What does more power do for Magnepans?

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!

Mr. T,

Wasn't picking on you, just wondered. About where I sit from my 1.6's.

I know you like solo and small ensemble acoustic music and evidently the smaller tube amps work well for you. It is just so opposite from my (I will admit, limited) experience.

I went from single 170w integrated, to two 170w amps in a passive biamp, and finally two 170w amps in an active biamp configuration and enjoyed an improvement with each addition of power.

Different strokes for different folks!

Jim S.

i listen to orcehstral as well as small ensembles. i just don't listen loud and low power amps seem to work for me.

I tried to go back and study some of the math about maggies and power. These were pointed out by others; I am just trying to pass on their work and analysis correctly.

First thing I ran across was the way Magnepan spec's the efficiency. 86db/1m/2.83V. Evidently 2.83V into 4ohms is 2 watts and not the traditional ~db/1m/1w scale. At 1m/2w efficiency works out to 83db.

If you listen to music at a level that produces 83db peaks (fairly restrained, but still dynamic) and sit 3 meters away it flows like this.

2w/1m = 83db with one speaker
Second speaker adds 3db for 2w/1m = 86db
Subtract 3db for each additional meter away from the speakers 2w/3m = 80db
Each additional 3db doubles power required - to add 3db – 4w/3m = 83db
Figure the peaks @ 83db are 6db above the average spl = 1w/3m/76db

This ignores room loading, absorption, and the fact that the 2w/1m/83db is with a test tone, but on the surface, the amount of power needed doesn’t seem that great for modest listening levels.

If you listen at a level that produces 95db peaks it would go something like this…

2w/1m = 83db with one speaker
Second speaker adds 3db for 2w/1m = 86db
Subtract 3db for each additional meter away from the speakers 2w/3m = 80db
Double power for each additional 3db;
4w/3m = 83db,
8w/3m = 86db,
16w/3m = 89db,
32w/3m = 92db,
64w/3m = 95db

64w. Still not a lot of power for what, to me, is a fairly loud 95db peak.

It doesn’t match my (admittedly limited) experience, so I am fairly assured that I have stated something incorrectly or there is another important factor that is missing.

You won’t hurt my feelings by pointing out the flaws in the above but I do find the result interesting if it holds true

Jim S.