Maggie 3.6 amplification concern

maggies really are just fantastic speakers, but it's true that they require ungodly amounts of power to produce their magic.

they'll play with less, but it would be doing them a disservice. they're terribly inefficient.

i would try out many high-powered ss amps, there's bound to be one that you really like.

you've got some wonderful speakers there, be sure you give 'em what they want and you'll be astounded. 3.6's are really, really great.

aj,

You can get a pic and a brief description of the Z-man ASE (analog signal enhancer) at the following link: http://www.hometeam.com/ehonline/newsprod.9804.shtml

It used to sell for $200 or thereabouts, but I'm not sure whether or not it is currently being made. I see used ones pop up now and then, which seem to be going for $100 to $120, which in my view makes them one of the greatest bargains in audio today. The Musical Fidelity X-10D is a similar unit, though I believe the Z-man has a slight performance edge and has a good internal power supply instead of a wall wart type. It uses a single 12AX7 tube as opposed to two 6922s in the X-10D. In addition to providing tube-like sonic qualities, these units provide a better impedance match between the source and the preamp or amplifier.

thanks, Plato, it sounds like this is used to "boost" the signal over long distance between amp and speaker. I am not sure I am understanding how it could "improve" the sonic qualities. still early in the morning, I guess. -aj

I cut my audiophile teeth on Maggies 12 years ago and have been all over the map with amps. I have had over 20 different amps in my various systems with the last 2 being a VAC 70/70 and VTL MB250 mono's into the 1.6's. As far as the comments on the Maggies needing power, belive it. I had a Pass x250 I was trying out that was getting its' meter tagged by the stop when bass notes played. After a while I just gave up, sold my gear, except the speakers and cables, to buy a new Harley Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic.

I know the 1.6's have that special sound. The 3.6's I heard even better. I decided that I was not going to get hung up when I bought gear to get the Maggies going again. What I ended up with was what I wished could have happened to begin with. I have thrown a lot of money at this audio bane in the past. I bought a Polyfusion 960 amp, 200 WPC 8 ohm. The rig has mosfets, LED VU meters, and a whopping 360,000 microfarads of capacitance. The build quality on this thing is fantastic. While it doesn't quite have the bloom of the tube rigs, there is nothing more that I want for. And having a meter again is a useful feature. It has a switch to shut it off also. The looks of this thing is great too. The company doesn't depend on audiophile gear for its' revenue. The owners just wanted to make something they wanted that no one else was providing. They are not going to go out of business if amps don't sell. Check out the website through the manufacturer list on AudiogoN.

One more note-the bipolar solid state amps I tried had sparkle and great clarity but lacked the depth. The Polyfusion gives me the depth with great image density, body, and color. I lose nothing on female recordings.

Cheers

As an owner of the MG 3.6R, I will throw my 2cents in. I currently use a McCormack DNA .5 Rev A (200 watts @ 4 ohms) to drive mine. I also have a pair of Vandersteen 2Wq subwoofers to handle the bass below 50hz. My dealer was out last week fine tuning the subs and he said that although the amp is not running out of power or losing control of the panels, I can increase the dynamics of the speakers by adding a second amp in a vertical bi-amp setup. In my setup, this will produce a bigger change than adding a larger single amp or mono blocks. Just MHO.