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please list the amp and speaker modeland any comments that you wish
Edits: 10/21/21Follow Ups:
Not an 'ultimate weapon' solution, but ONE Parasound A23 per speaker is working fine for me and I like it better than the previous amp.....a GCC250 from PSAudio.
I briefly tried a Rotel RB1070 which proved incapable of making music with low sensitivity 4 ohm panels.
Too much is never enough
Magnepan LRS driven by a Linear Tube Audio ZOTL40 Reference Amp. This pairing has deep textured bass, holographic mids, and shimmery treble.
KillerB808
I've only had 2 maps on my 3.6R:
For the first 8 years Mcintosh MC7300 x 2
for the last 6 years Nord One up NC500 x 2
-mid/tweeter amp has sonic imagery op amps, the bass amp has Sparkos ones.
The Nord amps I prefer, so by that definition they are better, but there was a little more roundness in the midrange of the Mcintosh I sometimes wish I could recover.
Bat VK-150 running my 3.7i speakers just fine.
Lots to chose from, Pass, Bryston, ARC ...-...- or a Gryphon Diablo 300
Edits: 12/29/22
My current amps, SPL Performer Monos, are the best I have heard so far. Previous favourites
were Magtech with MG 1.7i and McIntosh monos with MG 20.7 at Audio Emporium in Milwaukee.
When an SPL dealer told me a client traded his McIntosh monos on the SPL monos I had to try
them and they are a great match for the big Maggies.
https://spl.audio/en/spl-produkt/performer-m1000/
Magnepan 20.7 Speakers
VTL S-400 Amplifier
VTL TL-7.5lll Preamplifier
Accuphase A-36 and 3.7i plus one DWM.
I suppose that this combination may seem not very optimal to some of you.
The "common opinion" seems to state that Maggies need lots of power *) and therefore a 30W amp might not be the right choice. And to add a DWM in parallel to that, getting close to 2 ohms in the lower range, is even more wrong.
My experience with an Ebay-bought old predecessor, the A-20, indicated quite clearly that - at least for my listening habits - the power resources of a Rotel RB-1590 did not make any advantages. Rather the opposite, at least in terms of realism when listening to my dominating music genre, the large scale orchestral music (symphonies and such).
The A-36 is an overall class-A amplifier of very modest official specs. 30/60/120 W in 8/4/2 Ohms. Clipping occurs however at 60/104/159 W respectively, all according to the manufacturer.
These figures may explain why it works so well. The grade of beleivable realism even at top-levels as low as about 90 dB, gives even further that any "Rotel-350-Watts" is not at all necessary.But all boils down to the matter of personal preferences and maybe even to if one is interested in actually testing what happens when the volume is cranked way higher up than the music needs, just to check what happens. I.e. focusing on gear-limitations rather than music-listening.
I am not, and I have not done that check.
:-)*) If it is a real opinion or if it rather is just a copy of what others already have copied because they aready have seen that statement copied before that... I do not know, but I have my suspicions.
Edits: 12/31/21 01/01/22
Pass Labs X150.5 driving the mid & ribbons on bi-amped 3,6s using a first watt B4 Crossover
Accuphase A-36 driving a pair of 3.7i and one DWM in parallel.
On paper a small amplifier, but it is very moderately specified.
See more below...
Edits: 12/31/21
Current system: 3.5R biamped - SF Line 2 - Bryston 10b - SF Power 2, mid/high - Pass 250.5, low.
Bryston 4B3Have to say, the Odyssey Sratos Extreme was also nice if you like a smooth sound. However it lacked the pace, resoulution and grip of the Cubed series. The Cubed with the EAR Yohshino Pre is just decadently satisfying.
Edits: 10/29/21
Pass 250.5 lover here!
updated Dynaco Mark IIIs with MG1.
A bit under powered but those mids were fantastic.
Kenwood L-07m mono blocks with 1.6QR
No need to spend more $$ or keep looking
looking for some jazz and a little libations - joe strummer
Bryston 4BST current and likely the last for the 1.6s. Before that Outlaw mono's they did not 'play' well with the 1.6s. Perhaps placebo effect - the biggest improvement in clarity and presence was switching from Belden speaker cables 12ga to hand rolled Cat5 4 wire twisted cable.
My pass labs X150.5 bi amped with a First watt B4, Pass on tweeter/ Mid and BK Ex4420 on Bass
I really enjoyed hearing 20.1s driven by Joule Electra Rite-of-Passage amps using two dozen 6C33 triodes.
Pass 250.8 Pass XP10 pre Magnepan 3.7i pure musical magic, power to spare.
Joto
That would be my current setup: biamping MGIII's with a pair of Audio Research D-200's. They're well behind the "state of the art" these days, but as I make changes in the equipment around them they continue to rise to the challenge.
Regards,
Steve
VTL 300 monoblocks running Maggie 3a speakers. Had tried sub-100 watt amps, but the result was anemic. Plugged in the VTL and was wowed. Maggies love power.
sure are a lot of Pass lab lovers around these parts
Pass Labs X150.8 with MG1.7i speakers.
While "only" speced at 150wpc@8ohms, like all Pass amps, it's designed with a massive power supply and conservatively implemented output devices and has no issue with the power hungry low impedance of the 1.7i speakers.
With its high class A bias it runs very warm, but doesn't really get much warmer when driven to moderate levels (~70-75dB) that I normally listen with.
-Joe
They're not that big!
MG1.6 - Jeff Rowland #5, sweet and smooth
honorable mention: Adcom GFA 555, folks either hate em' or love em'. This was my first amp with the MG1.6's. The audio gods must have blessed me because at the time we were renting a house with a huge evening room. The imaging was spot on, dead center, head positioned exactly were it's supposed to be, no smearing, no Mr 'frylock effect' . It was a bit brite but a pair of Duelund resistors cured that effect. I would most likely NOT use the amp on the true ribbon simply because of that effect.LRS/Gunned MMG - Emotiva UPA-1, brute strength but refined, the 1K watt mono blocks gets them both going in 4th gear
MG20 - Quicksilver V4 200 watt mono's drove the top end beautifully, while the Emotiva's drove the bottom end like a tank
Current amp(s)
-Pair of PS Audio Stellar M700 Mono Block Amplifiers (700w)
-Halcro MC20 stereo amp (700)currently running the PS Audio's on my Apogee Duetta's with extremely satisfying sound.
Will then run the Halcro on the same.Will then run both (bi-amp'ed) on my MG20's most likely around the holidays timeframe.
Edits: 10/22/21 10/23/21
Berning BA 150 with Tympani 1-c.
Pass Labs 250.5,and now Int250.
Pass Labs XA160.5
I've had numerous amps through the years, but still haven't found a better sounding one.
Honorable mentions:
Sanders Magtech & ESL amps
Parasound JC-1
Anthem Amp2SE
Not 'used' - as in 'owned' ... but heard. :-))
Magtech.
Andy
Pass Labs X250.5 amp
Pass Labs XP20 preamp
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