AudiogoN Forums: Magnepan, How Low Can You Go...power-wise

Magnepan, How Low Can You Go...power-wise

Hi Guys,

I have used a pair of Maggie 1.6s with a little Naim Nait5i (50wpc) and they sounded ok. I hear a lot of people saying you really need 250wpc to make them sing. I have the opportunity to buy a pair of Maggie 3.6s very cheap in another country where I spend some months each year. I was hoping my Simaudio i7 at 150wpc would be enough power for these. Magnepan won't answer this question firmly - what do you think ?

Thomastrouble (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

12-07-09

Responses (1-36 of 36)

Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

12-07-09 As long as you aren't trying to achieve concert level sound ... Mofimadness

12-07-09 The more power you put into magnepan the better they sound. ... Lak

12-07-09 I drove maggies with a 50 wpc nad and the sound was quite ni ... Drdennis

12-07-09 Electrostatic speakers generally sound better with more powe ... Nick778

12-07-09 Nick778, magnepans are not electrostatic speakers. they ar ... Mofimadness

12-07-09 If you have the means...you should try quality tube amps. b ... Kichoi

12-07-09 How low is your listening level? i have 3.6r's and have used ... Dusty

12-07-09 More is better, my experience with maggie 3.6r's was that th ... Macdadtexas

12-08-09 Thomastrouble, it depends on how loud you listen. audiogon ... Audiokinesis

12-08-09 I would be interested in running these with the glow audio t ... Mst

12-09-09 Thanks for all the input guys. yes, i realize that more powe ... Thomastrouble

12-09-09 The guy that ran the magnaplar user's group over on audioasy ... Atmasphere

12-09-09 Personal experience: i am running 1.6qr's with a sunfire am ... Nissancrazy

12-09-09 Nick778's answer is interesting but simply doesn't apply to ... Magfan

12-09-09 Size on a plane the issue? try the small integrated from be ... Magfan

12-09-09 Just hopping on here to thank you guys for the input so far ... Thomastrouble

12-10-09 Thomastrouble, in follow up please don't misunderstand my p ... Nissancrazy

12-10-09 When magnepan shows their speakers now they use bryston amps ... Macdadtexas

12-10-09 Nissancrazy thankyou. when you say 150 - 200w will run magn ... Thomastrouble

12-11-09 Thomastrouble, again my personal feelings here tell me th ... Nissancrazy

12-11-09 be careful underpowering the 3.6s. you're more likely to to ... Emil

12-11-09 Well, the maple-wood guy claims his modified small tube inte ... Pryso

12-11-09 Thomastrouble, i can tell you from much experience, that yes ... Macdadtexas

12-11-09 Thanks guys. macdadtexas, thanks for the input. i realize t ... Thomastrouble

12-12-09 Thomastrouble, assuming that you are going to double the po ... Nissancrazy

12-18-09 Yes, the simaudio 150wpc amplifier will drive them well and ... Tef8568

12-19-09 In terms of bang for the buck, the $1200 nad intergrated rev ... Drdennis

12-19-09 I keep being amazed by the responses to this. i want to kno ... Macdadtexas

12-19-09 I have never owned them, but have sold them here in pa. magg ... Tef8568

12-19-09 More power is better, but - if he powers them with the sim a ... Sebrof

12-20-09 Sebrof is correct. but the op also asks at some point if he ... Robr45

01-03-10 In my experience, 300 wpc was enough to play lawrence welk a ... Fruff1976

01-05-10 Hi, i own 1.6s. 150 watts is not even really enough for the ... Dordevic

01-06-10 I just looked at the stereophile measurement panel of the si ... Magfan

01-07-10: Thomastrouble
Thanks Magfan, though I am a little confused with your answer. Are you saying the Sim will give me 200 -250 watts at 4 ohms and that is ok? I think that is the gist of what you mean. The other thing to remember is the Sim will be running 3.6 Maggies as opposed to my 1.6s and I guess they would take more power to drive.
Thomastrouble (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

01-08-10 As near as i can figure, based on your original post of bein ... Magfan