Amplifiers for 3.7i, what's your suggestion?
- Thread starter arteck
- Start date
Thanks. What other amps have you compared with Magtech. Magtech is in my list, as well as Pass XA100.5.
Whatmore - Karan are lovely sounding amps... did you enjoy the pairing?
Victor, I also thought Constellation inspiration might still be worth considering, the stereo is within budget and could go mono later.
On the Pass I've only heard of guys using the larger amps and was thinking the XA-100 might struggle on that basis.
Even the ARC Ref150 ran out of steam a bit on the big scale stuff with 3.7s when I heard it.
Victor, I also thought Constellation inspiration might still be worth considering, the stereo is within budget and could go mono later.
On the Pass I've only heard of guys using the larger amps and was thinking the XA-100 might struggle on that basis.
Even the ARC Ref150 ran out of steam a bit on the big scale stuff with 3.7s when I heard it.
You are right about Karan in general. I heard the integrated amp and it was lovely, but I think it's underpowered for Maggies.
To get a Karan with enough power (IMHO) you are in a completely different price league to the magtech - and I still reckon the magtech would give it a good run for its money (being a magtech owner, I am biased though
)
To get a Karan with enough power (IMHO) you are in a completely different price league to the magtech - and I still reckon the magtech would give it a good run for its money (being a magtech owner, I am biased though
)
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
I agree. I could get my needles to bounce with the WP7. The maggies definitely need more power. I would also look at Classe' and Bryston.... at least 250wpc!!
You are right about Karan in general. I heard the integrated amp and it was lovely, but I think it's underpowered for Maggies.
To get a Karan with enough power (IMHO) you are in a completely different price league to the magtech - and I still reckon the magtech would give it a good run for its money (being a magtech owner, I am biased though
I'm with you on the magtech... it appreciates a really good power cable as well tho I think Roger Sanders might see that as somewhat heretical.
Heard some of the larger Karan monos and these aren't for the faint of heart or of the meek of budget.
Also big +1 on Bruce's suggestions, thought the Brystons were a great match.
I've used both Musical Fidelity and McIntosh with my 1.7's to great effect. I've also heard Maggies (during my audition period) with Audio Research gear that was extremely intoxicating. Others that I understand pair well with Maggies are Bryston and Pass Labs. I also think the other suggestions above would also be good mates to those speakers as well. The Absolute Sound reporters fawned over the 3.7i's paired with Pass Lab amps at the most recent Chicago show, so you might look into that particularly.
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
If you're looking at Pass, with your budget, you might have to go with a used X-350/X-600.5 or something similar. I know Ki paired his Maggie 20 series with Bryston 28 mono's.
Low output impedance helps control panel modes, leading to big amps. Plus they are 4 ohm impedance (mostly) and inefficient so high power is nice to have.
Magnepan has been displaying with Bryston lately and that has always been one of my favorite pairings. Of course, I use inexpensive Emotiva amps and am happy now, probably because I cannot afford and therefore do not want to listen to higher-priced models.
I have almost zero experience with the new Mac amps (one quick listen). In the past, I have found their autoformer output would sometimes struggle with the lower HF impedance of the ribbon, but could never quite convince myself it made a significant difference or was even really an issue. I don't think I measured the combo (the Mac was not happy with ESL's, HF distortion rose significantly though always debatable if it was audible).
Most any decent SS amp should do fine, as well as a lot of tube amps. I love the sound of tubes driving Maggies, even while acknowledging they (tube amps) are typically more distorted, but never found a tube amp that did well on the bass panels. My last marriage of a Counterpoint (yes, that long ago) hybrid amp for bass and ARC for mid/treble sounded great but the bass was still not as good when driven by a big Krell, ML, or Bryston. I'm a little surprised that, with all the resurgence of high-end tube amps, there aren't more hybrid (tube front end/SS output stage) amps around.
I have not heard the new Pass amps but they seem like a great match.
An on-line SPL calculator can help (but is not the end-all-be-all, and you have to add about 3 dB to the Maggies efficiency since they act like line sources over most of their frequency range). One like this: http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html
FWIFM - Don
Magnepan has been displaying with Bryston lately and that has always been one of my favorite pairings. Of course, I use inexpensive Emotiva amps and am happy now, probably because I cannot afford and therefore do not want to listen to higher-priced models.
