Amp for 3.7's

macmagman · « **Reply #20 on:** 7 Jul 2012, 07:10 pm »

Quote from: macmagman on 7 Jul 2012, 07:06 pm

Thats kinda what I was thinking. I had been solely a McIntosh guy for 30 years untill I entered the Maggie camp but have seen that other amps just work better with them. I do still have a C2200 pre amp and a MVP871 player that I have no intention on replacing.

andyr · « **Reply #21 on:** 7 Jul 2012, 10:05 pm »

Quote from: rollo on 7 Jul 2012, 03:34 pm

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

I wasn't trying to insult you, Charles - or imply anything about your IQ. (BS is a very common word in Oz.) But, having been a Naim owner for over 20 years, I feel I am "qualified" to comment on Naim amps.

This talk of "PRAT", IMO, is kind of like the "secret handshake" that initiates in some societies use, to differentiate themselves from the hoi polloi and give themselves a warm, smug feeling that they are the only ones that know where it's at.

To the rest of the world it's just a peculiar handshake - on the level of, say, John Clease's "Funny walk"!

Regards,

Andy

andyr · « **Reply #22 on:** 7 Jul 2012, 10:10 pm »

Quote from: creilly333 on 7 Jul 2012, 01:46 pm

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

30 x 17 is a nice big room ... however - even though where you are sitting is a 20 x 17 space - it requires more power than if the room itself was only 20 x 17.

Yes, the Magtech is unfortunately expensive. However, I was very impressed with the Parasound A21 (when I heard it driving some 3.6s) and that is much cheaper.

Good luck,

Andy

catastrofe · « **Reply #23 on:** 7 Jul 2012, 10:28 pm »

I can highly recommend the Magtech. I have a pair of them driving my Sanders 10Cs...one for each channel, top-and-bottom. There's a post somewhere on the Martin Logan forum about a $500 discount for mentioning that forum. That would certainly help with the cost aspect...

max190 · « **Reply #24 on:** 7 Jul 2012, 11:03 pm »

Curious...
Anybody here ever try an Audio Research DSi200 int amp with Maggies?

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #25 on:** 7 Jul 2012, 11:04 pm »

Dunno if this is a good match or not but I would check those new JoLida Fusion 200w tube monoblocks. Not ridiculously priced either.

ajzepp · « **Reply #26 on:** 8 Jul 2012, 05:50 am »

I can't believe that i'm usually the only one who will mention the Butler amps...these are AMAZINGLY good for Maggies...you get the balls of solid state with just a touch of tube warmth in a hybrid design that is stable down into 2 ohms. Mr Butler's amps used to be the choice of Jim Winey when they ran shows together, and I can assure you it's obvious as to why. I've had my 5150 for seven years now and my 2250 I bought used a few years ago. Both have worked flawlessly and given me plenty of nice clean current to bi-amp my 3.6s. You can always find these for well under $2k on the used market and they are well worth the price of admission. I plan to send mine back for an update at some point in the next few months, and then I honestly expect to have these amps as the backbone of my system for at least another 7 years, probably even longer. I have absolutely no desire to make a change, and they excel with both music and HT.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #27 on:** 8 Jul 2012, 12:32 pm »

I'll remember Butler's, Zepp, should I ever purchase 3.7's on the basis of your experience and enthusiasm. Good post, mate. If we had a category for "best posts", it would get a vote from me.

ajzepp · « **Reply #28 on:** 8 Jul 2012, 12:49 pm »

Thanks Jim, I really appreciate the kind words. It's sort of ironic because I really had no idea these Butlers were as good with Maggies as they are, nor did I have any idea that Mr Butler and Mr Winey ran shows together. I originally purchased the 5150 for my Devore Super 8s, which are relatively sensitive and easy to drive, and I was really pleased. When I knew I had decided to move to the 3.6s, I had a few email exchanges with BK Butler about his amps, and that's when I got a bit of an education on them. It was almost like the audio gods had pre-ordained my purchase decision, knowing that in the future I'd need them to drive the bigger Maggies.

I didn't have the crossover at the time, so I was only running one channel of my 5150 into each speaker and it was honestly plenty of current. Mr Butler explained that his amps can pretty much drive ANY load and that even one 150watt channel of the 5150 would surpass my expectations and be more than adequate to drive the 3.6s. Well, he was right. Everyone knows Maggies will scale, though, so that's when I added the 2250 and the Marchand crossover and sent 250watts to the bass panel and 150 to the mids/treble. Pretty awesome arrangement, I must say.

