[creilly333]

I have a new pair of Magnepan 3.7s arriving in a few weeks.  In the meantime I am on the lookout for a suitable amp to drive them.  The Naim amp that I have right now is not going to cut it.  It only produces about 70 watts into 4 ohms and more importantly I believe current is around 10 amps or less.

I am unfamiliar with this new crop of "muscle amps" such as W4S, Parasound, Odyssey etc and wondered if anyone here has any of these with 3.7s.  I emailed Klaus at Odyssey as I was interested in a pair of his Stratos monoblocks and was very impressed with his response, even more so since he emailed me at 3:30 am!

I will be front ending it with computer audio and vinyl.  Computer audio is in the shape of the CAPS v2 server from the Computer Audio website into my DIY Twisted Pear Buffalo II DAC into a DIY bootstrap buffer preamp.  Music files are stored on a separate NAS. 

Thanks in advance
Colin

[rw@cn]

Try the Naim first. If you don't like it, decide upon the essentials -> cost?, new/used? and then start looking.


Don't forget Channel Island or Sanders Magtech they are at least equal to the amps you mentioned.

[rw@cn]

Oops double post.

[rollo]

  The choices are endless. Depends on the character of sound you desire. Being a Naim Man will be difficult in choosing an amp . The Naim gear has a PRAT and lifelike character that will be tough to duplicate. Saying that though the top end using that combo may be to lean or bright.
    What preamp are you using ? Classic Maggie combos are : Bryston, Audio Research [tubed ], Conrad Johnson and Plinius. There are more but these are the top contenders IMO. Recently hooked up a pair of Arion HS 500 monoblocks with 1000W/ch at 4 ohms to our Maggie 3As and the result was staggering. If you are in the NY area you can hear them as well as an Audio Research Classic 60 tubed amp in your home if you like. Just PM me.
   Have fun trying.

charles

[twitch54]

  you can hear them as well as an Audio Research Classic 60 tubed amp in your home if you like.

good luck with that doing the 'Maggies' justice.

Regardless, lots of 'current capable' choices out there, myself I'm a huge fan of Nelson Pass amplification on planars

[creilly333]

Thanks guys.  I'll use the Naim for a little bit and see how it does, then make up my mind from there. 

[andyr]

IMO, you have received a lot of suggestions from people who have little experience with Maggies?

I believe 3.7s (with their 6dB series XO) are more efficient than the older IIIa/3.3/3.5/3.6 (which use Magnepan's traditional parallel XO).  Therefore it is possible that an amp which is not really enough for the older 3-ways will be acceptable with 3.7s?

If your Naim is a 250, it may well be acceptable - provided:
1. You have a small room, and
2. You don't listen loud.

I say this because a few weeks ago, I helped the new owner of my old IIIas set them up with his Naim 250.  It coped quite well - he had a small room and didn't listen loud - but the same music sounded much better on my own system, when I got home, driven actively with a lot more wattage! )

You mentioned a few amps - I know nothing about them but IMO, there is no better-sounding amp for 3.X Maggies than the Magtech.  The Parasound A21 is a fair way back - but still very good.

And as for "The Naim gear has a PRAT and lifelike character that will be tough to duplicate" ... a lot of BS, again IMO.  I compared one of my own Naim 250s with a local amp about 10 years ago - and promptly sold my Naims and bought 3 of the ones that bettered it.  Unfortunately, though, they don't have enough power for me to recommend one passively driving a 3.7 (you can't run 3.7s actively, given the series XO) - hence my recommendation for Magtech.

Good luck, they are supposed to be wonderful speakers. 

Regards,

Andy

[jsm71]

There are a couple of active threads regarding amps and the Magtech keeps coming up.  I have one and will always recommend it for Maggies.  If you haven't read up on this amp you should take the time to read about it on the Sanders web site.  Its all about the power supply.  This amp runs cool and silent 24 x 7.  The power is obvious, but its operation yields a really neutral sound.  It simply gets out of the way sonically.  My Maggies were really opened up.  For a point of comparison I came off McIntosh separates and this amp is clearly a step up with better sound.  Roger Sanders is also one easy guy to do business with.  Sorry if I am gushing, but I can't find a fault other than needing 5K to get one.  A very fair price IMO.

