Magnepan 1.7i with DVM review

I had a pair of Maggie 1.7i speakers in my very moderately sized room, but to my absolute dismay, they were a bit to large for the room, so I had to downsize. But, when I did have the 1.7i's in my room, I felt that they could use a good sub to augment to bottom end. I decided that the smaller Maggie .7 speakers would be the perfect match for my room. I auditioned the .7's with a pair of new REL T7X subs and was absolutely floored by the full range sound that the Maggie/REL combo produced. The sound was mesmerizing!!! The subs were dialed in to the Maggies to perfection. We were all completely captivated by the sound of this system. I had the same reaction to a Maggie 3.7i/REL set-up that I heard in this same showroom about a year ago. This was it!!! I ordered the Maggie .7's and a pair of the REL subs.

I originally purchased these speakers at LivingSound in Wichita, KS. They are out of this world in the way they reproduce lifelike sound across the entire range of music. I listened to several types of high end speakers, including B&W & MartinLogan, but I kept coming back to the Magneplanar 1.7. They are certainly the best I have ever owned, and I am very particular about my sound. The price, though, is not out of this world. In my opinion, they sound better than much more expensive speakers. I never thought I would be able to afford incredible sound like this on a working man’s budget, but that is exactly what Magnepan has done. Do yourself a favor and try out the Magneplanar speakers. You won’t be sorry. And when it comes time for me to upgrade, I’ll be shopping at Magnepan!

The best volume to play/record music is about 75db. When you get up around 80db, the Auto-Level Control in the camera starts to kick in and compress the sound. Still your system sounds very good, incredibly lifelike.

I have been smitten by Maggies ever since I was a kid (SMGa) and I have owned 3.6s and now MMGs. Soon to get a hybrid Black Ice audio amplifier to go with my Chord dac. MAGNEPAN FOREVER!!

I think these Magnepans are the best sounding of the many I have heard. Lifelike :)

Excellent setup. Certainly the word “investment” is incorrectly used but I understand your sentiment. Enjoy the system!

I like it. I have been watching Magnepan videos, I am itching to hear them in person. Audio Research is awesome. All you need now is a turntable and a phono stage and you are set.

Thanks for doing this, I'm ordering this CD today, right now on discogs. There is nothing that images like a Magnepan or sounds like one, I had the Magnepan 1.6 and do miss them. I have vandersteens now and love them. I have the stereo version of your two mono amp the 450s. That Ref 5 is nice and I have been looking for a reasonably priced ref 5se. The bass was nice and tight, very punchy.

Very nice set up. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

The magneplanars really need a flat wall to reflect off of , ad some diffusion helps with the sound. Firing the rear wave into a cavity is a recipe for aberrant reflections.

Thank you for the video which was nicely done. Did you eventually move to the 3.7i's or higher and if so was it worth it? Oh, one more thing, how critical are they for sitting dead centre? Thanks Rodney.

Hi. Excellent setup you got there. Let me ask you how did you connect the bass panel? Is it a parallel connection or does the panel crossover send only the midrange/high frequencies to the 1.7i's? My set up is similar somewhat. I have a REF75 , a pair of 3.5R's, a REL sub (for ultralow freq) and just got one DWM which arrives next week. I will try both parallel and crossovered DWM/3.5R options, but I wonder which option you use?

why don't you put the camera on a good stand at the listening position to get a nice steady view, and a close up from your components and cables,speakers to get a good idea from your music room ? you got a beautiful set up..how does the 1.7i react on the sidewalls ,how far does it need to be from the sidewalls at least? and how did you connect the basspanel to the amps? again great set !

Great video! I have the 1.7i speakers as well and have pondered purchasing the DVM panels, however I feel a real subwoofer might be better for rounding out the sound. Do you have any regrets getting them?

Just add a 120" drop down screen with a 4k sony projector and you will have a mean viewing setup. Its hard to tell through my computer but it sounds like you have matched the amplifiers to perfection with these magnepans

Thanks! Great Tone! How did you connect the DVM to your system? Did you use high pass or?

Have you considered the Magna Riser Ascension Stands with replacement jumpers?

Lucky you! You got space and that’s what these Maggie’s need. I ordered them and my previous speakers were the .7, magnificent model for smaller rooms. My first impression is that they perform a better bass compared to .7 but the mids and highs are kind of shy still. Is that normal? I started yesterday the burning in process. Also I noticed that the back of this dipole speaker doesn’t almost vibrate like the front side of the vertical ribbons. Love your set up

I had these also. My only issue not really an issue is why the connections are so tiny! I would prefer to run a slightly thicker speaker wire to them but they are so petite in size and space because they do require a decent amount of power to sound like they should. They still sound great. I’m sure Magnepan knows what they are doing but I would still prefer a more heavy duty connection on the speaker itself. I attached a Rel subwoofer when I had them. They are so accurate they needed accurate bass to keep up with them.

Nice presentation video I was wondering, do your magnepan has a slight ribbon vibration on the back of your speakers? I own the 1.7i and there is almost none vibration on the back panel, thought they are dipole that’s why say that. I owned the .7 before and the panel ribbons were vibrating equally from the front say and back side.