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In Reply to: RE: Amplifier for 1.7/ 3.7 magnepans posted by partell on January 07, 2017 at 08:30:32
In my experience even 100wpc of power might be marginal on Maggie 1.7's. I say this because I brought my 100wpc Rogue Stereo 90 Magnum amp (KT120 x 4)to a friends house and put it on his Maggie 1.7's. It was OK but a little compressed sounding whereas his 300wpc SS monoblocks sounded great. On the other hand my Rogue amp did very nicely on my Thiel speakers.
Follow Ups:
What 300 watt amp did he have.
I don't recall the brand / model of the 300wpc amps but I do remember that they were tiny upmarket (not cheap) Class D monoblocks.... and I'm not generally a fan of Class D.In this case it certainly appeared that the 100wpc Rogue tube amp was under powered while the monoblocks were more than sufficient. It wasn't a matter of room size or volume level. The 100wpc tube amp simply sounded slightly 'compressed' on the Maggie 1.7's regardless of volume level.
This same Rogue amp is hugely dynamic and robustly powerful on other speakers that are easier to drive including my Thiel CS2.4 (which aren't the easiest but nothing like the Maggies) and my Tannoy Definition D500's. I no longer have the Rogue Stereo 90 Super Magnum amp. I have the similar Rogue Cronus Magnum Integrated that puts out about 100wpc using KT120 power tubes. The larger Rogue monoblocks might work.
You can visit 10Audio.com. I live a few miles from JerryS (the reviewer) and you'll probably find those Class D monoblocks in his review listing. They weren't W4S or any of the 'value brands'. They were very expensive as I recall ~$8000 - $12,000 range.
Edits: 01/08/17
The stereo 90 is called the 100 now I think.Do you think the pre amp had anything with it being compressed?I was looking at the Cronus hard seems like a nice piece but if I was to purchase 3.7s probably would not cut it.
No, the preamp was not compressed at all. It was a Mark Levinson 326s which sounds great on a variety of amps. In any case, the setup didn't sound compressed with his Class D monoblocks.
Yes, the Stereo 90 is now the Stereo 100, an upgrade but still in the same power class. Based on what I heard I honestly don't think the 100wpc Stereo 100 or Cronus Magnum II will be fully sufficient for the Maggies. I love the Cronus Magnum which I run on my Thiel CS2.4 in the basement setup but this fairly robust tube amp might be marginal on Maggies. If Rogue still makes their larger 180wpc monoblocks, those might do the trick.
Oh, I found the review. The Atash monoblocks are actually 400wpc. I'm not suggesting you need these, just saying you probably need more power than 100wpc.
I had it in my head that I wanted tubes this round but maybe I should re consider .I think I am going to go with magnepans 3.7 for sure. it looks like it will be rogues M-180 mono blocks or I have been looking at parasounds halo A21 amp with one of their pre amps.I will check out the Atsah review. Any experience on the parasounds they been running with 121 for almost 10 years now.
I have a PAIR of the A23, one per panel with the P5 preamp.
The '23 is the little brother to the '21 and has roughly 1/2 the power.
Nice combo.
Perhaps the Halo integrated?
Don't forget that with any of the x.7 series Maggies, you can NOT biamp without going into the speaker and doing some surgery.
Unless you know about the reviewer, IMO, they are of marginal added value. Ever read a BAD review?
Too much is never enough
I know a few of you have mentioned the Martin Logan's .I guess this is what you call a Hybrid with powered sub below.,will these produce the same quality sound as the Maggie's? I assume these would be easier to drive beings they have a powered sub on the bottom? I watched a YouTube video with the Martin Logan's Montis El with the Prima Luna HP man does that sound good ! Well it's YouTube so maybe sound is deceiving. Is the Prima Luna good stuff.Here is the link http://youtu.be/s-rtyg1qvb0
Martin Logans are generally pretty demanding of the amp.
They are sort of flat like Maggies, but that's where the similarity ends.
They are electrostatic and have some awful electrical characteristics at the higher frequencies.
The built in woofer taking off 'some of the load' is a red-herring. Don't be fooled.
Too much is never enough
I have no experience with the Parasound amp but it looks like Jonathan does, and I know that inmate John Elison owns one that he uses to drive his Thiel 3.7's.
IMHO, and based on some experience with the Maggies I believe they need a fair amount of power to sound their best, SS or tubes. I just know that my 100wpc Rogue tube amp didn't cut it with the Maggie 1.7.
Good luck!
For a similar price to the Magtech, i'd be real surprised if the Parasound JC-1 was in ANY way inferior.
Too bad the 1.7 needs major surgery for those wanting to biamp. My A23s will end up with more effective power than an A21. As much as 3db more.
Too much is never enough
I have experience with the parasound on a few different speakers including Maggies , the magtech is much better IMO ..
Regards
I started with 3.3's and a McIntosh MC352, I had been a Mac fan for years but they are not a good match with Maggies. I then went with a pair of Bryston 7bst's mono blocks, they were ok but kind harsh sounding. Then I went with a Sanders Magtec which was a huge improvement. I now have a set of 20.1's actively bi-amped with the Magtech on the bottom and an ESL on the top pushing 3200 watts. The added power was not to make the sound louder but to listen at the levels I wanted to safely, I too have a big room. Before I bi amped I went through a lot of fuses and ribbons not so much now since I bi-amped. I also use a tube pre amp that was also a great improvement. I can now say that I am done.
I've been using a Parasound Halo A21 on my 1.7s. Sounds great, with plenty of headroom in a 20 x 15 room. Preamp is a Tortuga LDR3v.2; source is a PS Audio PerfectWave DAC II (uncompressed audio files from a Mac Mini and/or Tidal streaming into Roon).
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