[josh358]

I still haven't heard it, but I don't think I've ever heard such universal acclaim for an amp.

[rw@cn]

Here is what a good group of Logan owners had to say.

http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?13688-How-Great-is-the-Sanders-Magtech

[kevin360]

I heard one driving a pair of Sanders hybrids. It was a fantastic sounding system. I have to admit that I was a bit shocked - not because of the Sanders amp, but because of the Behringer crossover. That amp looks like a very well built piece of kit.

[macmagman]

I have a Magtec driving my 20.1's in a big room and I am very happy.

[kevin360]

So, should we call you sanmacmagman now? 

In all seriousness, I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about the Magtech amp. It's actually something of a great bargain and it's definitely a great amp.

I've become a valve guy. I'm pretty happy too. 

---

Actually, I suppose you could just as easily be magmacmagman.

[creilly333]

IMO, you have received a lot of suggestions from people who have little experience with Maggies?

I believe 3.7s (with their 6dB series XO) are more efficient than the older IIIa/3.3/3.5/3.6 (which use Magnepan's traditional parallel XO).  Therefore it is possible that an amp which is not really enough for the older 3-ways will be acceptable with 3.7s?

If your Naim is a 250, it may well be acceptable - provided:
1. You have a small room, and
2. You don't listen loud.

I say this because a few weeks ago, I helped the new owner of my old IIIas set them up with his Naim 250.  It coped quite well - he had a small room and didn't listen loud - but the same music sounded much better on my own system, when I got home, driven actively with a lot more wattage! )

You mentioned a few amps - I know nothing about them but IMO, there is no better-sounding amp for 3.X Maggies than the Magtech.  The Parasound A21 is a fair way back - but still very good.

And as for "The Naim gear has a PRAT and lifelike character that will be tough to duplicate" ... a lot of BS, again IMO.  I compared one of my own Naim 250s with a local amp about 10 years ago - and promptly sold my Naims and bought 3 of the ones that bettered it.  Unfortunately, though, they don't have enough power for me to recommend one passively driving a 3.7 (you can't run 3.7s actively, given the series XO) - hence my recommendation for Magtech.

Good luck, they are supposed to be wonderful speakers. 

Regards,

Andy

Andy,

Thanks for your comments.  Yes it is a 250.  I've owned Naim gear since the 70s and need something to force a change.  I think the Maggie's will be the catalyst.  Although built with stiff power supplies they lack the necessary power and more importantly, current, to do the job.

Having said that, I live on the ground floor of a condo building so playing my music loud all the time is not an option for me.  The room is 30x17.5x9, however being an open design my kitchen and dining area take up the last 10x17.5 area, so my listening area is effectively 20x17.5x9.  My current speakers are on the shorter wall firing down the length of the room.  I tried them on the longer wall, but they didn't sound as good because the wall on the right side was now over 13 feet away.

I've heard many good things about the Sanders Magtech amp and it's on my short list.  At 5k it's gonna have to wait a little bit as I'm currently buying my condo.  In the meantime the wait for the 3.7s is killing me.  It has now been 4 weeks.  They said between 4 and 6 weeks when I ordered them.

Colin

[rollo]

good luck with that doing the 'Maggies' justice.

Regardless, lots of 'current capable' choices out there, myself I'm a huge fan of Nelson Pass amplification on planars

  My main amp for the Maggies is an Audio Research DR 250 MK2 servo with 240W of Triode bliss per channel. I did not recco this amp becausse of the 32 tubes required to make it sing.  Substituting the AR classic 60 for the AR DR250 was not much of a difference in performance. The 3 and 3As were voiced using these amps. We liked the 250 better however the Classic 60 never clipped or was shy. Tonality remained constant.
  Either tubes or SS can make Maggies Sing different strokes for different folks thats all.


charles
   
   

[rollo]

IMO, you have received a lot of suggestions from people who have little experience with Maggies?

