which amp for Magnepan 3.5R?
dfho
I recently acquired a pair of Magnepan 3.5R. I am using a Dynaco CDV-2
player and ARC D-200 (120w /channel).
The sound is smooth and relax. Based on the reviews about the 3.5R I
have read, it seems that the mid-range and bass of my system still have
room to improve.
Can anyone who have experiences with Magnepan 3.5 give me some
suggestions as to which amp (pre and/or power-amp) is best to realize
the 3.5R's potential?
Thank you.
Chan Yew Weng
dfho <herh...@rocketmail.com> wrote in article
<3417D4...@rocketmail.com>...
> I recently acquired a pair of Magnepan 3.5R. I am using a Dynaco CDV-2
> player and ARC D-200 (120w /channel).
>
> The sound is smooth and relax. Based on the reviews about the 3.5R I
> have read, it seems that the mid-range and bass of my system still have
> room to improve.
If your Maggie 3.5 is brand new, wait for it to break in for about 2-3
months. The the bass will improve and deepen.
Placement is also a very important consideration for the a good sound.
Experiment with the spacing between the speakers and the distance from the
wall and the material the back wall is made of. In my expeirence, placing
it too close to the wall or if the wall is too reflective, the bass will
tend to be cancelled by the backwave. There is also a distinct correlation
between the distance from the back wall and the depth of the soundstage.
As noted by another user, the maggie are a current hungry speaker hence an
amp that can pour out amps of current, prefebably the power output should
double everytime the impedance drops by half.
The amps that come to my mind:
Aragon 8008 ST/ BB
Bryston 4BST
McCormak DNA 1
Krell (heh)
Classe CA200
Sunfire
Carver Lightstar 2
The main thing is to play around with the placement and wait for your unit
to break in. You will find more improvement this way than by buying a high
powered amp straight away.
-acy
DJWinslow
>Subject: which amp for Magnepan 3.5R?
>From: dfho <herh...@rocketmail.com>
>Date: Thu, 11 Sep 1997 19:20:38 +0800
>Message-id: <3417D4...@rocketmail.com>
>
>
>I recently acquired a pair of Magnepan 3.5R. I am using a Dynaco CDV-2
>player and ARC D-200 (120w /channel).
>
>The sound is smooth and relax. Based on the reviews about the 3.5R I
>have read, it seems that the mid-range and bass of my system still have
>room to improve.
>
>Can anyone who have experiences with Magnepan 3.5 give me some
>suggestions as to which amp (pre and/or power-amp) is best to realize
>the 3.5R's potential?
>
>Thank you.
If when after your Maggie's are fully broken-in and you've experimented
with different listening positions, then consider these amplifiers.
* Classe` CA-150
* McIntosh MC150 or the MA6800 (Intergrated)
* VTL MB-125 or the MB-175 Signature (both are Tubes)
Always too, consider what quality your speaker cable and interconnects are
--- you might want to upgrade them if need be.
Wishing you the best in listening enjoyment,
Donald J. Winslow
W Enterprises NW
Bill Hengeveld
>Can anyone who have experiences with Magnepan 3.5 give me some
>suggestions as to which amp (pre and/or power-amp) is best to realize
>the 3.5R's potential?
I have had the Maggie 3.5's for over a year and have settled on the
Bryston 4Bst. It has the power (plus reserve) to handle the
current-hungry maggies with ease. The Bryston also excels in the bass
region which is where maggies need a little boost. Other amps tried
included the McCormak DNA 1, Proceed Amp2, Levinson, and Aragon 8008. To
my ears the Levinson sounded best but the price was too steep.
My overall impression was that regardless of the amps listed above, the
maggies sounded a bit 'antiseptic', they had tremendous presence and
soundstage and remarkable imaging (once set up properly which took
considerable experimentation and time...). It wasn't until a friend
loaned me an Audio Research LS-15 preamp (tubes) (I was using a ARC
LS2BMkII (no tubes)), that the musical nature of the speakers was
exploited (IMHO of course) and the 'antiseptic' nature dissappeared. The
combination of a tube pre-amp and solid state amp seems to be a wonderful
combination with the 3.5's. I would recommend trying it.
BH
--
Bill Hengeveld
bhe...@mindspring.com
For what its worth.....
Doug Plumb
Bill Hengeveld <bhe...@mindspring.com> wrote in article
<bhenge-1209...@user-37kbtic.dialup.mindspring.com>...
The maggies "musical nature" can be almost completely attributed to their
radiation pattern. Also, they are resistive definetely do not warrent the
capabilities of an expensive amp designed to drive complex loads. I would
start looking at the proverbial "Pioneer Receivers" for an amp to drive
these puppies.
The current hungry maggies have a flat resistance, making them the easiest
product to drive. It should not matter how closely an amplifier
approximates an ideal voltage source. You could even put a big resistor in
series with them and it would have no sonic effect...other than to reduce
levels. Of course your friendly neighborhood audio salon will always
recomend whatever costs what they think you will be willing to part with.
If you are speding the kind of money a Levinson costs, buy an ABX box. I'm
sure you will see (but not hear). You'll save $$$$ thousands. Anyone
telling you that you need an expensive amp to drive maggies should learn
something about complex loads and electro- magnetic damping (or stop
telling fibs)
>
GivenRandy
Doug Plumb wrote:
> The maggies "musical nature" can be almost completely attributed to their
> radiation pattern.
Primarily, yes. Also, the thinness of the planars (magneplanar or
electrostatics) helps in the "speed" of the presentation, and the large
surface area helps in the "ease" of the presentation.
> Also, they are resistive definetely do not warrent the
> capabilities of an expensive amp designed to drive complex loads. I would
> start looking at the proverbial "Pioneer Receivers" for an amp to drive
> these puppies.
Obviously, you do not own Magnepans. If you listen to volumes louder than
using them for headphones, they need a fair amount of power. Additionally,
the amp must provide this into lower impedances down to 3 ohms. This does
not require an "expensive" amp, per se, but a good amp -- and good amps
tend to be more expensive.
Randy Given
Given...@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/GivenRandy