[sonorsnoopy]

i have heard the mg12 and decided to go with magnepan. i am am building from scratch and have no chance to demo the Super MMG (based in europe) and would like to buy the electronics used.
my system goal is 1st row presence, instruments in the room effect, texture, body, image density, inner detail, solid 3d images, immediacy, coherence, cohesiveness, liveley and rock solid timing. i dont care for frequencies below 50hz and above 15khz. room is 16x20x11, longwall setup preferred, 80 to 85db average.
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the question is which way i should go. delicate tube or ss amps with the easier to drive mmg in an active configuration from 150hz up + 4 DWM or the 1.7 with high power (sanders magtech) and a tube pre

could the mmg dwm setup ever be as coherent, fullbodied and delicate as a 1.7 ? (tubes on the MMG and ncore SS on DWM). is the MMC2 an better option while still delivering the body from 150hz up? i understand that the Super MMG is nothing but a new MMG with different foil tension tuned for the use from 100hz up.

does the 1.6 present more body than a 1.7 by design ?
.

choices:

(for the active options i would go with a metric halo lio 8 for EQ DAC PRE duties.)


active Super MMG on higher stands + 2 primaluna premium stereo tube amps (2x (2 x 70W from 2x 2 EL34)) + 4 DWM with ncore (ss alternative to tube: Pass XA 30.5, Hegel H20)

active 1.6, modded: 4 tube buffered ncore nc400 monos, the primaluna tube amps, PASS, hegel.

stock 1.7 with better stands and a sanders magtech, hegel h20, ncore monos and a tube pre.
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which way would you go for 1st row body texture density immediacy presence & coherence ?
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(sorry for the long questions and the basic english)

[SteveFord]

I'd plug in some 1.7s and call it a day.

[capwkidd]

Full range speakers are always more coherent that separate sub/satellites....

[*Scotty*]

I would also vote for the 1.7s. It keeps the signal path simpler and substantially reduces the cost of the system. Having heard the 1.7s in a good system I suspect that their coherence and image scaling will hard to equal with the more complex setup.
 I would lean towards a good sized Pass amp with maybe a tube preamp combined with the 1.7s as pretty good sounding combination. Because you have a 4 ohm load the Pass amp will double its output with no strain and might be the best sounding SS amp on your list.
Scotty

[capwkidd]

May I suggest a higher power integrated amp.... maybe even one with and integral DAC, Hegel makes one, but I would be concerned the Hegel is rather sterile sounding, add that to the sterile sounding 1.7, and that makes for a, well, not a warm sound

Just get the 1.7's, and use whatever you have now, see how they sound, break them in.... then you can figure out where to go from there. The one thing I did appreciate about the 1.7's is their coherence....

[studiotech]

1.7 for keeping it simple.  You can grow from there if you like.

Also, VERY important.  You need to keep them at least 3 ft from the wall.  If not, then some combination of absorption and diffusion will be needed(and you might want this even if they are 3+ft from the wall) or your solid image will get blurry and shift with frequency.

Enjoy, you've got a fun road ahead of you.

Greg

[NIGHTFALL1970]

Another vote for 1.7s.
I use an AVA 400r and Fet valve pre and Fet valve Dac. All hybrid designs.
A match made in audio heaven.