Tube amp selection- for Magnepan 1.6QR

I have owned Maggies since 93 and am now with the 3.6. I have tried other brands but IMO none match the soundstage/imaging. I then added tube amps and gained incredible depth to the soundstage. ARC Pre, Rhea phono, and Manley 250 mono's. I also have added a Vandersteen sub when I want slam. I then operate the amps in triode mode which is 100 watts. I have a decent listening area with the speakers placed 7' from the rear wall and 5' from the side wall. I chose the Manley's because of power which the Maggies need, then budget. Other amps in their class at the time were ARC, and VTL. Rougue also had a 150W tube mono's at the time for considerably less. Subsequent research revealed that the 3.6 was the "bench spkr" for the Manley amps at the time. I believe however that you may require more power than some of your examples offer. I hope this is helpful for you and enjoy your search.

Cary 805c and maggie 1.5 and 3.5 didn't work in my big room nor my small one. The output impedance of the Cary is too high and resulted in a severe lack of dynamics

VTL tiny triodes with my MMG's...you would think not possible. But it is possible. Maybe not quite enough amps realistically, but the pairing is great. Cheers

Bob_reynolds, how the ZEROs work is they place the impedance high enough that the peak will not result in additional tube power- it will result in less.

This guy (David) is the Magnapan and tube nutball. His demo room is incredibly reflective but I've never heard Maggies sound better, and I don't even like Magnapan. The last time I was in there he had some 2,0's facing each other or facing the side walls (I can't remember) perpendicular to the back wall. He had Linium drivers mounted on the top corner of the Maggies facing outward. Powered by some VTL amps and a VAC preamp. The sound was so impressive I was seriously rethinking my entire system on the way home.

http://www.stereounlimited.com/

I've had different Maggie models over the years and have found that they usually work much better with SS amplification. I think there may be some tube amps out there that may work well, like the big ARC stuff, but at a pretty high cost. One of the best sounds I ever got with 1.6's was with a tube preamp (Audible Illusions) and ICE based power (Bel Canto). The Bel Canto had incredible control over the spekers and fantastic timbral accuracy... Good luck with your search!

The Maggies are easy to drive if you have a set of ZEROs.

http://www.zeroimpedance.com

We have a good number of customers driving them with our M-60s, using the ZEROs to deal with the impedance (otherwise the speaker has reasonable efficiency and a benign impedance curve). The combination works quite well!

Bob_reynolds, if I'm reading those specs right, it doesn't seem like the 1.6 is ideally suited for most tube amps. Just seems like you need a lot of power and current to drive them well, they just seem better suited for SS. Of cousre, there is theory and then listening. They certainly have been matched with ARC amps since the early days.

I sold the Bryston for financial reasons a few months ago. Now, I'm back in the market trying to find a replacement. The Bryston did a fine job of driving the Maggies and they sounded sublime in my listening room. I guess I'm just curious about what an all tube system would sound like. Might just have to try a few out and see how I like it. Thanks for the input! N

The Jadis unfortunately is one of the least refined sounding amp from the Jadis lineup.
How about a pair of EAR890 Bridged?

I thought that Audio Research and Magnepan were usually a pretty good match. They seem to do a lot of shows together, at least in the past.

I had the VTL MB250's driving my 1.6s. I had a Copland preamp in front of it. The MB250s are triode-operated amps so I had the sweetness of triodes along with authority. That system had a lot of dig to it with the bass and pacing it gave the music.

IMHO, none of the three amps listed are good match for the 1.6. But if you have to pick one, I will pick the Jadis for it delivers a bit more current than the other two. My second choice will be the BAT. I would avoid Cray.

I don't know why you decided to replace the Bryston. I think it is a better choice than the three tube amps.