McIntosh with Magnepan not a good match?

[miatadan]

I posted in other Magnepan forums and did not expect that most feel that McIntosh amplifiers not a good match to Magnepan speakers?
Seems ARC, Bryston and Pass Labs known as best choice...


I recently purchased the MG 1.7i speakers and I am using the McIntosh MC302.
So far I found the 8 ohm tap sounds better to me, would of thought 4 ohm tap be better as spec sheet shows 4 ohm impedance on Magnepan web site.

What has surprised me was the bass response and dynamics from these speakers. Not broken in as only have had these speakers since last Friday. I did not unpack the Magnepan DWM bass panel yet...

Would appreciate opinions from those here using Magnepan here.

Dan

[mgard]

Hi Dan,

I debated on responding but here goes. I had the 1.7's and upgraded to the 3.7i's. As you can see from my signature I am all Mac with preamp and amps. I think McIntosh sounds wonderful and I would go as far as saying awesome with Magnepan speakers. It is more important to play the room with proper speaker placement and treatments I think. Everyone has their favorite brand and sound that they like. My system gives me the you are there feeling while listening to music. I am running off the 4 ohm taps.

~Mike

[miatadan]

Originally Posted by mgard

Hi Dan,

I debated on responding but here goes. I had the 1.7's and upgraded to the 3.7i's. As you can see from my signature I am all Mac with preamp and amps. I think McIntosh sounds wonderful and I would go as far as saying awesome with Magnepan speakers. It is more important to play the room with proper speaker placement and treatments I think. Everyone has their favorite brand and sound that they like. My system gives me the you are there feeling while listening to music. I am running off the 4 ohm taps.

~Mike

My last speakers were the Martin Logan Spires which was also a panel speaker but I wanted to get away from the hybrid design and have all panel design.

Right now the MG 1.7i is 6 ft from back wall but room is narrow ( only 9ft 6 inchs width ) but length is 20 ft long. Distance between inside edges of both speakers is 4 ft with tweeters on outside edge.

Finding placement harder than with Martin Logan.

It did not make sense to me that McIntosh was a bad match but it was bought up that the autoformers do not allow power to double into 4 ohms.

Dan

[hjdca]

I am running a pair of Mc275 Tube amps into ML Aeries Electrostats. They sound great !! in fact, out of this world ! All this debate comes from the McIntosh Autoformer design which puts out the same watts to 8,4, & 2 ohms, while other high end amps increase their output as the ohms decrease. There are arguments on both sides. The best is use your ears to decide. My opinion is that the Mc275 is a fantastic amp with Electrostats.

[miatadan]

Just as mgard suggested speaker placement makes all the difference

I reversed the speakers so that the tweeters are now in the inside and it made a huge difference So the highs I thought I was missing is all back

Sound is much more balanced and not so bass heavy as earlier.... never thought you could almost have too much bass from panels

Now I am

I know as there is more time played on these new MG 1.7i sound will continue to improve as I read approx 200-300 hours to break in.

Of course my dream amplifier be the McIntosh MC1.2KW

Dan

[Mikado463]

Dan, as a former Maggie (MGIII) and Logan (Spire's) owner I can attest to amplifier synergy being hugely important ......... but none more so than room placement of said speakers.

the Logan's, being highly capacitive in nature require stability, impedance is inverse to the 'norm' yet the hybrid nature of the Spire's makes them easier to drive. Maggie's simply LOVE current delivering capability in ones amplification, I've yet to hear PASS bested on Maggie's.

FWIW, I drove my Logan's with a Plinius SA-102 and or a pair of Rogue M-180's .......... depending on my mood and how much heat I wanted to put into my room !

[miatadan]

Originally Posted by Mikado463

Dan, as a former Maggie (MGIII) and Logan (Spire's) owner I can attest to amplifier synergy being hugely important ......... but none more so than room placement of said speakers.

the Logan's, being highly capacitive in nature require stability, impedance is inverse to the 'norm' yet the hybrid nature of the Spire's makes them easier to drive. Maggie's simply LOVE current delivering capability in ones amplification, I've yet to hear PASS bested on Maggie's.

FWIW, I drove my Logan's with a Plinius SA-102 and or a pair of Rogue M-180's .......... depending on my mood and how much heat I wanted to put into my room !

Considering the size of the power supplies, the current capability must be good in the McIntosh power amplifiers as most of the time I am using just past 3 watts and half way to 30 watts according the my meters, never yet seen power guard lights come on with the Logan's or Maggies but when using Acoustat Spectra 22 full range electrostatics at only 82db efficiency , I was always between 30 watts and 300 watts and at time power guard lights did flash.

[djwhog]

Funny in a way, I was at the S.H.O.W at Newport about 3 years ago, and about one of the best sounding rooms was this combo of amp and speaker.

[BillK]

Don't get too tied up on taps; use whichever sounds best.

[Charles]

As far as taps are concerned I would always go with the speaker's recommended impedance. With Magnepan I believe this is 4 ohms. Modern Mac amps have enough current capacity to drive almost any speaker. I believe that in general Magnepans are forgiving speakers with the added benefits of great imaging, sound staging, openess, and detail. However, as with all planar designs dynamics can be a problem. Mac may not offer the last little bit of dynamics that fine direct coupled amps do. In addition Macs may not possess that last little bit of detail as fine direct coupled amps do. If I were matching an amp to a Magneplaner Mac would not be my first choice, but I would still expect the combination to sound very good.