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Best Amp with Magnepan 3.6's

Greetings - I currently own a pair of Magnepan 3.6's and am looking for any suggestions on an amp that would help me get the volume/sound I am missing.
My current systems is as follows:
Magnepan 3.6's
Rotel 1057 preamp
Rotel 1080 (200x2) amp
NAD 525BEE CD player
JL audio F110 sub
Transparent interconnects, and cables
As you can imagine I am not getting near the volume I would expect out of these 3.6's because of the limited power of my Rotel amp. I have researched different amplifiers and have it narrowed down to 2 (although I'm still open to suggestions). I've been looking into a Bryston 4B SST or a McIntosh MC402.
I would greatly appreciate any input or suggestions you may have. Thanks in advance.
gbowman11
magnumpi205
504 posts
 
Have Wyred and Bel Canto. Both are great, with the Wyred sounding better an being a much better value.
travis's avatar
travis
239 posts
 
When I owned 3.6s, I used the Innersound ESL-300, good sounding and plenty of power (600WPC @ 4 ohms). Still got the amp. Can be had used for 1500-2000. Roger Sanders, the designer, supports the amp at Sanders Sound Systems.
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
I just auditioned a new pair of 3.6's with the vertical crossovers, and with both the Bryston 4B-SST*2 and a McIntosh.
The 3.6's with the all Bryston were astonishing. I was very happy with the quality of the sound, The lows. mids were a quantum jump better in speed, clarity, hearing stuff I never heard before on well known CDs.. and only the treble was not better than my current system (Forte' 4a amp, Audio Research SP-15 and B&W 805s speakers)
I am a treble freak, so that the 3.6 with the Bryston was 'as good' was pretty good.
As for the all McIntosh with the 3.6... All I can say is it was very disapointing. All the midrange magic (slam, speed, clarity) I could hear with the Bryston stuff, was missing with the McIntosh. The McIntosh was inferior in every way as far as the quality of the music compared to the Bryston.
I do wish I could hear the 3.6's with some other amps.. but the Bryston and McIntosh were in the dealers showroom with the Maggies.. But I would like to hear the 3.6 with some other amps.. Bel Cantos would be a good audition.. but no maggie/ Bel canto dealers...
jrinkerptdnet
426 posts
 
friend of mine operated 3.6's with a Classe CA-400 with excellent results. Used a Melos SHA Gold preamp and Theta front end
gbowman11 OP
3 posts
 
Thanks for the info Elizabeth, you confirmed what I have heard from others and I am definitely leaning towards the Bryston, but now its between the 4b sst and the 14b sst. Not sure if the 4b sst would give me enough power. Seems to be almost double the price (here on the Gon), and I don't know how much different the sound will be or how much more volume/base I would be able to pull out of the 14b sst that I wouldn't get from the 4b sst.
I really appreciate everyone’s input... thanks.
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