I believe 3.7s (with their 6dB series XO) are more efficient than the older IIIa/3.3/3.5/3.6 (which use Magnepan's traditional parallel XO).  Therefore it is possible that an amp which is not really enough for the older 3-ways will be acceptable with 3.7s?

If your Naim is a 250, it may well be acceptable - provided:
1. You have a small room, and
2. You don't listen loud.

I say this because a few weeks ago, I helped the new owner of my old IIIas set them up with his Naim 250.  It coped quite well - he had a small room and didn't listen loud - but the same music sounded much better on my own system, when I got home, driven actively with a lot more wattage! )

You mentioned a few amps - I know nothing about them but IMO, there is no better-sounding amp for 3.X Maggies than the Magtech.  The Parasound A21 is a fair way back - but still very good.

And as for "The Naim gear has a PRAT and lifelike character that will be tough to duplicate" ... a lot of BS, again IMO.  I compared one of my own Naim 250s with a local amp about 10 years ago - and promptly sold my Naims and bought 3 of the ones that bettered it.  Unfortunately, though, they don't have enough power for me to recommend one passively driving a 3.7 (you can't run 3.7s actively, given the series XO) - hence my recommendation for Magtech.

Good luck, they are supposed to be wonderful speakers. 

Regards,

Andy

     Are there better amps than Naim ? Absolutely. However I will stick by my comment about PRAT. Not BS at all which I find insulting. You are entitled to disagree but the"BS" line was not cool.



charles

[SteveFord]

I'm sure that Andy didn't mean to come across as being insulting. 
One man's BS is another man's I beg to differ. 
Even so, Ixnay on the BSnay, por favor.

Creilley,
I'll be getting to your Zappa CDs shortly - our very own AVNerdguy whipped up Frankenphono for me and he's going to see if it's possible to breathe life into the, how shall I put it, uniquely engineered Aural Thrills phono preamp, a modern marvel of unconventional thinking, ha, ha. 

[twitch54]

  the Classic 60 never clipped or was shy. Tonality remained constant.

one of two things happened.......you didn't drive the speakers very hard or the more likely scenario is the classic tube clipping that you did not hear and depending on your age.......well I won't go there !

 

Either tubes or SS can make Maggies Sing different strokes for different folks thats all.

I agree with you there Charles, but I can also state that you will find very few Maggie owners driving their speakers with a 60 watt tube amp !

[rollo]

  Ok I will not disagree about more power being an avantage. Now we are using  Arion HS500 class"D" monoblocks at 1000W into 8ohm. We are dealers of such so I did not want to push anything.
  I only mentioned the Classic 60 because of its price used as an alternative. Our Audiosyndrome club members loved the sound from the combo we just preferred the more powerfull amps for the effortless sound. BTW we listen at about 80 to 90db.
   If it were me to choose an amp again it would be CJ or AR for tubed [ very expensive] and Arion for hybrid [ moderate cost] and Bryston 28B [ expensive] for SS. But thats me.
   There are some very good suggestions here. However the only way to truely tell is to audition them in your system. As a starting point so far so good men.
  My age is 61 its OK to go there. I have my ears tested and cleaned on a regular basis  :duh:I can hear to at least 100Hz  . Hey 41 years experience listening and learning is something I'm proud of. Kidding aside its been a long journey with open eyes and I believe tht is key in our hobby.
   I'll take opinions based on hands on experience all day long, just not opinions without hearing it first. Sorry if I got sensitive.
   Hey that is what I base my business model after. Home demo only.


charles
   

[macmagman]

So, should we call you sanmacmagman now? 

In all seriousness, I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about the Magtech amp. It's actually something of a great bargain and it's definitely a great amp.

I've become a valve guy. I'm pretty happy too. 

---

Actually, I suppose you could just as easily be magmacmagman.