Tympani IVa amping

You will need power.These were originally designed around the ARC line of products.

Casimim

I have Tympani IVa's and I am using a Mark Levinson 23.5 with good results.

This was recommended "off the record" by a source at the factory who said it was the best amp he ever heard with Tympanis.

True they can handle just about as much power as you want to throw at them, and some Magnepan gurus suggest that biamping is really the best way to go.

Good luck and have fun.

IMO, cctive bi-amping or even triamping is the best way to go. I use tube otl's on top and a class D amp for the bass panels. Crossover duties are now being handled by a behringer 2496.

Cwlondon's placement of the bass panels is interesting. Care to explain the logic and results? Thanks.

Swo2601

I am still experimenting, but here are a few thoughts:

I have owned Magneplanars off and on since 1980, and historically thought I achieved the most spacious imaging by keeping the panels on a horizontal line and not canting the panels.

With the Tympanis, however, you can see in my photos that I have canted the mid/tweeter panels in somewhat agressively, while listening about 8 feet away.

To my ear, the imaging is not as wide or spacious, but sounds more focused, more solid, less diffuse, where vocals in particular have a dead center, uncanny presence.

When I was having them restored, circa 2000, the factory suggested the placement of the bass panels was not very critical.

In my experience, you can boost the bass a bit with Magnepans by moving the panels closer to the rear wall and/or corners, which was the main variable that informed my current set up. There is a significant difference in +/- only 6 inches.

I have folded them slightly to mainly make the room feel just a bit more spacious. This doesn't seem to make a huge difference.

I have experimented with all three panels on one continuous line which perhaps sounded a bit better, but is a bit harder to live with.

cwlondon

Intersting. Thanks for your thoughts on placement. I have Tympani 4's. I've als had Tympani 3b's and 1 d's. As you know the recommended crossover point for the bass panels is 250 Hz, which is clearly audible. Nevertheless, I guess I would have to agree somewhat that bass panel positioning is not that critical. My question is whether it can be placed to contribute to a deeper soundstage on the tympanis. If the tymps could image better, that would make me sincerely happy. The wall of sound is nice, but . . .

Swo2601

To clarify, the factory did suggest the placement of the bass panels was not that critical.

This was good news to me, to the extent it makes this huge speaker system potentially easier to place in the room.

In my experience, however, although this may be true with respect to imaging, which for me as been more a function of the placement of the mid tweeter panels. But it has not been true for me with respect to bass response.

In my room, I have had very good results with imaging, with the mid/tweeter panels canted in, and also when the mid/tweeter panels are about 8 feet apart - as far apart as possible without creating an obvious hole in the middle. This is in part what led me to setting them up along the long wall of the room and firing across the shorter dimension of the room.

Not sure why you are having problems with imaging.

I would say depth is good to very good, pinpoint localization of vocals and instruments excellent, and of course the height, scale and 3D palpability that Maggies are known for. I have not yet gotten them to image much beyond the physical boundaries of the panels, but I wouldnt expect that from most speakers outside of mini monitors.

For bass response, however, the placement of the bass panels has been more critical.

A well set up pair of Tympanis has fast, tight, marvelous bass that is really something special, but with the wrong room or wrong placement they can sound a bit thin.

If you think you need a sub with these speakers, they are not set up correctly.

As little as 6" closer or farther away from either the side or rear wall has made significant differences for me. The bass also seems to improve when the bass panels are straight and not folded in a V configuration, although this is not a huge difference so I tend to keep them folded for aesthetic reasons.

Whether or not separating the bass panels from the mid tweeter panels in this way creates different or more diffuse imaging, I don't know.

Perhaps with a REALLY big room, having all the panels on one continuous line, one might be able to find a configuration with optimal bass, and even better imaging.

Taking all of these things into consideration, you can better appreciate how these speakers can consume and take advantage of monstrous amounts of power, the original question for the thread.

In an ideal world, I would biamp with huge solid state monoblocks on the low end, and perhaps use tubes on top.

I accept your point on the sub. I could easily do without one, but it is nice. I use a Bag End Infra 18" sub that has specs down to 8 Hz. To tell you the truth, I have it turned down so low that I can't even hear it, but it is a nice fill in at times -- probably an extragant expense for as little as it does. I agree that the Tympanis have a great soundstage. I wish it were deeper and more fleshed out; however, most of all, I hate that 6 foot cymbal and high-hat. That is wholly unrealistic and compared to speakers that can really image, it is a true weakness of this speaker. If you don't have that, then your tympanis are an anomoly. I get my Mye stands soon. Hopefully, that can make a great speaker even better. BTW, if you're using the internal crossover components in the mid-tweet panel, you're really missing out. Cheers

I have the Mye stands which were a huge improvement.

I have also found that not having the speakers tilted back helps with the six foot cymbal issue.

I found the same with forward tilting. I'm getting my Mye stands in about a week. Is forward tilting possible with Mye stands? Thanks.

Mr Mye would know best, but at a glance it looks like at least a tiny bit of forward tilting would be possible.

The feet are adjustable, but I am guessing that weight distribution and whether or not you intend to fill the stands might affect the balance and/or how easily they could tip over.

That is not recommended, as I tipped one over with my desk chair recently which ruptured the tweeter, something I have otherwise never done in nearly 30 years of owning Magneplanars.