Need Amp Advice from the Collective

@joeycastillo  (Alberto?) I have had several AGD amps. They are very good, but they don't have the grunt (that's a technical term) needed to drive the Maggies to satisfying levels. Perhaps a pair of bridged Tempo's might do it (I did have a pair a few years ago), but a single Tempo or a pair of Audion's are not enough. I have not tried AGD's more expensive mono's. But Maggies seem to give their best magic when driven by class A amps. I have resisted going there for years, but now it is time. 

@yyzsantabarbara I was waiting for you to speak up. That Krell might do it. But you keep buying Coda? 

@knotscott I have tubes in my preamp and in a buffer following my DAC. I have resisted tube power amps for a number of reasons. I know they can sound wonderful. And maybe I am just being stubborn.  

@marktheshark I keep buying CODA since I think they are great. Tony the Tiger great.

The issue with the KRELL is that it is huge. The fans are not noticeable, and I never heard it even when I used the amp as a headphone amp, and it was 1 foot away from me. I was drawing over 100 watts in the headphone scenario (long story).

Another amp you may want to consider for the LRS+ is what I was considering over the CODA #11. It is the Schiit Wotan amp. I owned this amp before and used it with the Magnepan Mini which can gobble up power. The Wotan has tremendous synergy with the Maggie. Schiit has demoed the Wotan with the LRS+. I owned the LRS+ but had to sell it once I moved my office to a smaller space, so I got the Mini.

I like the 100 watts of Class A on the CODA #11 more than the Wotan, but the Wotan is not far behind. Only issue with the Wotan is that it needs over a month of heavy play before the top end cleans up. The 15-day home trial period for the Wotan won’t allow you to hear the best of this amp.

I purchased the $995 Class D Audio GanFet 6.5 amp for the Magnepan Mini. It is not as good as the Wotan or the #11 or #16. However, it is not bad, and I like that fact it fits in the palm of my hand and was so cheap. Sounds like faint praise but I think it is the best Class D amp I have heard. Most GabFet amps I owned were weak in the bass. This one is not that bad though not the bass monsters as the Wotan, #11, and #16.

@markmuse   I have tubes in my preamp and in a buffer following my DAC.

Have you considered rolling some of those tubes? Especially the preamp.

@knotscott Yes, I have done so. I have settled upon PSVane Horizon or Mazda mil spec.12au7 in my preamp. 

Still sorting out what I want in the buffer (ModWright Analog Bridge). Right now I have RCA clear top 6SN7GTBs, with the supplied JJ tube as the rectifier, and E88CC second selection slots (not using this circuit). 

@yyzsantabarbara Good info! Thanks! I am currently most in favor of the Coda s20, though I would love to hear the Accuphase. I have had a number of class D amps and I am generally a proponent. Before I sold my AGD I tried it on my LRS+, but it struggled with them. That said, the Rogue Dragon mono blocks (D/tube hybrid) are supposed to be a good match. But the general consensus is either class A or high bias AB are the best for maggies.