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I usea pair of AES Six Pacs to drive my maggie 12s.
If I purchased a very similar amp where the primary difference was that the new amp increased the power from 50 wpc to 100 wpc, could this lead to a significant improvement in the sound? Or would the music just be louder?
I always heard that maggies love power and am trying to understand whether the amount of power itself would provide a benefit.
I am thinking of buying a pair of v12r monoblocks which apparently are voiced similar to the six pacs.
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If the V12Rs in question are the mono versions they'll put out 100w in triode and 200w in ultra-linear into either 4 or 8 ohms. In UL they'd deliver significantly more power than the six packs. I have a stereo V12r and it's pretty darned powerful as tube amps go.
As Satie said -- if you listen at levels that may occationally cause your 50W amplifier to clip. Not hard with inefficient Maggies. Then a 100 watt amplifier will sound better.
As Neolith said, a 100 Watt amp does not play noticeably louder than a 50 Watt Amp.
"The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat" - Confucius
I have never heard "clipping" with my six pacs in 10 years. So if I don't hear clipping more power isn't likely to improve the maggies presentation, transients...etc.
I love the six pacs voicing and energy and don't want to mess that up. That is why I was thinking of going with v12r monos.
These tend to "soft clip" so that it sounds like the instruments are at the top of their output and are straining rather than sounding like a clipping amp.
That said, doubling the power on a current hungry speaker will have its benefits even if you don't drive them loud. If it isn't a financial strain then go to V12 monos.
If you are sitting just below the threshold to have transients with sufficient impact then you will definitely get allot from doubling your power. Particularly with tubes.
BTW - mono V12 sound just like stereo V12 and the 6 pacs. The only real difference in sound is the power.
The most impact is by going with dual powered subwoofers and cutting off the main speakers at 80'ish hz.
You would need to go to 500 wpc to double the output volume so the short answer is that a larger amp will not play significantly louder. A larger amp gives you better control of the transients without clipping. If you want better sound get a better amp not necessarily a more powerful amp. As a general rule however most Maggie's do better with an amp that produces 200 WBC at 8 ohms. More importantly you want an amp with a hefty power supply that can double down (200 wpc at 8 ohms, 400 wpc at 4 ohms - at least that's true for a SS amp). If the amp is not rated by the manufacturer at 4 ohms, then you don't want it.
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