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Hi all. I am hoping to get some good advice here. I need a 'value-driven' tubed integrated amp at this price point ($750) or
under to drive my Magnepan MMG's (4 ohms) at a moderate level.
I primarily listen to acoustic or lighter music (neo-flamenco guitar, classic and contemporary Jazz, World beat music, New age, foreign (Greek, Italian, Latin), some classical, and at times, but less often, alternative or classic/hard rock. I am not too concerned with bass slam as much as I am with liquidity, detail, soundstage, timbral accuracy, etc. The reason I want to go tubes is because my father has a classic Fisher 500C tubed receiver from the 60's (with original Telefunken tubes!), whose sound mesmerizes me whenever I go over and visit him (oftentimes, I ask him if I can 'use' his setup to listen)!! I have finally decided that perhaps I should go with tubes before life passes me by! What are the contenders at this price point? I was looking at 'Antique Sound Labs' webpage, and they have an integrated tube amp called the MGSi15DT for around $750 U.S., or their AQ1003DT for $829 U.S., and of course Jolida has the 102B for $550 and their 202A for $725. Is there a quality/sound difference between the ASL's and the Jolida's? Should I be looking at something else? Would the bargain priced 102B do the job? Incidentally, my source is digital (HDCD/CD). I am going NUTS trying to decide! HELP!!!!
Follow Ups:
There's a Conrad Johnson MV 75A amp for sale right now on Audiogon for $475 which is a helluva price for a 75 wpc stereo tube amp. Add a stock Bottlehead Foreplay for $149 and you've got a helluva tube setup for your MMG's. The foreplay is an awesome preamp for the $ and comes with a whole list of upgrades available, all at moderate prices. The Conrad-Johnson is a classic tube amp with more than enough tube power to make MMG's sing.
My 2 cents.
steve
That is a hell of a good price on a Connie J. amp. If I wasn't happy with what I have, I would buy it myself. Should be great with the maggie mmg.
An Electronic Tonalities Foreplay preamp and a Dynaco st70 would be very hard to beat for Maggies at several times the cost. I have Maggies and a fair sized amp colection both tubed and SS and the dyna is a maggie match made in heavan. I used an audible Illusions pre with my Dyna and MG 1.5s on top with subs/crossed with Paradigm x-10 and Rotel monos on the bass and it was awesome. TC
The ST-70 can drive the MMG in a small to moderately sized room.Best,
Ross
i have the asl 1003dt, i compared it to the jolidas and prefered
it by far. i have heard stories about jolidas quality being spotty at times. i've had the asl for almost a year, and have had no trouble at all. i love it, it sounds great with my jm lab chorus 706.
the thing i would be concerned about is would a lowered powered tube amp drive your maggies, i have not had any experience with planar speakers, but i know the are harder to drive. i'm sure someone here would be able to adress that issue.
again, the asl 1003dt is a great unit, well worth the money!!
Ideally, you should audition one or more of your possible choices with the MMGs first. This is a good idea in any case, but especially with these speakers. If possible..I recommended the MMGs to a friend based on their good reviews and have been trying to match components to them for best sound. They really seem to need a lot of power(83dB/W sensitivity). I would say to forget any amplifier under 50W probably. A 40W tube amp sounded compressed/undynamic with these speakers. A 25W SS amp would start to clip pretty early on w/ rock type music. Acoustic music did better but was not as dynamic as I prefer. I'm looking into something like a 200+W SS power amp and tube pre for it now.
This was with a pretty large room, though, YMMV. Just a warning about this because all the amps you list are less than 50W I believe.
nt
asdf
How big is your room and what do you have now? -jd
Currently, I am running an old but classic mint condition Pioneer SX-780 receiver from the late 70's (drives 4 ohms easily, which not many mass produced receivers these days can). A nice, decently constructed piece to be exact, and it drives the Maggies quite well, but it sounds uninvolving. The finals are 'Darlington Power Packs', which are not too musical. BUT, again, I want to enter the world of tubes (being my father's Fisher 500C has me hooked!), but I am not sure what would be a cost-effective match for the MMG's. Incidentally, my Pioneer is only 40 watts per channel, yet they drive the MMG's just fine, and at very ample volumes with decent dynamics. Which would lead me to believe that even Jolida's cheapest unit would sound great, as long as I don't play at loud volumes. Unfortunately, I cannot audition any equipment though. Who (what retailer) would lend (read: ship) their equipment out so I could 'test' it? To my knowledge, not many. Maybe I should just seek out a used Fisher 500C on eBay!
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