I am very impressed and a little overwhelmed by the response to my question regarding which amp to use with the Maggies. I must say that each one of you have helped sharpen my thinking and test some of my long-standing biases about amplifiers. For this I am very grateful.
If money were less of an object, I would choose one of two amps based on my current system setup: Plinius SA250 MK IV or the Wolcott P220M. While there are many good amps on the market today and many amps would make a very good match with the Maggies, these two units would be the best for my system. Unfortunately, they are outside my budget, and for the Plinius, I must admit that I am a little nervous about buying this amp knowing that I would have to ship it back to New Zealand should it ever need repairing.
Many of you have suggested either ARC or Bryston. The big ARC amps are more than I can afford and I would rather own the Pass or Classe amp over a Bryston. Having said that, I have heard the Magnepan 3.6/R with the Bryston 4B ST and was impressed with how good the system sounded.
I am intrigued by the Halo JC-1 recommendation that several of you have made. To be honest, however, I was not overly impressed with the sound of the less powerful stereo version in the Halo line. With a Halo amp and preamp along with a Sony ES CD player powering a pair of Veritas 2.3 loudspeakers, I found the overall sound to be detailed but rather thin and clinical. On warmer sounding loudspeakers, the Halo equipment might be a good match.
My observation about the Halo equipment raises a concern I have with both the Classe CAM 350s and the Pass X250. In his response, RAL indicated that the X250 sounded a bit cool and lean; that's not the first time I have heard this criticism of this fine amp. As for the CAM 350, Brain Damkroger of Stereophile also mentioned that this Classe amp had a lean sonic cast. If I were using a Conrad Johnson preamp, these concerns would be moot.
Because I am looking for good price/performance, the Theta Dreadnaught and the Belles 350A have to be my top choices. Either amp will deliver a full-bodied sound with plenty of transparency and detail for my tastes. To this list I will also add the McIntosh 352. It has a full-bodied sound as well while having all the power I need. It costs about $4,500.
I will also audition the Pass X250 and CAM 350, but my preferences are leaning toward the units mentioned above.
Once again I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to answer my questions. You have helped me a lot in my purchasing decision.
Best regards,
