schmitty1,
Many Magnepan owners consistently state that they need a lot of wattage to sound their best and I agree.
I don't have the newer 1.7i but the older 2.7Qr. About 4 yrs ago, I switched from using a 400watts/ch at 4 ohms class AB stereo Aragon 4004MKII amp to using 1,200watt at 4 ohms class D mono-block D-Sonic M3-600-M amps. The midrange and treble performance was very good an similar on both but I noticed significantly improved bass response using the D-Sonic amps.
I was surprised not only by the increased bass output but also by its high quality which was accurate, taut, detailed but also smooth and natural. The bass wasn't as powerful as some cone speakers can produce but it was very high quality bass that very few cone speakers can match. The reason is that class D amps in general have much higher damping factors than other amp types. The higher the amp's damping factor, the more control it has on starting and stopping the bass transducer quickly, the woofer driver on cone speakers and the quasi-ribbon bass section on Magnepans.
The D-Sonic M3a-600-M mono-blocks, their latest version, are $2,150/pair new and less used if you can find a pair for sale. Here's a link:
https://www.d-sonic.com/products/mono/
Tim
Many Magnepan owners consistently state that they need a lot of wattage to sound their best and I agree.
I don't have the newer 1.7i but the older 2.7Qr. About 4 yrs ago, I switched from using a 400watts/ch at 4 ohms class AB stereo Aragon 4004MKII amp to using 1,200watt at 4 ohms class D mono-block D-Sonic M3-600-M amps. The midrange and treble performance was very good an similar on both but I noticed significantly improved bass response using the D-Sonic amps.
I was surprised not only by the increased bass output but also by its high quality which was accurate, taut, detailed but also smooth and natural. The bass wasn't as powerful as some cone speakers can produce but it was very high quality bass that very few cone speakers can match. The reason is that class D amps in general have much higher damping factors than other amp types. The higher the amp's damping factor, the more control it has on starting and stopping the bass transducer quickly, the woofer driver on cone speakers and the quasi-ribbon bass section on Magnepans.
The D-Sonic M3a-600-M mono-blocks, their latest version, are $2,150/pair new and less used if you can find a pair for sale. Here's a link:
https://www.d-sonic.com/products/mono/
Tim