Budget AV Receiver with Magnepan

Hehe don't worry Ekobesky, I'm not scared :) I couldn't pass on the Rotel, and some day I might just try an outboard amp... but for now I think I'll see how it all sounds. I think I'll be pretty happy compared to my little Denon. I think everybody has very valid points, they're just from different perspectives. There's plenty of time in the future for me to go down the 'slippery slope' - I'm just taking 'baby steps' right now.

Oh and one last question - I have decided to go the route of having two MMG-W's flanking my flat panel instead of one center channel above or below the screen. It's sleeker and I hear it works pretty well - only caveat is I will be driving two 5 ohm speakers with one channel. That's supposedly a nominal 2.5 ohms in parallel, or 10 ohms in serial (and if in serial I'm not sure how one speaker will affect the other). I know the MMG-W's in particular have a pretty flat impedance curve (no crossovers). Anyone have recommendations on how to handle this? Should I wire in parallel and adjust the center channel down to match the others? I plan to call Magnepan but I thought I'd throw it out here first.

Thanks!

Brad

"...My receiver displayed no signs of distress during the auditioning; I’m confident that if your receiver puts out enough current, you shouldn’t have any problems." (Ekobesky)

Yeah there's simply no doubt that the receiver WILL MAKE THE MAGGIES PLAY SOUND. I have no doubt of that.
However just listen to the tone of your comments, regarding how there's simply "no signs of disstress", it will put out "enough", etc!
For the record, i'm not saying he won't get enjoyment out of the system. Maybe he will. However, FOR A FACT, you will not be getting even 50% off the performance that's capable, with only a little extra help in the system! That's all I'm saying.
I would say, if someones simply trying to get the speakers to play volume up to a certain point, than just plug a boom box into the speakers!!!
Like I said, it's a matter of Honda vs. Porsche. And, in this case, for very little money, you can get much closer to the Porsche's performance, if you want it. It all comes down to CHOICES here. Actions and consequences/results.
All I'm trying to do is offer a little informed education, and some suggestions on how to PROPERLY DRIVE those speakers! I know, I've dealt with them and installed them, for years now!- if that helps you.
Simply stating that you could HEAR NO SIGNS OF DISTRESS, does nothing for me as an audiophile who would rather be hearing ACCURATED, DYNAMIC, CONTROLLED, WELL DEFINTED, SOLID, IMPACTFUL, REALISTIC, FULLBODIED SOUND! -even if that' means low volume level, casual listening.
Not making a deal of it - not at all. But if you are interested in the same level of flat, un-dynamic, un-realistic, blasse, "nothing special sound", than I suggest just getting any recevier that will simply put out "ENOUGH" power to make sound through the system!
Again, if you're buying Maggies, you're obviously after SOUND QUALITY! I say, why feed it 87 octane, junk gas, when you can fill it with 112 octane, racing fule, for a few nearly the same money?! The performance level will EASILY BE 100% BETTER!!!! Otherwise, don't have your friends all over, and say to them "listen to my system...isn't it great sounding?!" Because you're not going to impress anyone. Of that, I garantee it! Been there, heard that - basically.
If this extra level of sound quality doesn't matter, I say, why even bother? Just get home theater in a box...I say.
I mean, if someone's going out of their way to educate themselves enough to "hunt down" Maggies in the first place, then they obviously care about performance and sound quality -or at least it matters to some significant degree, agreed?
So I say why are you falling short on the end that needs the most help, the amplification?!
I guess I speak from years of selling, auditioning, using, and installing even the biggest Denon AVR5800 level receivers, and knowing what they DON'T DO, compared to even modest separates systems! I would ANY DAY, buy some small, otherwise clean sounding processor, and add a modest, used, $300-500 multi-channel amp on the market, before I ever plunked down thousands for an otherwise sonically compromised receiver! But that's just me.
All I'm saying is that you should DEFINITELY give an outboard amp a try in your system. My guess is that you'll never go back! There's simply that much more performance to be had, with little effort.
So, for the record, what others here are suggesting, and what you are obviously agreeing with, is that "enough", is good enough for your otherwise VERY INEFFICIENT speakers, which will be STARVING FOR MORE POWER, to otherwise "play right"!
So, just be informed that you have more options, and likely advantages than what you're getting. And I say this from someone who's worked in and around high end audio since the early 80's! In short, I know my audio.
Hope this helps. And, no I'm not offended. Just trying to help you CLEARLLY SEE THE OPTIONS, so you can make your best decisions. Otherwise, we are all just talking to kill time here

