Magnepan 3.6

I had 3.5R's which are slightly different. That being said, 200 watts tube or solid state is the least I would use with them. My room is large, I listen in the high 80's
spl to a wide variety of music.

If your room is small (not likely with larger Maggies) and
you listen at low levels, then m-a-y-b-e...

Unless you can get in and out of the 40 watt amps without taking a financial hit, I'd say nope. If you can afford to try them then go ahead, nothing to lose.

You will need a bit of luck though, larger Maggies are a pretty stable mostly resistive load, but require current to open up.

Mrtennis, "how do you know"

If you like it, you like it. In my experience, the speakers respond to high current/high power that allows them to open up and sound their best. Whatever floats your boat. For my tastes, low wattage would only suffice for background music and involve no critical listening.

hi narrod:

how do you know i'm not hearing what the speakers can do, if i am restricting the spl to 79 db ?

i don't listen loud even when i use my vtl deluxe 120s in terode mode , i.e., 120 watts.

i was not the only one who liked the 1.6s with 4 watts. i was the host of an audio meeting. 6 other members of a club liked what they heard as well.

"i drive a pair of 1.6s with 4 watts."

Four watts? If so, you are not hearing what the speakers can do. You may like it. I would hate it.

fwiw I ran 1.6s with a Stingray (50 watts) and it did a good job

It could work IF: The amp has great transformers and a strong power supply and you don't play the music much above 80db. Not all SET's are created equal.

I've heard 100 watt amps take a dump trying to drive my 3.6's. Even at lower levels it sounded anemic. My Bedini, at 45 watts, does fine. I also use an SET sometimes. It's an Art Audio Carissa Sig with 16 watts. It works great within its limits. Most people I have demoed my system for have preferred the Carissa to the others, of course, within its limits.

you should have no problem with an spl of less than 80 db.

i drive a pair of 1.6s with 4 watts. don't listen to the naysayers. try it and see. bring the amp to the speakers.
make sure the room is not much larger than your room.

Not realy 40 watts wont do the 3.6 justice.So many seem to want to try out SET but never use the right loudspeakers for SET. If SETs what you want get loudspeakers for it if you love your 3.6 get the right amp for them.

Match? That's hard to say since there are other factors involved. Listening room/acoustics/other gear ????????

At very low levels, maybe, but it is not a good match with a current hungry speaker such as the 3.6