Tube-amp for Magnepan?


Hi.I have currently tested Audio Research VT60 with my old Maggies (MG2A),
It seems that the 50w is too weak in power.I experienced a lot of distortion already at "10 oclock"-position on the preamp.(could there be something wrong with the tubes?) At low volumes it sounded fantastic!
The 4ohm connection was a lot worse than 8ohm.The Maggies are 6 ohms...
A friend suggested either a VT100 from AR or maybye Mcintosh 275.The latter is more in my budget..I currenty run a Papworth MIA200 ,200W solid state-quite good but a bit boring.I really want to test out tubes!Have anyone any recomandations?
efuglset

Showing 1 response by frogman

I lived with a pair of highly modified MG IIIA's for many years, and tried many different amps with them, both ss and tubed. I always returned to tubes, and settled on Manley 200's, which I use to this day (with different speakers). For me, the issue was always one of excessive leanness with ss amps. Only tubes would make the speakers sound dimensional enough, and with enough fullness to sound realistic. But when they did, they sounded glorious. The other issue was that ss amps, regardless of pedigree, made worse the Maggie's main flaw (for me). That is, the obvious discontinuity between the ribbon tweeter, and the planar midrange. With ss, the ribbon's superior speed and resolution was laid bare, and became an annoyance. With tubes, there was much better integration of the two different frequency ranges. I always preferred the handling of dynamics with tubes.

MG II's don't have a ribbon tweeter, so continuity between tweeter and mid will be, in theory, better. A good modern ss amp might give you a needed sense of clarity in the very top end, but I doubt that you will be able to get the kind of dimensionality that a good tube amp will. My Manley's put out 100 watts in triode, and it was pleny of power. Good luck.