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RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR

88.159.127.114

vandendungenmuziek@kpnplanet.nl

In Reply to: RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR posted by josh358 on March 14, 2023 at 05:04:11

Thanks a lot Josh.
The 0.5 sounds pretty good in my small room. 15 x 10 feet.
Yesterday I found a dealer who has a pair of 1.6 QS. They are taller.
He's gonna check them and placing new and better condensators. The price will be 800 dollar/euro. Garantee 1 year. We are gonn compair the two sets of speakers. And we are gonna try a few amps and compair with mine.
The dealer is enthousiast about tubes like Audio Research. But new to expensive for me.
Because I am a pro musician it's great I may try these things. At YouTube there is a man called Jay, who tell's what the best amps are for little Magnepans. He mentiones Hegel, Naim and ...... These amps deliver a lot of current, not Watt's.
I realise my amps Spectral DMC12 and Dynaco III are not the best for Magnepan. Maybe a valve pre amp and a solid state power amp would be better. Than I'm changing the whole stereo set. That's not impossible to do this year, starting with the 1.6 But what amplification would be the best. I can sell the old amps and one or two thousand dollar is not that a problem at the end of te year.
What is your advice?
Kind regards,
Wil
The Netherlands

Follow Ups:

RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR - FX35 12:59:58 03/16/23 (6)
Wow, after reading your post's it's obvious you have limited experience in the audio world, good choice to look here........ forget about Jay at YouTube, better still, forget YouTube totally for audio advice.

Lets just run through your questions / remarks.

"I have now a Spectral DMC12 and two valve mono blocks Dynaco Mark III."
The Spectral is a quality pre but due to age you could be looking at issues, you could let More Music(importer) take a look at it to be sure before making decisions. Sell the Dynaco's, not ideal for Maggies.

"My room is also rather small, about 4,5 x 3 meters (15 x 10 feet)."
It's small, but it can work, use the 1/3rd's rule for placement and seating, speaker's placed at the short wall. Diffusion at the front wall and absorption on the back, the 1.6's will be more challenging due to the higher bass output, European(dutch) housing consists of solid (brick, concrete) materials for wall's, floor's + ceiling's which reinforces bass output, your biggest problem will be taming bass in that room.

"So, will I need other amps?"
Yes

"a tube preamp and a solid state power amp?"
No, not necessarily.

"Will I need bigger Maggies for good bass?"
No, the ideal combination of room size with bass output levels is what you need, or do you think 20.7's would have good bass in that room?

"Can I place bigger ones in my small room?"
1.6's are the max in that room.

"We are gonn compair the two sets of speakers."
Don't bother, the 1.6's are superior to the 0.5's.

"we are gonna try a few amps and compair with mine."
In your room I hope?

"The dealer is enthousiast about tubes like Audio Research."
Yes, are'nt they all, especially if they sell them. Not in your budget range.... even used.

"it's great I may try these things"
Nothing great about it, any High-End dealer in Holland will grant you a home trial with whatever you are interested in.

"But what amplification would be the best."
With such a low budget you should be looking for a high quality used integrated or a high quality used stereo amp to match the Spectral.

" I can sell the old amps and one or two thousand dollar is not that a problem at the end of te year.
What is your advice?"
Sell all your amp's, insist on a home trial with the 1.6's, insist that the dealer bring's along a high quality amp, use the set-up as described above. Decide whether the 1'6's work in that room, if so, do your homework, take your time, visit dealers, search for a high quality used amp and take a few home to see if they work with 1.6's in that room.
- RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR - vandendungenmuziek@kpnplanet.nl 12:49:42 03/17/23 (5)
  Thanks for your reply.
  How did you get al that knowledge. Do we listen in the same way?
  
  The room: There are no bass problems slooping ceiling. Two technical friends have measured the place of the speakers and the listening chair, by sending out sweeps. Two sub-woofers gave no problems. Also a big Burmester speaker with large bass driver, gave no problem at all. So no worries about the room.
  
