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Magnepan Full-range ribbon and planar speakers

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Old 01-18-2015, 02:19 PM
timm timm is offline
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Default Maggies and Tubes

Hi all -- I am faced with a conundrum of sorts... but maybe a good one....

I currently have Martin Logan Odysseys biamped with a sunfire cinema grand signature.... Per the spec - this equates to 850 watts into the woofer and 850 watts into the panels into a 4 ohm load... divide that by 2 into an 8 ohm load.... this is all hooked up to a cary slp98p preamp....

My plan is to get some maggie 20.7s... However, this leaves me with a need for an amp for the secondary system.... or a better amp for the primary system.... Since the sunfire is a big solid state amp - my thought was -- could I get something that might be different - but great none the less... I need to hook up the sunfire to the maggies when I get them... and see how things go.... but, the other system at that point will be 'amp-less'..... I have a couple of solid state pre-amps I can utilize with the Martin Logan system but would need an amp....

So.... back to the OP's topic (that would be me)..... I saw this PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP stereo amp.. Produces 70w ultralinear mode.... but.... it has a mono switch on the back... so if you flip it - power doubles and if you purchase a second one - you have two mono-blocks w 150-175 watts (depending on tube choice).... This seemed interesting to me - since I could essentially buy one - possibly use it on the ML system (or if it sounds better on the maggies)... The ML system would be for casual listening ....

What are your thoughts on this? It allows me to create a big mono-block possibility in the future - if the maggies are happy with tube amplification with this type of power etc.... and also gets me an amp for my secondary system now....... Or if the sunfire just sounds great with the mags - I just stay with the stereo amp and not get the monoblock addition down the road

Give me some feedback on tubes (150-175 watts worth of tubes) and maggies... I am hoping the stats will be fine for non-critical listening....(i.e. - I put it on when we are eating dinner...or sitting on the deck outside.... The current system is located near both areas....
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Old 01-18-2015, 02:38 PM
harri009 harri009 is offline
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Amps I have used with my 3.7's include a 300 wpc krell SS, 185 wpc Emotiva SS, 700 wpc pass lab SS, 200 wpc pass labs SS, 75 wpc Cayin tube, 400 wpc Modwright SS, 900 wpc Sanders Magtech SS, 500 wpc BAT SS, and my current 180 wpc Rogue M180's Tube. Thus far the only amps I felt were to underpowered to actually use was the cayin and the emotiva. The 200wpc pass labs are class A and I never felt like they were running out of juice. The Rogue M180's are plenty of power for me but I think 180-200wpc class A or tube power is about as low as you can get away with.

Last edited by harri009; 01-18-2015 at 03:25 PM.
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Old 01-18-2015, 02:50 PM
timm timm is offline
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Originally Posted by harri009 View Post
Amps I have used with my 3.7's include a 300 wpc krell SS, 185 wpc Emotiva SS, 700 wpc pass lab SS, 200 wpc pass labs SS, 75 wpc Cayin tube, 400 wpc Modwright SS, 900 wpc Sanders Magtech SS, 500 wpc BAT SS, and my current 180 wpc Rogue M180's Tube. Thus far the only amps I felt were to underpowered to actually use was the cayin and the emotiva. The 200wpc pass labs are class and and I never felt like they were running out of juice. The Rogue M180's are plenty of power for me but I think 180-200wpc class A or tube power is about as low as you can get away with.
Harri009 -- are the Rogues your favorite amps you have tried?
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Old 01-18-2015, 03:22 PM
harri009 harri009 is offline
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Harri009 -- are the Rogues your favorite amps you have tried?
Favorite would probably be the Pass XA100.5's but the Rogues are probably number 2. If you have the coin for some 100.5's or 160.5's I say go that route. If you only have about 3k to spend the M180's are excellent
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Old 01-18-2015, 03:37 PM
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I went from ARC to Krell for more raw power (I have 20.1's), and I am now buying harri009's Pass Labs, which are the best solid state I have heard with Maggies.
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Old 01-18-2015, 03:54 PM
harri009 harri009 is offline
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Originally Posted by Robert_Anderson View Post
I went from ARC to Krell for more raw power (I have 20.1's), and I am now buying harri009's Pass Labs, which are the best solid state I have heard with Maggies.
And I only sold so that I could fund an analog setup
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Old 01-18-2015, 06:06 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by harri009 View Post
Amps I have used with my 3.7's include a 300 wpc krell SS, 185 wpc Emotiva SS, 700 wpc pass lab SS, 200 wpc pass labs SS, 75 wpc Cayin tube, 400 wpc Modwright SS, 900 wpc Sanders Magtech SS, 500 wpc BAT SS, and my current 180 wpc Rogue M180's Tube. Thus far the only amps I felt were to underpowered to actually use was the cayin and the emotiva. The 200wpc pass labs are class A and I never felt like they were running out of juice. The Rogue M180's are plenty of power for me but I think 180-200wpc class A or tube power is about as low as you can get away with.
What would you say are differences between the Magtech and the Pass Labs?
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Old 01-18-2015, 06:44 PM
harri009 harri009 is offline
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What would you say are differences between the Magtech and the Pass Labs?
It's been a while since I owned the Magtech and at the time the direct comparison was with a X350.5. The only thing I remember as notable was that the Magtech was darker. :/ been to long
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Old 01-20-2015, 10:53 AM
wildcat82 wildcat82 is offline
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Originally Posted by harri009 View Post
It's been a while since I owned the Magtech and at the time the direct comparison was with a X350.5. The only thing I remember as notable was that the Magtech was darker. :/ been to long
Although I have never heard a Pass amp (would love to though) I do have a Magtech and would not call it a dark sound, in fact its as neutral as any amp I have ever owned and matches perfectly with my 20.7s.
As for tubes vs SS for Maggies, I prefer SS for amp(s) and tubs for source devices. Maggies need power and LOTS of it to sound their best and this means a really good power supply (read about the Magtech Power supply), Magnepan states this on their website too.

There are some decent sized tube amps available however, very few get to the level (and at what cost?) that the big Maggies require to sound their best.

Brett
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Old 01-20-2015, 11:17 AM
harri009 harri009 is offline
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Originally Posted by wildcat82 View Post
Although I have never heard a Pass amp (would love to though) I do have a Magtech and would not call it a dark sound, in fact its as neutral as any amp I have ever owned and matches perfectly with my 20.7s. As for tubes vs SS for Maggies, I prefer SS for amp(s) and tubs for source devices. Maggies need power and LOTS of it to sound their best and this means a really good power supply (read about the Magtech Power supply), Magnepan states this on their website too. There are some decent sized tube amps available however, very few get to the level (and at what cost?) that the big Maggies require to sound their best. Brett
I would not call it dark either, in A/B comparison to the 350.5 it was darker though
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