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What amp/amps to drive magnepan 20.1's

Just purchased a six month old set of M20.1's from a dear friend who left oversea's for an open ended work asignment.He had been powering them with a pair of VTL 450 mono's who he had promised to his brother. Question; I have a pair of bryston 7bsst's that i have been hoarding away in anticipation of the comming of my inherritance, and now i feel i can further my debt to income ratio by buying something else.
1.should i buy another pair of brystons and passive biamp ? active biamp with 10b bryston x-over ?
2.Sell the mono's that i have and get some used pass x600's or big mcintosh 1201's ?
3.keep the bryston mono's and put some big tube's on top end with brystons on low freq. with active x-over ?
I have about 8k. until i'm sonic'ly rich but cash poor Please help me before my senses kick in !!!
bluebeehive
mejames
986 posts
 
BAT mentioned above simply will not work on those speakers no way no how. 2x that power isn't enough I'll say 450 watts minimum is required
bpwalsh
1,197 posts
 
Parasound JC-1s ($6k) work quite nicely with them, or do you prefer tubes?

Brian
audiofankj
373 posts
 
I would take a look at the new startup company H2o Audio's amps. There are some reviews out from Maggie owners that are incredibly satisfied.
howie
230 posts
 
Why not hear them with the Bryston amps first and see what you like and dislike about the sound you're getting and then decide where to go? The Brystons are great amps that don't necessarily do anything wrong. So it'll let you figure out what improvements you want.
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jprice
50 posts
 
I agree with the "Take it Slowly" approach that "Howie" espouses. I own a pair of Magnepan 20.1's and I know first hand that "Pure Power" is infinitely more important than "Lots of Power".

You do not need 450 watts with Magnepan 20.1 speakers.

What you do need is pure amplification that will bring out the best in the speakers.

I'm currently using SPECTRAL electronics. - DMA 250 and DMC 30-SL - and the Maggies are perfection. Huge Soundstage, Prodigious bass, Sound levels that equal a live concert. (For anyone who thinks that they need for their speakers to sound that loud). The purest, sweetest, most realistic tonality I have ever experienced. Incredible performance. At 200 watts, the DMA 250 offers an abundance of power and I DO NOT NEED MORE!

Before the Spectral, I used (and loved) Mark Levinson 336 & 33H, Krell FPB 300c, More power than the Spectral but not as clean and pure - and not nearly as fast.

The Spectral transformed the speakers.

You need to try what you have first and then beg, borrow or steal others to try on your system until you reach the level or performance that the Magnepan 20.1's are capable of.

I don't know how good your Brystons are but they have a good reputation. I would suggest that you compare them head on with other amps - on your speakers - in your system - and make your own conclusions.

I will say that a change of Preamps (formerly Levinson No. 32 and Krell KCT) to the Spectral DMC 30-SL, made more difference than did the change of Amps, although when I finally got the Spectral amp and requisite MIT cabling, everything did come together. I am totally satisfied with my system and have never heard Maggies sound as good.
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