What does more power do for Magnepans?

Agree with Narrod...I was using the 1.6's.

The difference: 3db increase in loudness for each time you double the power.
For example, if you are driving them with 100w and go to a 400w amp, that doubles the original power twice (100x2=200x2=400) and they will play 6db louder with 400w than with 100w.

Opinion: More power be's GOOD!

It's only 6db louder if you're using ALL 400 watts.

more power is neither better or worse. playing a speaker louder is not better or worse. it is just louder.

i have been driving my 1.6s with 30 watss, listening at 72 to 82 db of spl. it's loud enough for me and i don't need more power.

the magnepans do not need a lot of power. a good 20 watt set is all you need. i have driven the speakers with 4 watts and within my listening level i had no problems.

you don't need 200 watts to enjoy magnepans.

I've had 1.6's for eight years. During that time, I went from a 200 wpc Adcom to a 100 wpc McCormack DNA-0.5. The DNA 0.5 was a better amp, and showed it. So I agree somewhat with Mr. Tennis, there is far more to this than power output. From there I went to 500 WPC McCormack DNA-1 monoblocks. These are a huge step forward from the previous amps. They certainly enable the Maggies to deliver more of their potential. This is not a loudness issue. They all delivered more that enough volume. All else being equal, my guess is that most people will experience less congestion in complex orchestral passages and better, tighter tympani with additional power.