I didn't say "no signs of distress." A reviewer did. And Magnepan chose to display that quote prominently on their website. Because they know that asking someone to drive $949 worth of speakers with $9,000 worth of amplification is insane.

And as for your "Honda vs. Porsche" analogy...you've got it backwards. The particular Maggies he's buying are Hondas, not Porsches.

Iplaynaked - don't worry, I understand everything you're saying. I'm not an experienced audiophile, and I like wine that some would say is not very good. I even drink Budweiser every once in a while :) I think you're maybe making some very broad statements though - the Rotel 1065 is a receiver yes... but I tend to think it's a wee bit more on the side of a pre-pro/amp combo than a mass market machine with big watt numbers to 'look' impressive. A compromise? Sure, but isn't everything? You could argue that a 'cheap' B&K Rotel pre-pro/amp combo is 'inadequate'. That's where the slippery slope starts, and I'm trying to avoid it as much as possible. On my budget, I'm willing to accept compromise. Home theater in a box? C'mon now. I tend to think of the Rotel as a BMW 328i. Not as fast as a Porsche, but a great all-rounder and plent fast enough for me! I am an avid Porsche/BMW fanatic and participate in local track events, karting, have done spec miata events, etc. If you put 112 octane in a car that's not designed for it, it will do no good at all. The baby maggies are bass limited so without a doubt they are easier to drive than the big sisters - so they take 93 AKI instead of 87, but the Rotel is no lo-test unit in my book. How's that for analogy?

Anyway your input is definitely appreciated - and at this point is all academic as I plan to play with the receiver for a while by itself before thinking about upgrading.

Cheers,

Brad

Yeah, it's really just choices. I'm just killing time like the rest here, inputting for conversation sake. However, the points are worth considering - if not now, down the line, after you've added an amp, and tallied the total.
As for the $9000 amplification remark from Ekobesky, I wasn't suggesting anywhere near $9k. For $300, you can find a Rotel, Parasound, or Adcom 5 channel amp on the net, now and then, that will smoke a $2500 receivers amplification, for all practical purposes. YOU BET!! I encourage anyone to try using their receiver's "pre-outs" with an outboard amp sometime to compare!
And, as for the "reviewer making the statements about the adequacy of the receiver to simply drive the maggies. Well I think it would be rather irresponsible of him to say otherwise! First, receivers drive (no pun) the market when it comes to AV equipment sales! So, I think it was wise to say, "yes, a receiver can drive these speakers, sure."
However, magazine reviewers are motivated by many factors. I NEVER EVER lean on what a reviewer says as "Gods spoken truth", however. There are simply too many agenda's for magazines to shine good light on products, or to make statements that skew opinions in one direction or another, for many reasons - and one of these is money!
There have been dozens of audio/video products alone over the years, that have gotten "Class A" or "State of the art" ratings from magazines that they really didn't deserve, in my experienced opinion - only to see the same products slip down the rating scale later on, as they were going out of productions. Infact, I can think of several large scale company products right now, that always have 3, 4, even 5 or more pages of advertising in the "rags", that ALWAYS get ratings that put their products at the top of the ratings classes! You do the math. And we're most always talking about mid-fi products here - where all the money is, basically.
So, just because some magazine says "it's the best there is...go down and buy it today!", doesn't mean squat to an experienced audio guy like myself. We know how to make good soun - and that doesn't mean going down to the local AV store, and buying that top rated receiver, speakers and sub, hooking it all up, and expecting audiophile nirvana, that will blow your friends minds! - doesn't work that way folks. Sorry