  I have listened two days now to the computer + Weiss dac en the sound is very good. But the volume must more than half open. So there must come also a bigger power amp. A decent amp costs 2000-3000 euro/dollar. A used one is no problem. It's a pitty to stop with the combination tube - solid state. A tube gives more the feeling the musicians are playing in the room. There is no solid state amp, who can do that. The bass will become better, but mid and high worse.
  
  So can you tell me which amp is the best choice?
  
  The following amps are the most mentioned for Magnepan;
  Parasound A21
  Bryston 4B3
  Hegel H90
  Wyred 4ST 500 mono
  Naim 50 watt's
  Jeff Rowland 125
  - RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR - FX35 15:33:29 03/17/23 (4)
    Considering we live in the same country I'll answer your questions through private mail, but I just have to respond to the comments..... "A tube gives more the feeling the musicians are playing in the room. There is no solid state amp, who can do that. The bass will become better, but mid and high worse". and......"The following amps are the most mentioned for Magnepan;"
    
    Never heard of Nelson Pass? If there's one amp that's most mentioned on this site it's definitely Pass, and I totally understand why, Pass amp's (especially the pure class A's) combine the virtues of a quality solid state with a house sound that leans towards what people find attractive in tubes. Add to that the beautiful design, built like a tank, no worries about tubes wearing out....... there is one minor drawback......... they don't come cheap.
    - RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR - vandendungenmuziek@kpnplanet.nl 23:08:28 03/17/23 (3)
      I cannot afford Pass Labs amps. So I always have to find equipment that is as close as possible. A well known reviewer in the Netherlands helped me choosing my amps. I have always likes their sound at my Millon speakers, but know with Magnepan they have a power problem. Is it possible to find a power amp that comes close? Otherwise I keep my amps and don't play loud.
      - RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR - Roger Gustavsson 01:56:39 03/18/23 (2)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR posted by vandendungenmuziek@kpnplanet.nl on March 17, 2023 at 23:08:28
        
        Wil wrote: "Will I need bigger Maggies for good bass? Can I place bigger ones in my small room?"
        
        You will need bigger Maggies for good bass.
        I have had Tympani IIIA (8 panels each 40 cm wide) in a small room, 3.8x3 m.
        It certainly depends on what you use that room for. Today, I have 3-series in a normal living room 5.15x4.11 m.
        
        RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR - FX35 06:16:15 03/18/23 (1)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR posted by Roger Gustavsson on March 18, 2023 at 01:56:39
        
        I'm sure you had Tympani's in a 3.8x3m room, but I doubt if you had good bass.
        
        That just opens the discussion as to what one would consider "good bass".
        
        RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR - Roger Gustavsson 06:32:34 03/18/23 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR posted by FX35 on March 18, 2023 at 06:16:15
        
        The was nothing bad with the bass in that room, flat to 30 Hz without boom. Also had them in a larger room 6x4 m but no gains in bass performance. Soundstaging improved in the larger room though. I am refering to a set of mechanicly modified Tympanis where the original baffles were replaced by my own design incl. cutting down the width of the tweeters in order to have the as close as possible to the mids. Soundstaging more like the Tympani IV (compared the two).
RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR - Roger Gustavsson 09:32:16 03/15/23 (1)
Wil wrote: "At YouTube there is a man called Jay, who tell's what the best amps are for little Magnepans. He mentiones Hegel, Naim and ...... These amps deliver a lot of current, not Watt's."

The amplifier will deliver voltage. Ohm's law is still valid! If your speaker is a 4 Ohm load, it will draw more current from the amplifier than a 8 Ohm load. In the case of a typical Magnepan speaker the impedance is almost resistive. That will keep the flow of current lower as the voltage and current is in phase. 400 W into 4 Ohm is 40 V and 10 A. 200 W into 4 Ohm is 28.3 V and 7 A.
- RE: Magnepan MG 0.5 QR - vandendungenmuziek@kpnplanet.nl 02:00:12 03/16/23 (0)
  Thanks for your explaination about current.

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