Magnepan 20.1

The 501 is transformer coupled. I am not sure it is a good match for the 20.1. It may sound soft. I haven't heard that particular combination but I have heard a 252 driving a pair of 3.6 and it sounded soft. I think you better find ways to do an actual audition before spending that kind of money.

I have heard the Mac 1201s with the 20.1s many times and the combo is very good together. Anything but soft. I wonder if the 501s will be enough?

Wow, maybe not enough juice. I am driving Thiel 3.6's with ease in a large room. Are Maggies even more difficult?

I think the only way to audition these with my amps is to haul these 100lb boulders to the store.

Pops, Maggies are very difficult to drive, need a lot of currents.

Hello Pops,

My experience with the Maggies 3.6r and amps is that the listening satisfaction increases with watts. I tried the 3.6r at my local dealer with a Mac integrated amp (I don't remember, but it was <300 watts). From the mid-range up, it was simply magical, but the little Mac didn't have enough juice to have control over the bass driver. Then my dealer set the Maggies with more power, this time with a Classe amp. The Mac magic was gone, but the bass had more control. I also tried the Maggies with a Krell 400 watts @ 4ohms, and still no much control over the bass driver.

I then went for a single Musician III SE (800watts @ 4 ohms) and the sound was much more coherent from top to bottom. A few months after that, I went for the Spectron mono-blocks by adding another amp and bridging them. This is 2400 watts @ 4 ohms for the Maggies 3.6. This made a huge improvement over a single amp. The bass driver is now driven with absolute authority. My listening room is 14' x 23'. In this room, the Maggies can fill the room with powerful sound that shakes the floors and walls. Strange enough, the shaking aspect of the listening experience started after I added the Joule Electra preamp.

The Maggies can virtually be driven with a few hundred watts, but they really sing with a lot of power and current. I would try to audition them with a similar amp than what you have, if you can.

Best,

iSanchez