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Magnepan LRS+ which amps do you use ? * 100 watts or less **
I have a pair coming in this week and wondering if any folks are having good results with 100watt or less amps
i have a Rogue Cronos mag that's about 100 watts , also an Exsposure 2510 that's about 110 into 4 ohms
do you really need hundreds of watts to enjoy these speakers ?
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Just make sure the amp is capable to easily handle 4-ohm loads. I was using an amp that was 90 watts into 4 ohms and I was surprised at how good it sounded. It was capable of moderate listening levels with no problems, but I did notice it got very hot after a short period of listening. I've upgraded to a different amp since them. |
On the lower wattage / lower cost end of the spectrum, take a look at the Audio by Van Alstine SET120 power amp. It’s 60 watts into 8 ohms and doubles to 120 watts into 4 ohms…which is a good indication of the ability to supply current under load. It’s been described as a good match for the LRS by Frank Van Alstine himself after an extended test. It gets warm to hot on the left side where the output transistors are but not overly hot. You can easily keep your hand there. Depending on your room and how loud you’ll play music, it could be all you need. |
I ordered the LRS+ about 3 weeks ago myself and spoke with a rep (Eric) at Magnepan about this. I asked if he thought my 30 wpc Luxman 590 AXII would drive them and he said it would. It was made clear to me that it's not the watts, but the current that matters. And a class A that doubles in watts at 4 ohms is the answer. I will report back when I get these because I am very curious myself. |
I received the LRS+ a few months ago for my bedroom/home theater system (for use with a sub) and assumed I would have to get a new amp. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my old Adcom 545II drives them so well that I don’t even know what I would be looking for in another amp. I believe the Adcom is rated around 100 watts into 8 and 150 watts into 4 but it was sold as a high current amp.
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I have heard the LRS+ with the Exposure 2510 amp [ which I own ] and thought combo was very nice . I'll try that once I get the speakers .
I do have an ace up my sleeve - Rogue audio Pharaoh 1 . wasn't particularly enamored with the class D but would be willing to" dust it off " and put it to work if need be . I have seen lots of positive reviews for Hegel amps but $$ |
Had a pair for about five months (waited 8 months). Im happy enough with my McIntosh 2505 (50wpc) that I havent tried them with one of my bigger amps. Dont judge how your amp sounds until the speakers are broken in (maybe 50 hours). They sound scary bad right out of the box. I forgot to switch from the 8ohm to 4ohm speaker taps on my amp when I first hooked them up. They sounded even more awful. I have about 200 hours listening and several days of micro-arranging them in the room now and they provide a sound stage that I never got from box speakers in my small room. |
Sorry not what you want to hear but yes the LRS sound great but need lots of power. I have bi-amped Audiosource Amp Three amps putting out 200 watts into 4 ohms and they still get hot. I have thermoregulated fan units for them. I blew up an old cheap 80 watt Yamaha amp trying to drive an old pair of MMGs and the LRS are even less efficient. The Amp Threes can be found cheap used and I think they sound fine. They need time to break in and power to make them sing, but they sing. Being able to easily move them around is cool also. |
I think the LRS+ needs power. I have a modded Peachtree GAN1, Peachtree GAN400, and a CODA #16 that I used on the LRS+. The 200-watt modded GAN1, while maybe the best sounding, is weaker on the bass with the LRS+. The Peachtree GAN400 is what i plan on using long-term since I want to keep the costs down on this system. It is pretty good. The CODA #16 is incredible on the LRS+ though it is even better on my Yamaha NS5000 so that is where it resides. My experience with these amps made me decide NOT to buy the Benchmark AHB2 (100 watts @ 8Ohm) for the LRS+. It would have been underpowered. The AHB2 monos likely are not as good as a single stereo AHB2 on the LRS+ due to under 4 Ohm load. The other amps I considered for the LRS+ were substantially more than 100 watts and over 300 watts at 4 Ohm. - SPL s1200 - a used KRELL Duo 300XD (would be as good as the CODA #16) - Parasound JC5 - Bryston 4BSST3 All these amps could be better than the Peachtree GAN400, the KRELL substantially better to my ears, but the GAN400 has the right amount of power for the LRS+ and the right price.
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I had the original LRS for a while, and the 1.7i 25 watts of good tube power will drive them in a smaller room. 50 watts even better. I was using Black Ice and Cary gear. Bass can be a little lean, Room and music dependent. FWIW, I have relatively large SS mono-blocks driving the 1.7i now. Sold off all my tube gear. In my opinion Magnepans sound best at medium-loud volume levels. Not made for blasting thumping electronica at 100+ dB... |
@fac I have enough box speakers. |
I have the 1.7’s and am satisfied with the performance of the Odyssey Khartago which is rated at 110 into 8 ohms. The Maggie’s however are somewhere around 4 ohms impedance. The amp is stable driving 4 ohm loads and sounds amazing. However you’ll also need a preamp and possibly a phono amp to accompany a TT setup.