I know the Butler gear isnt sexy (although the glowing blue tubes look beautiful in a darkened room!), but they will give Maggie all she needs and won't break the bank in the process. It just really surprises me that more people either aren't aware of how good these amps are, or they have yet to really give them an audition with their Maggies.

rollo · « **Reply #29 on:** 8 Jul 2012, 02:21 pm »

Quote from: andyr on 7 Jul 2012, 10:05 pm

I wasn't trying to insult you, Charles - or imply anything about your IQ. (BS is a very common word in Oz.) But, having been a Naim owner for over 20 years, I feel I am "qualified" to comment on Naim amps.

This talk of "PRAT", IMO, is kind of like the "secret handshake" that initiates in some societies use, to differentiate themselves from the hoi polloi and give themselves a warm, smug feeling that they are the only ones that know where it's at. To the rest of the world it's just a peculiar handshake - on the level of, say, John Clease's "Funny walk"!

Regards,

Andy

Cool. No problem. Understand completely with the secret handshake mentality of Naim and Linn for that matter. I stopped years ago with the Linn LP12 after countless upgrades. Now being used for mono only. Replaced with a Kuzma Stobi S and Stogi S 12"vta tower arm.
No more Ivorism for me.

charles

SteveFord · « **Reply #30 on:** 8 Jul 2012, 02:43 pm »

Secret handshakes are so passe'.
What you really want is the decoder ring, the existance of which I can neither confirm nor deny.

That Butler stuff looks interesting - here's an expired ad on Audiogon so maybe it's still for sale?
http://app.audiogon.com/listings/butler-audio-tdb-2250-free-shipping

ajzepp · « **Reply #31 on:** 8 Jul 2012, 03:11 pm »

Yep, that 2250 would be absolutely perfect for the 3.7s.

I've seen a few here on AC, but they just sit there....it's a real shame!

creilly333 · « **Reply #32 on:** 9 Jul 2012, 02:49 pm »

Quote from: SteveFord on 7 Jul 2012, 03:46 pm

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.

Thanks Steve, I appreciate it.

Colin

creilly333 · « **Reply #33 on:** 13 Jul 2012, 06:53 pm »

3.7's leave the factory on Monday. Woo hoo! Can't wait!

Colin

kevin360 · « **Reply #34 on:** 14 Jul 2012, 12:06 am »

Awesome – it won't be long now!

I had to wait several months for mine, but they were worth every second of that agony (gross exaggeration – they replaced 3.6s, which are fine speakers).

The question is: have you decided what amp you're going to use?

There have been some really great recommendations in this thread. Of course, there are many more. I'm sure you noticed the Sanders Magtech for sale here for around $4k. There's a Pass X250.5 that's selling for under $4K as well. That's just a couple I noticed very recently. That Butler amp Steve linked (I almost bought a Butler) would be brilliant too.

creilly333 · « **Reply #35 on:** 14 Jul 2012, 12:15 am »

Yes I agree there have been some really great recommendations. I'm between the Sanders and the Butler right now. The Butler especially seems like a steal. I'm closing on my house shortly so unfortunately the little Naim will have to do until I get that out of the way. I appreciate all of the help guys. I'll post pics up in the Planar Porn thread when I get them.

Colin

Hank · « **Reply #36 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 01:56 pm »

The guy that had the Butler on Audiogone posted his gmail address. I've sent him 2 emails from home and 1 from work and he hasn't replied to any of them. Does anyone know who he or how to contact him?
thanks

creilly333 · « **Reply #37 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 02:11 pm »

Quote from: kevin360 on 14 Jul 2012, 12:06 am

Awesome – it won't be long now!

I had to wait several months for mine, but they were worth every second of that agony (gross exaggeration – they replaced 3.6s, which are fine speakers).

The question is: have you decided what amp you're going to use?

There have been some really great recommendations in this thread. Of course, there are many more. I'm sure you noticed the Sanders Magtech for sale here for around $4k. There's a Pass X250.5 that's selling for under $4K as well. That's just a couple I noticed very recently. That Butler amp Steve linked (I almost bought a Butler) would be brilliant too.

Speakers have arrived and the dealer is bringing them Thursday night to install them. Can't wait!

Colin

ajzepp · « **Reply #38 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 10:58 pm »

Quote from: Hank on 23 Jul 2012, 01:56 pm

The guy that had the Butler on Audiogone posted his gmail address. I've sent him 2 emails from home and 1 from work and he hasn't replied to any of them. Does anyone know who he or how to contact him?
thanks

Maybe send Audiogon cust svc an email and see if they can assist in reaching the seller...not sure if that would help, but might be worth a shot.

SteveFord · « **Reply #39 on:** 23 Jul 2012, 11:49 pm »

Ya know, you're looking a little green around the gills.
Maybe you should take Friday off to rebound - a three day weekend might be just what the doctor ordered.