I have almost zero experience with the new Mac amps (one quick listen). In the past, I have found their autoformer output would sometimes struggle with the lower HF impedance of the ribbon, but could never quite convince myself it made a significant difference or was even really an issue. I don't think I measured the combo (the Mac was not happy with ESL's, HF distortion rose significantly though always debatable if it was audible).
Most any decent SS amp should do fine, as well as a lot of tube amps. I love the sound of tubes driving Maggies, even while acknowledging they (tube amps) are typically more distorted, but never found a tube amp that did well on the bass panels. My last marriage of a Counterpoint (yes, that long ago) hybrid amp for bass and ARC for mid/treble sounded great but the bass was still not as good when driven by a big Krell, ML, or Bryston. I'm a little surprised that, with all the resurgence of high-end tube amps, there aren't more hybrid (tube front end/SS output stage) amps around.
I have not heard the new Pass amps but they seem like a great match.
An on-line SPL calculator can help (but is not the end-all-be-all, and you have to add about 3 dB to the Maggies efficiency since they act like line sources over most of their frequency range). One like this: http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html
FWIFM - Don
In retrospect I should have mentioned that Pass Labs power would exceed his budget if looking at new amps. However, quality used Pass amps show up from time to time that would be within his budget.
Low output impedance helps control panel modes, leading to big amps. Plus they are 4 ohm impedance (mostly) and inefficient so high power is nice to have.
Magnepan has been displaying with Bryston lately and that has always been one of my favorite pairings. Of course, I use inexpensive Emotiva amps and am happy now, probably because I cannot afford and therefore do not want to listen to higher-priced models.
I have almost zero experience with the new Mac amps (one quick listen). In the past, I have found their autoformer output would sometimes struggle with the lower HF impedance of the ribbon, but could never quite convince myself it made a significant difference or was even really an issue. I don't think I measured the combo (the Mac was not happy with ESL's, HF distortion rose significantly though always debatable if it was audible).
Most any decent SS amp should do fine, as well as a lot of tube amps. I love the sound of tubes driving Maggies, even while acknowledging they (tube amps) are typically more distorted, but never found a tube amp that did well on the bass panels. My last marriage of a Counterpoint (yes, that long ago) hybrid amp for bass and ARC for mid/treble sounded great but the bass was still not as good when driven by a big Krell, ML, or Bryston. I'm a little surprised that, with all the resurgence of high-end tube amps, there aren't more hybrid (tube front end/SS output stage) amps around.
I have not heard the new Pass amps but they seem like a great match.
An on-line SPL calculator can help (but is not the end-all-be-all, and you have to add about 3 dB to the Maggies efficiency since they act like line sources over most of their frequency range). One like this: http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html
FWIFM - Don
Maggie has shown with Bryston for at least 20 years!
Best sound I ever got out of my Maggie 3s - as well as the 20s I reviewed - was with 140 wpc cj amplifiers. Easy load and the amps cruised on the 3s. Little harder with the early 20s.
Sorry, I last visited Magnepan ages ago, and they were using ARC. And ARC was using Magnepan. I have seen them demo'd with ARC and Bryston amps through the years, among others, but in the past few have not seen them with ARC, just Bryston (maybe I just missed those demos).
I had an ARC D-79 driving my Maggies and tried various others Including various CJ's through the Premier but was never happy with the bass. OTOH, as a techie, my thoughts on sound are not worth a damn on this site.
I had an ARC D-79 driving my Maggies and tried various others Including various CJ's through the Premier but was never happy with the bass. OTOH, as a techie, my thoughts on sound are not worth a damn on this site.
Absolutely, the two maintain a close relationship to this day. After all, it was ARC that put Magnepan on the map.
The bass was a speaker, not amplifier issue. Mod the speaker with better parts-caps, chokes, wiring and connectors- and the low end was a different beast.
Don-You have it backwards. If you are not a techie on this site, your thoughts don't matter. You at least have to pretend you love graphs, charts, measurements, DBTs, and Harman. We have non-techies on this site that continuously proclaim their love (as in over, and over, and over again) for DBTs and measurements. The fact that they have never participated in a controlled DBT doesn't matter. The fact that all of their purchases of audio gear were never made because they performed unsighted tests prior to their purchases doesn't matter. As long as you wanted to do it is all that matters. Ditto for loving measurements but not having any.
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