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Maggie 3.6 amplification concern

I realize there has been several threads about amps for 3.6's but most everyone insists that you need high power solid state. I am curious if anyone has tried less power? I am thinking of using 120 watt tubed mono's and others feel that you need 500 watts minimum to make them come to life. I would really prefer to stick with tubes, and I don't paricularlly care for some of the high wattage solid state amps that are out there. I just can't imagine that the BAT vk-60 mono's won't drive them well, I could be wrong though. Would it be better to get a slightly less quality amp with more power(i.e. bryston 14b-sst)? Any thoughts would be great, but please only if you have experience with more then just the amp you own. Thanks in advance for any help.
tireguy
tireguy OP
1,964 posts
 
Jim_k What active cross over did you end up using? I am using a VK-500 right now and am pleased but would like more body/texture from the system- which I have only heard from tube amps. I am seriously thinking of using the Wolcott's but am unsure if that will satisfy me.
cjlundgren
27 posts
 
I am currently using a pair of Maggie 3.5R's driven by a pair of conrad-johnson premier 12 mono's (140WPC - bi-wired) and conrad-johnson premier 17LS preamp. This setup sounds wonderful - great bass, air, and resolution. I previously was using a conrad johnson MF2300 MOSFET power amp (240WPC). While the tube preamp/solid state amp setup sounded good, the all tube setup, to my ears, sounds much better all the way around. Probably the most important thing with Maggies is having the right size room (BIG) to set them up in to listen to the magic that they are capable of producing. Good Luck.
sangel
9 posts
 
ANY GOOD ACTIVE X-OVER FOR THE MAGGIES 3.6!!!!!

THANKS

SANGEL

PS:MY SYSTEM ST UP CONSISTS OF,

SOURCE: PHILIPS DV9000 DVD (AS TRANSPORT) + BENCHMARK DAC1 (CONVERTER)
PREAMP: PS AUDIO PCA-2 + HCPS
POWER AMP: THETA DREAD II (4 CHANNELS X 450 W/C/8 OHM)
SPEAKERS: MAGNEPAN 3.6/R
WIRING: DIY - SOLID SILVER WIRES/TEFLON+WBT+NEUTRIC - ALL IN FULL BALANCED CONFIGURATION
douglas_schroeder
1,824 posts
 
I gave up my Maggie 1.6's for something better, Eminent Technology LFT-8A's. No comparison in overall quality of sound. They actually made the Maggies seem lifeless. Within five minutes of hearing the Eminents, I knew the Maggies were gone. No regrets,ever.
Both speakers, however benefitted greatly from virtical biamping.
At one point I had a Threshold T-50 (50 watts class A) on the Maggies. Thought that sounded beautiful. I read posts that insisted that power is what they need. So, I had an Outlaw multichannel amp (200wpc) I was using for surround. Tried biamping with it. Woa! Amazing improvement from a decidedly mid-fi amp. You dont' need to break the bank to get great sound. I'm sure, however, that you would realize even nicer improvements in a higher end biamping setup.

Currently, I'm running 'stacked' (twin pairs) of Eminents as main speaker. About 1,400 watts total going into all four. Twin Vandersteen subs for bass. Trust me, the power does make a world of difference. Let's say this; a Chevy and a Lexus both do 60mp. But the experience dirving them is quite different. Similarly, a 50 watt amp and a 200watt biamp will both give you nice sound, but your experience hearing them will be quite different. I believe that once you hear it, you won't want to go back.
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