New to Magnepan, a volume question


Hello, new to Audiogon and Magnepan both.  I just acquired a pair of used MMG's and I'm really enjoying them, especially on certain types of music; acoustic jazz, vocal, and small to mid scale classical.  My problem with them is that I run out of volume knob with my current set up.  It is:  Schitt Saga preamp and Adcom GFA-555 amp.  The Saga is basically a passive preamp, it doesn't add any gain to the signal, and though I love the sound, full volume with this pairing gets me to just below an average listening level, no where to go when I want to push the envelope.  Will I get to higher SPL's using the passive with more wattage as long as the amp is a high current design?  The amps I'm considering are McCormick DNA-500, Bryston 7B ST or SST, and Bel Canto REF600 or REF1000 if I can find them.  I'm looking to build a better power amp foundation for the system of the future, as I can see now I may very well be heading toward larger Magnepans or electrostatic speakers in time.  I have a other preamps that will add gain, but they don't sound as good as the Schitt, and do push the Adcom to flashing lights when I get closer to where I want to be volume-wise.  Looks to me like the Adcom, as much as I have loved it, doesn't cut the mustard with 4 ohm loads.  I have heard that Bryston is a natural match for Magnepans, and also the they sound somewhat dull or flat.  Good reviews from users for the McCormick, and yes and no about class D amps (the Bel Cantos) with Magnepans.  I admit, I'm all at sea...  Any advice appreciated.
dprincipato

Showing 2 responses by georgehifi

dprincipato


Specs taken from HiFi Classic test: "The GFA-555 required an input of 0.13 volt for a 1-watt!! reference output" (Very very low gain)

The old war horse 555 is very low gain at only 130mV for a 1volt output. Which is: with a 2v source and a passive at full level, the 555, can only reach 16v!!! to the speakers

You either need a very high gain preamp, or seeing the Adcom is very old now you may want to get another amp, which most will have much higher gain than this old 555 more like 1.5v for full output (not 1v) and your source and passive will be fine then.

Cheers George
kalali
0.130 volt input

No Kalali read a bit closer, the specs on the MkI I got from the net (if right) said with .130v (130mV) input and it gave out only 1v from it’s outputs, that's a voltage gain of 7.6 times.

Cheers George