Description
"As you would expect, the pair of 1.7i’s that I bought from Bill sounded pretty good, almost right out of the box. I bought a pair of Bill’s Custom Braced Stands at the same time but decided to leave the standard feet in place to get a baseline on the performance of the 1.7i’s.
After the usual dialling in of the speaker positioning within my small 3.5x3.5m office/music room the speakers continue to run in. Over the next 100 or so hours, I heard all the usual improvements, better bass, imaging solidified, and the higher frequencies dialled in nicely.
When I was satisfied that I had a good understanding of the performance envelope of the 1.7i’s, I removed the stock feet and fitted the mass loaded custom stands. Fitting the stands was a doddle, even for a clumsy person like myself. Remove the old feet, fasten the speakers to the new frame and then fit the vertical braces. I found the easiest way to start was by laying the speakers on their side. Then fasten the speakers to the base. Once that was done I stood them up (carefully) so I could fit the vertical braces. Don’t put the levelling screws in until you are happy with the position of the speaker:- they are very easy to manoeuvre as the base slides easily over carpet. Once they are in the right place put the levelling screws in and adjust height and vertical angle to suit. The new stands don’t just hold the speakers firmly in an upright position: by using the large levelling screws I was able to put in a small amount of back tilt to the speakers providing slightly better extended high frequencies from my listening position.
By this time, I was running the speakers with a Vitus Audio RI-100 and I thought any improvements to be had would be quite small. The end-result couldn’t have been further from my expectations.
Without being overly dramatic, the improvements were significant, firstly the bass got tighter and more palpable, it’s almost as if an extra 5hz had been added to the bass extension of the speaker. The imaging improved, providing deeper insight into the sound stage, a key driver for me. Finally, while the improvements in the high frequencies did not reach the same level as those of the nether regions, there was still a noticeable improvement.
A very worthwhile addition to any pair of 1.7i’s and the same principle can hopefully be extended to other members of the Magneplanar line-up."
L.H. September 2021 (Thank you L!)
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