Magnepan 3.7i vocals sound harsh

Hi Tim
I have the preamp on at all times the amp is usually given at least 45 minutes to warm up.
I'll play that same lp over the weekend once I'm sure the amp is sufficiently warmed up and see what the sound is like. I also plan to take it to a friends to test on his system.
I was running with both 1 ohm resistors in place have just tried using only the tweeter resistor and 12 guage copper on the mid.

John,
A couple of suggestions. First, I have found that sometimes harshness doesn’t always eminate from the frequency range you think it’s coming from. I would try attenuating the midrange by trying the resistors there, and maybe put your nice copper jumpers in the tweeter spot. Or, maybe both tweeter and mid-range get the resistor treetment, or both get the copper. Whichever way sounds best. Sometimes it just takes a lot of little steps.
Second, I’m glad to hear you’re going to test the record when your system has warmed up. You’ll probably have to test records one day an you CDs on some later date.
I might suggest you turn on all of your equipment and let it all warm up for 45 minutes, as you usually do. Play just one side of a harsh sounding record (your Elton John record seams like a good candidate), and note the harshness - where it’s most noticable, how loud, etc. It would be good if you had a second pair of ears to verify what you are hearing. By the time you finish the album side your equipment will have been running about an hour and 5-10 minutes.
Now, try not to change the volume setting, or any other setting, and play another 3 or 4 album sides worth of music. Play a different album or two until your equipment has been running for a total of about 2 1/2 hours. It would be better if you had other things to do and left the room. That way you’ll have a better memory of how the harshness initially sounded and your ears won’t gradually get used to the sound of your stereo if it changes. (Also, don’t keep playing the Elton John album. Repeated playings of the same record could introduce new distortion). While I’m at it - no alcohol or other perception altering activities.  Sex with the wife is OK though.  Just tell her it's for science.
After your equipment has been playing music for a total of about 2 1/2 hours, sit back down and listen to Sir Elton again - same side as earlier.  Noting the distortion or harshness - is it the same?  Is it different? Has it improved?
I would also repeat the same test a few days later, using an offensive CD and sticking with CDs throughout the test.
I’ll be interested to find out what you hear.

Tim

I have recently been playing around with the resistors on my Magnepan 20.7s. (they have the same tweeter (interchangable) as the 3.7/3.7i).                   
Previously I have used no resistors on the tweeter or midrange.I did have a small handmade coil on the tweeter to cut ultra high frequencies, a choke tweek suggested in the past. Just Kimber wire around a dowel, 31 turns.                        
I started with the one ohm resistor upplied by Magnepan on midrange. Made the sound rather dark, heavy. I went to Madisound website (they sell speaker parts) and ordered a pile of Mundorf MOX 10 watt in 0.33    0.68    1.0    1.5    2.0 ohms .. The best so far has been to combine two 1.0 ohm to make 0.5 ohm resistance.  
So I recently ordered a couple of Duelund Cast (considered the best sounding speaker resistors in relevant reviews) plus many values are on sale nearly 50% off at PartsConnexion. I ordered pairs to make up a 0.5 ohm resistance. I plan to insert them behind the Magnepan connector plate, so I can further refine the resistance either by adding additional resistor(s) in the provided space, or just bypass them with the stock jumper. (problem with adding is can only go down in final value. But after using the 0.68 value, I feel pretty good about the 0.5 ohm as a baseline.)

John,

you our got some great hints here to help you.  I got your email and want to hear your system once you get this taken care of.  Once you get to the highest resolution that your system has, it’s the little things that can make or break it. 

Went naked no resistors which I think sounds best(probably some high frequency loss at my age).
Let the equipment warm for an hour much improvement in sound.
Tried 3 lp's Charlie Byrd direct to disc truly incredible, Basie Jam# excellent, Elton Madman some improvement. I also tried EJ on a friends system yesterday and could hear some of the same distortion but not as pronounced.
Maybe it the price you pay moving up the food chain the good sound better and not so good recordings worse.