[Ragnar71]

I’m getting some Magnepan .7i’s and am hoping some of you use the Van Alstine Vision Set 400 and can tell me how you feel about it with Maggie’s. Never owned Maggie’s, you hear they need power, more power, high current(which I have no idea how to tell if an amp is high current) and I hear of some 300 wat amps not doing good, then I hear the Pass 25 watt class A does great....so I’d love to hear from an actual owner here how the Vision Set 400 does. I’m thinking of pairing it with Don Sachs line Stage

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I wrote a review of the SET 400 for AVA.  It will pair great with the 0.7's.  It sounded great with my 1.6's.   Yes, you can use a 20 wpc high current amp like the Pass but you will suffer loss of dynamics at medium  to louder volumes.   Yes, the .7's will sound good but to get the most out of them, you will need high power, high current despite what some people say.  There are a lot of people that buy Maggies and end up selling them because of improper pairing of electronics.  They will let you know when your electronics are not up to snuff.  I use a 500wpc Pass amp with my 1.6's.  Use to use a 400wpc Parasound A21.   

Make sure you are using at least 12g speaker wire, preferably 10g.

[RonN5]

I'm thinking you probably saw this article....but if not, it says that the Vision 400 did a great job with the big maggies (Tympani IVs) so I have no doubt it will have no problem driving the .7s.

https://www.tonepublications.com/review/the-audio-by-van-alstine-vision-set-400/

As for speaker wire,  there are a ton of affordable choices....I recently had these guys make me 6 strand of 14awg hex braided to 9awg cables...love the look and even better love the sound.

https://sites.google.com/view/pine-tree-audio/speaker

[slefley]

RonN5 - are you using one of Pine Tree’s standard models or did they do something special for you?

[Saturn94]

I wrote a review of the SET 400 for AVA...

I’d like to read it.  Would you post a link?  I can’t find it.

Thanks. 😀

[Brett Buck]

These guys have very good speaker wire at a decent price:

https://www.homedepot.com

for example:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-6-ft-16-2-Indoor-Cube-Tap-Extension-Cord-White-HD-145-017/100672781

Cut off the ends, very good speaker wire with low reactance. Or leave on end on, and you can use it as a replacement high fidelity power cord.

    Brett

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I’d like to read it.  Would you post a link?  I can’t find it.

Thanks. 😀

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=158752.0

[Saturn94]

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=158752.0

Thank you. 

[Rocket]

Hi,

Wow super prices by Pine Tree Audio for their cables.

Cheers Rod

[AvsFan]

I’m getting some Magnepan .7i’s and am hoping some of you use the Van Alstine Vision Set 400 and can tell me how you feel about it with Maggie’s. Never owned Maggie’s, you hear they need power, more power, high current(which I have no idea how to tell if an amp is high current) and I hear of some 300 wat amps not doing good, then I hear the Pass 25 watt class A does great....so I’d love to hear from an actual owner here how the Vision Set 400 does. I’m thinking of pairing it with Don Sachs line Stage

Well get ready to hear something special! I too am new to Magnepan, with the purchase of my LRS's. I guess no longer new since I have had them for going on a year now. But it was my first experience and it opened my eye's, more like ears to the magic of planar speakers. I am SOLD! 100%! I am sure it will be my life mission to buy a pair of the big boys at some point in time. But I am so happy with my LRS's, that's probably not for a very long time. Not trying to talk you out of the .7i's, but since this is your first go around with Magnepan's, why not just try the LRS's? You might be surprised and that's all you might need. In fact there are some audio reviewers on YouTube, Audio Excellence Canada who prefer the LRS to the .7i Check out this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIBSxiGQBlE&t=14s

As far as the AVA SET 400 goes. I am planning on that being my end game amp for my Maggie's. I've read nothing but great things about it. I have no doubt in my mind that it will power any Magnepan.
High power and high current are two separate things. Usually if you find an amp that's 225 watts at 8 ohms and it's doubling it's power at 450 watts at 4 ohms, that means it has high current as well. But it's just a matter of system matching and synergy as well. The guys at Audio Excellence Canada are using a Hegel H90, which is rated at 60 watts per channel, 8 ohms. And they say it's an amazing match for the Magnepan LRS's. From my own personal experience, yes, you NEED an amp with balls and guts. I have gone through three amps. I have gotten them all to go into protection mode with my LRS's. The current amp I have now is from The Digital Amplifier Company. The STM. And it's rated 125 watts at 8 and 4 ohms. For about 80% of my listening it does just fine and sounds amazing but on more dynamic and complex music, at higher volumes, I get it to go into protection mode. That's with a 48v power supply. I am having Tommy remedy this problem by providing a 60v power supply, which increases it to 400 watts per channel at 4 ohms. I'm thinking that should do the trick, and should be more than happy. But st some point I'd like to try the Maggie's with a high quality CLASS A/B powerhouse like the SET 400, it's just a matter of funds and saving and priorities. After the 60v power supply, I am getting a dual 8inch sub from Omega speakers. That's another thing the Maggie's need. Low end foundation that they just don't do all by themselves.