Next big thing.....DId I pull the trigger to soon??

[manlystanley]

Just say this: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-10422797-47.html

I'm wondering if I should have waited with the purchase of the 1.6's???

Best Regards,
Stan

[JoeE SP9]

The 1.7's seem quite interesting. I'm going to give them a listen at my first opportunity.
If you wait for the next/latest/greatest you may wait forever. Set the 1.6's up and enjoy them and yourself.

[mlsstl]

I'm wondering if I should have waited with the purchase of the 1.6's???

First, you wouldn't be able to buy the new model for $900. You can bet the 1.7 will be selling right at retail for some time.

Second, the article doesn't say when the new model will actually be available. Who knows when you might get your pair.

Third, companies like Magnepan tend to make incremental improvements in their designs. The 1.6 is a great speaker and has a solid following. It didn't somehow reduce in quality just because a new model is coming out. It is still what it always was.

Actually, you're in an good position. You got a great buy on a speaker you haven't lived with yet. Let's take the two extremes. At one end you may find that you don't care for this type of speaker. Some people don't (we've got some of them right here in this forum and that's OK.)

If you discover you're not in the panel camp, you're going to be able to resell your 1.6s for about what you paid. You'll be able to move on without having thrown away a big chunk of money. If you'd bought the 1.7s at retail and discovered you didn't like them, your out-of-pocket hit would likely be much larger.

At the other end of the spectrum, if you like the 1.6s but find out you LOVE the 1.7s, you'll still be able to sell the 1.6s for about what you paid. You'll be moving up to the new model with a lot more confidence in your purchase.

However, in the middle, there's a pretty good chance that you're going be very happy with the 1.6s. You may find the 1.7s a shade better but end up thinking there may be better places you could put that extra thousand dollars.

Moral of the story? You got a great deal no matter how things end up in the long run.

Enjoy your new speakers!

[manlystanley]

The 1.7's seem quite interesting. I'm going to give them a listen at my first opportunity.
If you wait for the next/latest/greatest you may wait forever. Set the 1.6's up and enjoy them and yourself.

I put extra speaker wires behind the drywall 'just incase' and I'm digging it out so that I can bi-wire my 1.6's that I'll be picking up Friday. While I'm doing this, I'm thinking: now that I've got such a good system I'll never need to upgrade the power amp and front speakers again.......

Then I read about the 1,7. This stuff is so fun because your never there.

I see people who come on this site and they want to plop down 10's of thousand of dollars and buy the perfect system... But, then so what? The fun is hanging out with you guys learning and sharing what I've learned--while we gradually go towards our musical nirvana. Lots of fun......

I'll be getting the 1.7's in five years when they hit the resale market........ In the mean time, I can't wait to get my hands on my 1.6's!!!

Best Regards,
Stan

[manlystanley]

First, you wouldn't be able to buy the new model for $900. You can bet the 1.7 will be selling right at retail for some time.

Second, the article doesn't say when the new model will actually be available. Who knows when you might get your pair.

Third, companies like Magnepan tend to make incremental improvements in their designs. The 1.6 is a great speaker and has a solid following. It didn't somehow reduce in quality just because a new model is coming out. It is still what it always was.

Actually, you're in an good position. You got a great buy on a speaker you haven't lived with yet. Let's take the two extremes. At one end you may find that you don't care for this type of speaker. Some people don't (we've got some of them right here in this forum and that's OK.)

If you discover you're not in the panel camp, you're going to be able to resell your 1.6s for about what you paid. You'll be able to move on without having thrown away a big chunk of money. If you'd bought the 1.7s at retail and discovered you didn't like them, your out-of-pocket hit would likely be much larger.

At the other end of the spectrum, if you like the 1.6s but find out you LOVE the 1.7s, you'll still be able to sell the 1.6s for about what you paid. You'll be moving up to the new model with a lot more confidence in your purchase.

However, in the middle, there's a pretty good chance that you're going be very happy with the 1.6s. You may find the 1.7s a shade better but end up thinking there may be better places you could put that extra thousand dollars.

Moral of the story? You got a great deal no matter how things end up in the long run.

Enjoy your new speakers!

mlsstl,
Your the man. Good points.

Best Regards,
Stan

[Feanor]

The advent of a MG 1.6 variant with a ribbon tweeter has been long anticipated. I think it's interesting the the price of the 1.7 is only very slightly higher than the 1.6. A lot of people were looking for something between the 1.6 and the 3.6, but perhaps the clean replacement of the 1.6 will prevent erosion of 3.6 sales.

BTW, other things hoped for by many Magneplanar fans are (1) higher grade crossovers, and (2) more rigid stands such as the after-market Mye stands or the Gunn treatment. I guess they'll need to wait for these. I believe that Manepan's position has been that any improvements from such measures are very marginal and wouldn't represent the sort of value they want to deliver. OTOH, there are plenty of audiophiles who will pay ridiculous sums for extremely marginal improvements.

I echo mlsstl's remarks. At $900 for the 1.6's you just can't go wrong. First you get a very strong introduction the Maggy sound; secondly it remains to be seen how much of an improvement the 1.7's are really going to be. Personally, with at 10 kHz cross over to the ribbon supertweeter, I don't think I would even hear it given I'm actually deaf above 10 kHz.

[manlystanley]

I echo mlsstl's remarks. At $900 for the 1.6's you just can't go wrong. First you get a very strong introduction the Maggy sound; secondly it remains to be seen how much of an improvement the 1.7's are really going to be. Personally, with at 10 kHz cross over to the ribbon supertweeter, I don't think I would even hear it given I'm actually deaf above 10 kHz.

Yep. I agree. I just got this problem of always having to get the best deal...... You guys are great!! I've never been steered wrong.

[blackraven]

Stan, don't second guess yourself. The 1.6's are wonderful speakers and are going to be hard to improve upon at their original price of $1800. The reviews of the 1.7's aren't out yet and I can't imagine that there is going to be a dramatic improvement in sound although I could be wrong. Besides, I like the wooden cherry frame on my maggies, going aluminum is probably a cost saving measure.

And as others implied, you will have the best pair of $900 speakers around.