What does more power do for Magnepans?

my listening position is about 10.5 feet from the adge of the right speaker.

I agree with Valleyplastic. By running 2 sets of cables per side, one pair to the bass and a separate run to the mids and highs there’s a huge improvement as was mentioned.

Thanks for all the input! I do use two sets of cables to biwire and the speakers sound very good. You know how this hobby is, I wonder what if? The P8 would be a perfect match for the 9200 to bi amp but I probably don't need it, but who knows I might try it anyway.

Pa1- I really do think you will be surprised at how relieving your amp of having to reproduce bass/mid-bass can clean and open up your overall sound. Can you find a dealer that will let you audition one for a week or better? That would give you time to burn it in a bit before listening critically.

I've been playing around with different amps for the last eight years on my Maggie 1.6's. Reluctantly, I've moved into the more power camp during that period.

I started with Classe CA150 power amp (300wpc into 4 ohms). I was happy for a long time. Then I was modding an old Dynaco Stereo 70 that I had built new in high school (using the Welborne/Alan Kimmel driver stage). On a lark, I tried it on the Maggies, and I was BLOWN AWAY by how much better they sounded with this little 25wpc amp.

I couldn't believe how much more "real" vocalists sounded, in particular. And chamber music was to die for. I sold my Classe in a heartbeat. But then I discovered that all my listening was gravitating to small-scale stuff, because that's what my system did best. And I LIKE symphonies... but not with the Dynaco. So I have some sympathy for Mrtennis' position.

I added a subwoofer, and inserted a high-pass filter, so the poor little Dynaco wouldn't have to do any bass below 80Hz. That was a Great sound, and even OK on larger scale music.

But I wanted more... (don't we all?)

I decided to mod my crossovers, and added Mye stands, both of which were huge improvements. Then I decided to try bi-amping, with one tube amp on the bass panels (60wpc) and the Dynaco on the treble panels. This was also really nice, and kept me for a couple of years.

Then I had a power surge (lightning strike) and toasted both amps. While I was getting them fixed, I put in an Innersound ESL amp, which delivers 600wpc into 4 ohms. NOW WE'RE TALKING when it comes to large-scale music. Symphonies were back, and in high rotation for months. Love that detail and resolution, no lack of foundation. I didn't bother with the subwoofer.

Now I'm back to bi-amping, but with the Innersound on the bass panels and a modded Citation II on the treble/mid panels. I'm really happy with this combination, both finesse and power. I don't need a subwoofer, and I've got excellent integration across the frequency spectrum for all the kinds of music I listen to.

This is not a discussion of tubes vs. solid state, but I do think you should try more power (of high quality) and see what you think. I love what the Maggie bass panels do with lots of power. I love what the treble/mids do with high-quality "first 2 watts" This is a combo that works for me. YMMV.

HTH!