A genuine taste of what Magnepan's bigger, pricier speakers can do — for a fraction of the cost.
Jonathan Valin of The Absolute Sound called it "a genuine Hall of Famer."
Awards: The Absolute Sound 2021 Budget Product of the Year
Some speakers earn a reputation slowly, over years of listeners discovering them one at a time. The 1.7i's predecessor, the original 1.7, earned a spot as one veteran reviewer's favorite loudspeaker of the last 70 years — high praise from someone who's heard nearly everything. The 1.7i carries that same tall, skinny, three-way quasi-ribbon dipole design forward, refined further.
What made the original so beloved wasn't a single standout trait — it was the whole package: high resolution, low distortion, bass and treble quality good enough to satisfy anyone short of a dedicated headbanger, and a midrange that renders well-recorded voices and acoustic instruments with startling realism. It's the rare "sweet spot" speaker that gives you a genuine, undiluted taste of what its bigger and far more expensive Maggie siblings are capable of, without asking you to pay for that privilege.
If you want to know what all the fuss about Magnepan is really about, without committing flagship money to find out, this is where to start.
