I read with great amusement, the explanation of 'how much power', on the Magneplanar site. It's virtually what it was, when I was a dealer, almost 30 years ago, and still VERY conservative in it's language.
Back then, 1983--Jim Winey told me at the CES, (Chicago back in the day) "You're an idiot if you don't play the
Baby Maggies (SMG) for every customer who comes into your store Larry." He was, of course right. First, for thier price they got (now GET) most everything so MUSICALLY RIGHT. All that's missing is deep bass and big slam. For some of the more humble audio purists, put on Yo Yo Ma, and get ready for goose bumps. WOW, what a value.
The amusement part came with my remembering what they said then, 'as now' about power--how much needed etc.
Harmon Kardon back then, had a great line of receivers that produced inordinate amounts of current, even before the 'current' issue became a current problem...uh past problem, no, sorry I mean it was a current 'day' problem back then, not a problem of the amount of current...hmmm. Kinda like lying to your spouse, no end here.
The issue is, the little HK 535(fingers crossed) at 35 WPC as I recall, played the snot out of them, was cheap, and you couldn't break it with a hammer. My wife and I put several 'all girl' systems in homes after hours--babby maggies and HK, and an HK Turntable (no cd's just yet in any number).
Here's where I diverge with some thinking here. 'The maggies are hard to drive', no they're unless they've changed radically, an almost purely resistive 4 ohm load. Todays power supplies, even in Receivers will almost always 1.5/1.75 or even double into 4 ohms. As I said the HK was a trouper and we had ZERO problems matching those baby amps with the SMG.
As to the, "THIEL is a pig to drive". Not that bad, the 3.7 is not nearly as difficult to drive as the CS5's which dropped to 1.4 ohms at about 45 to 100hz region were, the 3.6's were, the 2.4's while not as bad were somewhat of an issue. I think their reputation in this regard, is greater than the reality. They do require a stable amp, which can deliver the goods (with less resistance the need for current goes up)--but these days, amps of that ilk are everywhere, the choices are abundant and vary greatly in cost.
I'll bet you the B&K Receiver can deliver the necessary current.
Anyway, if you love the speakers, you can, IMHO more easily hedge your bet on the amp, and still get better sound than you think.
One other quick example...I used to Demo the THIEL CS5's which in 1988 cost about what the 3.7's cost in todays dollars. One thing I did to make a point, was to play them using the 60 WATT ADCOM GFA535. Ideal, no...but better than virtually any other combination.
Just imagine a $13K pair of speakers with a $400. amp, then reverse and put a $13K amp with a $400 pair of speakers, which gives you more? Fun to think about.
Larry
Back then, 1983--Jim Winey told me at the CES, (Chicago back in the day) "You're an idiot if you don't play the
Baby Maggies (SMG) for every customer who comes into your store Larry." He was, of course right. First, for thier price they got (now GET) most everything so MUSICALLY RIGHT. All that's missing is deep bass and big slam. For some of the more humble audio purists, put on Yo Yo Ma, and get ready for goose bumps. WOW, what a value.
The amusement part came with my remembering what they said then, 'as now' about power--how much needed etc.
Harmon Kardon back then, had a great line of receivers that produced inordinate amounts of current, even before the 'current' issue became a current problem...uh past problem, no, sorry I mean it was a current 'day' problem back then, not a problem of the amount of current...hmmm. Kinda like lying to your spouse, no end here.
The issue is, the little HK 535(fingers crossed) at 35 WPC as I recall, played the snot out of them, was cheap, and you couldn't break it with a hammer. My wife and I put several 'all girl' systems in homes after hours--babby maggies and HK, and an HK Turntable (no cd's just yet in any number).
Here's where I diverge with some thinking here. 'The maggies are hard to drive', no they're unless they've changed radically, an almost purely resistive 4 ohm load. Todays power supplies, even in Receivers will almost always 1.5/1.75 or even double into 4 ohms. As I said the HK was a trouper and we had ZERO problems matching those baby amps with the SMG.
As to the, "THIEL is a pig to drive". Not that bad, the 3.7 is not nearly as difficult to drive as the CS5's which dropped to 1.4 ohms at about 45 to 100hz region were, the 3.6's were, the 2.4's while not as bad were somewhat of an issue. I think their reputation in this regard, is greater than the reality. They do require a stable amp, which can deliver the goods (with less resistance the need for current goes up)--but these days, amps of that ilk are everywhere, the choices are abundant and vary greatly in cost.
I'll bet you the B&K Receiver can deliver the necessary current.
Anyway, if you love the speakers, you can, IMHO more easily hedge your bet on the amp, and still get better sound than you think.
One other quick example...I used to Demo the THIEL CS5's which in 1988 cost about what the 3.7's cost in todays dollars. One thing I did to make a point, was to play them using the 60 WATT ADCOM GFA535. Ideal, no...but better than virtually any other combination.
Just imagine a $13K pair of speakers with a $400. amp, then reverse and put a $13K amp with a $400 pair of speakers, which gives you more? Fun to think about.
Larry