Budget amp that will give Magnepan 3.6Rs better depth of soundstage


I have 3.6Rs and using Emotiva UMC200 pre/proc and an Outlaw Audio 7100 in a 14 by 14 foot room. So I don't need to turn the volume up to massive levels. The amp will do 100 watts per channel into 8 ohms and 165 watts per channel into 4 ohms. I have been thinking of getting a separate two channel amp for the 3.6Rs. I have read that it takes lots of current to get the best soundstage with instrument placement and depth. I am getting wide soundstage and good sound, but the depth is somewhat muddied enough to not get instrument placement. I am looking for a two channel amp that will give me more of the potential of the 3.6Rs, but be able to be purchased for less that $750 used.  Is there any amp that will be worth upgrading to for that kind of money or do I need a new pre/proc as well?

cdavis2260

One of the first amps I had to drive my Maggie's,  (2.5r,IIIa') was the Harmon Kardon Signature 1.5, that was a great lil power house. Very musical. I'm sorry I sold it.

+1 on room

clean room, carpet, or hardwood?

 

you will need sufficient current for those speakers, and congrats o n the Maggies, those are wicked good speakers. May need corner traps, etc. I have pillows behind my 2nd system, they are in the,same situation as I mentioned in previous message. 
soaks up excess boominess. 
 

those things are way too big for 14x14 room.  Room open on any sides,? As mentioned, you get that airy open sound from reflection, and the highs from the Maggie’s,…oh,did I say they are awesome speakers?

 

took me 3 weeks of nightly moving speakers, swapping rca cables, swapping CD players,  etc etc. 

the most important would be the amp, audition if possible, and check audiogon daily for a stereo amp or. Monoblocks.

you need to look for a high current amp, those bad dogs will suck up 100w easy, and the amp will clip.

 

NO,CLASS D ,..MUSIC WILL SOUND FLAT AND UNINSPIRED, EMOTIONLESS. 

NO TUBES.

SEARCH FOR A MIN 250w high current amp or monos.

 

keep checking reputable shops and audiogon, usaudio,mart. 
 

good luck

I’ll toss in another Maggie/B&K EX-442 (Sonata) combination.

Maggie model: MMG

B&K EX-442 Sonata - dual mono - (1993 w/Toshiba cans), 200/350 wpc 8/4 ohms, 75 amps P-P current (operative measurement, more important than watts) coming out of a Parasound P5 preamp.

I run my Maggies with a Rythmik F12G (paper cone) sub. I also have a smaller, M&K K-10 sub in an opposite corner to round the sound out. Not sure if davidlatzko was running a sub, I’m thinking not with his larger model Maggies, but my system is highly resolving with a very respectable soundstage and I have no control issues at all, but again, our systems are apples/oranges. MMGs are not bass-heavy speakers by any means. And I, too, have a "problem" room with one wall missing (family/listening room opens into kitchen/dining room). Yes, it’s wonderful if you have the space to get them out 4-5’ from the front wall, but some of us just don’t have the option (mine vary from 27" - 36"). The speakers certainly sound better the farther out they are, but my system sounds exceptionally good with my current configuration. Could it sound even better? I’m sure it could. But my amp/speaker combination works really well.

I just wanted to toss in another Maggie/B&K amp experience (love the EX-442 Sonata, btw; it replaced a modded Hafler DH-220 that did a decent job, but not as good as the Sonata that just carries more current; the Hafler is now on office duty running some wonderful, little Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 speakers).

as a longtime maggie owner of various models (mg 3a, .7, 1.7i, and currently 3.7i), i heartily support the worthwhile pursuit to try to identify and catalog suitable amplifiers to drive maggies to satisfying volumes while producing the tremendous sonic purity the speakers are capable of -- done right, sonic ’nirvana’ can be obtained on a very reasonable budget

i shared some of the experiences with specific amps that are more value oriented in an earlier post, but let me add some add’l thoughts here

-- in general, going for older well made well reputed upper tier solid state amps is a very good idea (classe, bedini, bel, belles, muse, threshold, better musical fidelity, older krell class a and so on) provided the amp is well kept and carefully checked out for aging internal components, usually power supply caps - amps approaching 25-30 years in age will usually need at least a proper health check by a qualified tech, some may need recapping to manage their idle noise levels etc if the intent is to use the amp for another decade plus 

-- historically brystons are well known good mates with maggies, in the 90’s and 00’s, wendell often used brystons with maggies at shows, at a point in the 2010 era he switched to pass labs amps -- my own experience with brystons (and sanders magtech, incidentally) is that these are stout amps in power delivery but lack the nuance, silkiness and tonality of the best ss amps on the market (admittedly more expensive ones)... latest gen brystons (cubed series) are said to have closed this sonic gap (i have not heard this series but they’ve also gotten quite expensive, so the price gap to pass, ayre, hegel, coda etc has narrowed as well)

-- older adcoms to my ear are similar to older brystons - have the brute force needed but lack the fineness of sound, they can sound strident and grainy, flatten apparent soundstage

-- want to call out odyssey once again, these are somewhat large somewhat clumsy looking boxes with very very fine sounding, very powerful, very capable amps inside, symphonic line (germany) designs and parts in economized chassis (cosmetically not functionally) -- in my experience they give you top of class sound at a very reasonable price

-- if one goes integrated, the hegels are absolutely top notch sonically - stay with h160/190 and above for maggies