[Kurtamus]

I have been looking at the Vision SET 400, but have come across a used Synergy 300 at somewhat less than half the price of the Vision SET 400.    It is listed by AVA as 150 watts into 8 ohms, I am aware AVA doesn't list any power specs aside from 8 ohms power specs.

I alternate between Vandersteen 1C and Maggie 1.7's. I know the Vandies would love it, has anyone heard this amp with Maggies and have an opinion on its ability to drive them well? The room they are in is on the small side, probably the biggest room they would ever be in would be 12 x 20. I have tried to contact Van Alstine but it is the weekend.  Thanks for any guidance you can offer.

[dB Cooper]

Maggies and other planar magnetics are renowned for their thirst for current and Van Alstine amps are just as well known for their ability to deliver the goods. I think you'd be not only pleased but delighted. I wouldn't hesitate, especially if the owner agreed to a short trial. Van Alstine and Magnepan are both based in Minnesota, have both been at this a long time, and probably know each other well. More than a few here running AVA/Maggie combos and never heard a complaint.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I have reviewed quite a few amps for Frank.  I can't  remember if I reviewed the Synergy amps but I have heard them and they are a great sounding amp.  I felt that they had a little darker sound than the FET Valve amps.  They are very smooth sounding.   The Synergy amps had a double mosfet option and I think that those models doubled their power at 4 ohms and had more current.  But you can always check with Frank.  If you can get the serial number he can look up that model and let you know if it had the double die option.

I reviewed the SET 400 with my Magnepan 1.6's and the amp sounded great.  They have a glorious midrange and a slightly romantic sound with powerful bass and  good detail and resolution.  They are way better than the Synergy amps IMHO.

I would also look at the FET Valve amps.  They have undergone some improvement since I last reviewed them and they were great sounding back them.  They pair well with Maggies.  I have  2 friends that use them with Magnepan 3.7's and 1.7's

[WGH]

I think the Synergy 300 will have more than enough power for the Maggies.

Back in July 2013 an audio buddy and I did a comparison between my Synergy 450 and his Krell Full Power Balanced 200 class A amp driving Magnepan 3.7's.

We started the amp comparison with the Van Alstine Synergy 450. My gosh, the sound was so close to what we heard with the Krell that we had to try out a lot of different music to find out if there really was any differences. Bass was a wash because the REL subwoofer did all the low stuff, turn off the REL and the 3.7's didn't go low enough by themselves to notice any difference.

The only big difference was the class A Krell ran hot enough to cook eggs on while the Synergy stayed cool.