Magnepan 1.7s in a 10x13' dedicated room?

06-22-15: Rodman99999You still are trying to figure your power
requirements on a linear scale.

No I'm not, and the 10dB scale and the 3dB scale are not in conflict. It's not
an either/or situation. There are two common ways of looking at amp
power output vs. perceived loudness, and BOTH are logarithmic.

One scale looks at 3dB increases in SPL vs. doubling amp output. That's the
scale I'm using:

1w to produce 95dB
2w to produce 98dB
4w to produce 101dB
8w to produce 104 dB
16w to produce 107dB
32w to produce 110 dB

A doubling of power for a small linear increase IS a logarithmic relationship.

The other scale looks at 10dB increase in SPL (subjective perceived doubling
of loudness) requiring a tenfold output in amplifier power.

In that case, you'd have:
1w to produce 95dB
10w to produce 105dB
100w to produce 115dB.

Galen Carol starts with the 3dB/double the power scale and shifts after two
increments to the 10dB/10x the power ratio, but they're still both
expressions of the same logarithmic relationship between SPLs and the
power required to increase them.

By the 3dB/double the power scale, you need an eightfold increase of power
to see a 9dB increase in SPL. That's not all that different from a tenfold
increase of power to see a 10dB increase.

I'm only claiming a 15dB increase in SPL for a 32-fold increase in power
output. Search the web anywhere; in just about any discussion of amp output vs. speaker output in dB you'll see both relationships given time
after time: double the power for every additional 3dB, or ten times the power
for 10dB additional loudness.

My view is the Maggie 1.7 will not work very well in a small room or paired with a 35 watt tube amp. They are great but not in the wrong room or with the wrong amp. They will play OK under those circumstances but in my opinion you would be far, far better off with another choice. They need room and substantial current from the amp to play correctly. That is my view anyway. Good luck.

@Linesource- My present situation requires a listening room quite similar to yours(12 X 13). My listening tastes lean more to realistic SPLs, however. Even at lower listening levels; the room was easily overloaded by reverberation/slap echo, and sounded terrible before treatment. I believe anyone in the know agrees that rooms do not/can not add anything beneficial to what your system is reproducing. I've been using Maggies(SMG, MMG and MG12) in this room, for the past couple decades. The frequencies below 250Hz are actively crossed over(and DSP corrected) to a solid state amp(400WPC) and a pair of transmission line woofers. The rest to a pair of Cary SLM-100s and the Maggies. About 12 years ago; I tried a Cary Rocket 88(40WPC/Ultralinear) in the system. Even without having to reproduce the octaves below Middle C, the Rocket 88 ran out of steam at very moderate listening levels(Jazz/Blues). With a 35WPC tube amp, reproducing the full musical spectrum; you CAN listen to music, but- don't expect much in the way of dynamics. With Maggies in a small room; a good treatment configuration is Auralex behind the listening position(mine is from 3Ft above the floor, to the ceiling/LENRDs in the corners) and a couple foam dispersion panels, on the wall, behind the Maggies. As beamy as they are; I haven't found any problem from side wall or ceiling reflections(panels placed on the long end of the room, 18" from side walls/32" from back, tweeters on the outside and my listening position: 24" from the back wall). That provides kind of a near-field experience, but with the right choice of components(cables/tubes/sources & source material), I'm enjoying a soundstage that extends beyond the walls, and with excellent imaging. I've thought about trying the 1.7, but- it occurs to me, given that everything in the lower part of the spectrum is handled by the woofers; the new Maggie .7 might be a better choice for my room(and, perhaps yours, if prominent bass isn't an issue). By all means: try a pair of Maggies, with your tube amp and see if you can reach an SPL that satisfies you. Experimentation is a huge part of the enjoyment in this hobby(and/or profession). Post your results, please!

@Linesource- Consider: (http://www.cnet.com/news/new-sensations-the-radically-different-magnepan-7-speakers/) (http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/magnepan-7-loudspeaker/)

Pc123v, I used an 18 watt tube amp in my 12x12 room with the MG12s setup in a diagonal configuration and had no problem at normal listening levels.

A loud level for me is anything over 80db when measured approximately 8 feet from the speakers. Normal listening for me is 68-75 db. These figures quoted for 105-110 db are irrelevant to me. First off I won't subject my 60-year-old ears to those levels and secondly, a small room can't handle that kind of sound pressure. It just won't sound good.

When I sold the Maggies I demoed them for a local buyer with both a 100 watt ss amp and the 18 watt tube amp. They performed well with both.