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Classe 300 or Innersound Esl amp. for Maggie 3.5s?

After much research I have narrowed down my decision to the Classe 300 or Innersound amp. Help me decide which will bring out the full boogie in my new used maggies.

Currently I have 2 NAD 2600 amps that either clip or blow a fusse when playing rock music pretty loud. Love the Maggies and play about 60% rock.
Will look to purchase another amp down the road but one nice amp will have to do for a year.

Current preamp is an Adcom 555II that will soon be a BATVK3I or CJ 14?

After that money is shot.

Help me decide please I need the last bit of encouragement to pull the trigger.

Added thoughts are ok to if you think from experince I could do better for the same $ range.

Thank all of you for your help on Audiogon, I would have never been able to purchase and Drive my dream Maggies without this sight. It has made turning 40 year OLD fun lately.
lance328
eagle
154 posts
 
While I respect both of your choices, I put my money on the McCormack DNA-2 for my 3.6's. No regrets.
plato
1,543 posts
 
Probably the InnerSound ESL amp would be the better choice. It will drive virtually any current commercial loudspeakers very well. I've used mine with the InnerSound Eros, B&W CDM 9NTs, and Maggie 12QRs and the amp was virtually unflappable with any of those (at very healthy volume levels). It's really a nice thing to be able to play your system as loud as you please and not have to worry about clipping or amplifier failure.
travis's avatar
travis
239 posts
 
I plan to hear the InnerSound with my 3.6 within the next month, hopefully. But since the InnerSound comes with a 30 day trial, why not try? Perhaps Duke at audiokinesis.com would help.
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,306 posts
 
I had the Innersound amp with my Maggie 1.6's for the 30 day trial and the sound was very immediate and dynamic and they played very loud, not in the typical way that Maggie's sound, more like dynamic speakers (in a good way). I could not believe how loud those speakers would play. I also tried the Innersound speaker wire which was quite a bit better than the Nordost Blue Heaven I had at the time.

I sometimes wish I still had that amp but went to a Plinius SA100 MKIII instead which was partly because I could get one for $1300 less. The Plinius is warmer and seemed to have better harmonics or tone but the Innersound had that very appealing immediate quality which was hard for me to let go.

I posted a thread about the Innersound with Maggies which had a variety of responses (about 35 responses I believe) in short I recommend you give it a try, you might keep it.

let us know how it goes
eagle
154 posts
 
I should expand a bit on my first response. The maggie dealer where I purchased mine is a Classe dealer and I thought they sounded good together. If my choices were limited to the two you are considering it would be the Innersound. Not only is there the 30 day trial, I think they refund shipping too. That is a good indicator they don't expect many returns.
The fact it doubles output wattage, 300w to 600w from 8 to 4 ohms is another thing I would look for in an amp. You will also have a new amp warranty compared to buying a used one.
What power cord do you plan to use with your new amp?
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