for a bit and tried adjusting again to try to bring out the bass a little more. When I returned to the MLP, I was taken by the surround sound. I was completely immersed. Couldn't really tell L/R and the speakers disappeared. In all my audio years, this is a first for me.

They've reorganized. Wendell is now in charge of R&D and Eric is now marketing director. There have been lots of other changes as well -- a new general manager, a new production manager, etc.

I gather that tweeters in gives you a more precise image, tweeters out a wider listening area.

Re the resistors, Wendell points out that the default configuration is with the 1 ohm resistor. He compares it to a tweeter level control -- you leave it in the center for an average room. People tend to think the jumper is the default, when in fact it's the configuration for a dead room.

(BTW, my used Tympani IVA's had a driver wired out of phase. The poor guy I bought them from had been using them for 20 years without ever suspecting! Took me a while to find, too -- no matter what I did, I couldn't get them to image right.)

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #29 on:** 16 Dec 2021, 02:28 am »

Quote from: josh358 on 15 Dec 2021, 11:22 pm

I must be nuts because I tried some Deulands, didn't like them, and went back to the Mills!

I loaned an AC'er both the Mills and Deulunds for his 20.1 or 20.7's and he preferred the Mills. For me, the Mills sounded warmer but the sound stage narrowed with my 1.6's.

JARSH · « **Reply #30 on:** 13 Jan 2022, 07:45 am »

Frustrated still! Before contacting Magnepan, again, I decided to hit "reset" and started from scratch.

Both speakers were wired positive and negative as normal.
Clipped the ends of the speaker cabled at speaker terminals for good wire/connections. Need new Banana plugs.
Swapped my XLR connectors from L/R.
Tried playing music via my BD player.
Reversed polarity on one speaker.
Only thing I cannot try is another premap.

I'm still thinking the speaker was incorrectly wired from the factory. No idea what may have happened when I heard a loud pop while sitting next to the problem speaker just after receiving them.

With everything wired as it should be, the right speaker is louder than the left. It's as if I were running two separate volume controls with one turned well up while the other is practically idle. Certainly more than one would expect to make adjustment of a balance control.

Also with everything wired in this position, the vocals are mostly coming from the right speaker as though the artist(s) were on the far right... little to nothing from the left. So no front and center stage here.

With the cable polarity reversed on the left the sound is more balanced as it would be normally. Wish this were just a simple fix such as this. Ugh! With the polarity reversed, the music and vocals are more balanced but I also noticed the bass falls off considerably.

So as of now, I have now idea how these puppies are supposed to sound. I know one speaker is screwed up and it makes me wonder whether the other is the way it's intended to be as well. I swear if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have none at all.

I'll try Magnepan one more time either today or tomorrow. If they don't come through, I may consider tearing into these things before totally giving up on them. It's leaving me with a sour taste for my first and possibly last dealings with this company. Had I known it would be this much hassle I would have either taken a chance trying to repair my old speakers or had gone another route. I'll give them benefit of the doubt for now and just hope they pull through.

SteveFord · « **Reply #31 on:** 13 Jan 2022, 09:08 am »

Did you buy them new or used?

JARSH · « **Reply #32 on:** 13 Jan 2022, 12:25 pm »

Hi Steve,

They were purchased new about two months ago, give or take.

There's a 2.5 hr. difference between here and MN so I'll call them this afternoon. Wish they were posting their schematics as they did in the past. Grr!

It would be an added expense I can ill afford to send these back. It would be more convenient if I were able to open them and check the wiring.

I have a hunch the wires in the mids are reversed. When wired as intended, the bass and highs sound correct but vocals are more to one side along with loss of volume.

Reversing polarity, bass is lost and symbols aren't as natural. The vocals are balanced and both speakers appear to be of equal volume.

Seriously hoping they'll walk me through sorting this out. Hate having to go through the hassle and expense of shipping along with being without the system for an indefinite period.

I'll give an update to this once I've spoken with someone.

SteveFord · « **Reply #33 on:** 13 Jan 2022, 12:45 pm »

Take them back to where you bought them and have the dealer hook them up and see what you've got.
This is an issue for the dealer to resolve for you.
The dealership wants happy customers, that's part of the job.

JARSH · « **Reply #34 on:** 13 Jan 2022, 12:57 pm »

Steve, that's part of my problem. The dealer is in western Canada and I'm on the east.

I'd be looking at $300+ one-way to ship these back along with the risk(s) that normally go with shipping these. Sigh!

SteveFord · « **Reply #35 on:** 13 Jan 2022, 01:12 pm »

Oh, not exactly local.
I'd say bring them over but I'm not nearby, either.
I'm not positive but that problem follows that one speaker no matter what? Say it's the right hand speaker, you've hooked it up to the left channel and still the same?

JARSH · « **Reply #36 on:** 13 Jan 2022, 01:31 pm »

Did the speaker swap when I first received them. Swapped L/R cables on the amps along with running my bluray player in place of the cd player. The only thing I cannot confirm is the preamp itself. Highly doubt it's causing my problem. It was recently serviced by Bryston along with a 4B amp. Currently running 7B 's.

SteveFord · « **Reply #37 on:** 13 Jan 2022, 01:44 pm »

While you're waiting, stick in a new fuse.
I have a conrad-johnson amp and the fuses looked fine but the sound was whacked.
I put in new fuses and problem solved.

JARSH · « **Reply #38 on:** 13 Jan 2022, 05:17 pm »

Thanks for the tip Steve. I did that right after I read your post and there's no change.

Tried calling Magnepan and got their answering system. I sent an email to support but have yet to hear back. Hopefully I'll get lucky and receive a reply within a day or two.

SteveFord · « **Reply #39 on:** 15 Jan 2022, 02:02 am »

To bring this to its thrilling conclusion, all is well with 1.7i land.
Just took a little fooling around with placement in a less than ideal room and I suspect some break-in period as well.