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To follow up ... Picked up the LRS+ yesterday - set them up and used my Exposure 2510 int amp to start with source was a humble NAD CD player . put in what I believe to be an excellent recording / CD format - Diana Krall- Wallflower ... and away we went ! Vocals had that "in the room" imaging , nice wide soundstage . Mid range details were all there + . There is Bass ! ok not booming bass but enough to balance mid / highs I had plans to switch to some other amps but found no desire to do so after a few minutes of listening you know its good when you are listening to music & not equipment . these are brand new & think they need some hours to break in - the Exposure amp is pretty new so things with this set up will get better yet one negative would be the " stands " will need to upgrade for sure they’re pitched back or if using the clip adjuster to stand them more vertical - I felt they were likely to fall over ! Have to keep cat away from these ! Surprise was how these were not as finicky[ for room placement] as I’d have thought . Had .7’s years ago and had fits with them ? |
I need to make a correction on this statement. When I first got the brand new LRS+ I put the modded Peachtree GAN1 on it and it was good, but the bass was a little shy compared to my CODA #16. Yesterday, I put the GAN1 back with the LRS+ because I am returning the Peachtree GAN400 that I hoped would be my LRS+ amp. My initial statement about the GAN1 was premature. I now have more than 200 hours on the LRS+ and the GAN1 on this speaker today is incredible. It sounds perfect. This GAN1 design is really incredible idea, and I cannot wait until more advanced implementations come out with analog source inputs and sub-woofer integration. The Daniel Hertz units do all of this, but I am not sure if it is GAN based. My unit is way better than stock from the mods by Ric at EVS (tweakaudio.com) Maria Amplifiers – Daniel Hertz SA I am debating whether to sell all of my office gear and just keep the modded PeachTree GAN1 | LRS+ | Sonore OpticalRendu + SPDIF addition for the streaming. I think I am liking this even better than the CODA #16 + DAC + preamp + interconnects + LRS+. The GAN1 is not powerful enough for my Yamaha NS5000 but it is great on the LRS+.
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I too am waiting on LRS+ speakers. I purchased the Kinki Studio EX-M1 Integrated Amplifier to drive the speakers. Additionally, I upgraded the amplifier with Stacatto opamps and removed the stock ampliers feet and replaced them with Eden Sound Bear Paw Sr. Radius brass footers. I'll post again later once I receive speakers and let you know about pairing. |
the kinki is an excellent, high value, high performance amp ... very very good with maggies, with a very pure, clean sound, effortless dynamics and tremendous grip, sound slightly on the yin side of neutral i put sparkos op amps in mine, a very nice (and easy) mod |
I have the original LRS, about 2 years old. Have used the Primaluna dialogue premium HP power amp. The HP is the “bigger” Primaluna, about 70 wpc using 4 EL34s per channel. I could not be happier as I believe the Maggie’s are perfect with EL34 tube amps. The HP was replaced by the EVO series, but I have seen them used for $2500 ish. |
I am using the Starke Sound Fiera 4 Class D 4-ch amp. It is spec’d at 260 W/ch with all Ch driven but it can be bridged so that pushes its output to over 400 w/ch. It is a terrific match for the LRS+ speakers. Mine is barely warm after hours of use. The match is synergistic and the sound is nothing short of spectacular. And here’s the thing: The amp is priced at $999 on their website. Nothing out there touches this amp in terms of price/performance. |
A coupla things… i just received my pair of the LRS+ on Saturday this past weekend after waiting three months for them to arrive. Late last year I picked up a pair of original MMG’s to replace a pair of Thiel CS2.4’s - my other preferred speaker manufacturer. I’ve moved through many different models made by either over the years and now, that I’m older, wiser, semi-retired, I’ve decided to settle with Magnepan for keeps. I purchased a pair of Magna-Riser stands for the MMG’s not long after I got them since the woefully inadequate original equipment stands are a cruel joke. I waited a few months for them to arrive, and if only for aesthetics they’re a worthwhile investment. They’re better looking than the optional stands Magnepan is now offering for the LRS+, and I think they cost about the same - $300ish. Even better, they fit the LRS+ as well. One immediate takeaway from my first listening experience with the LRS+ was how good the original MMG’s are. While not a side by side comparison, I was able to suss out the differences - and they’re small differences - between the two in me head. The original MMG is still no slouch in providing impressive sonics. My setup is simple, a Belles 250i Mosfet integrated amplifier, (solid state power with a tubed preamp) an Aurender N100H 2TB server, a cheap-seats Pro-Ject turntable, a Cayin disc transporter, a couple of cheap-seats Schiit DACS, and an equally cheap-seats Pro-Ject tube phono stage. The only thing I’m considering upgrading at this point is a DAC, and I’m pretty much honed in on getting a used Chord Qutest model. I also use a Furman conditioner. There is little to no information available anywhere on the specs for the integrated, but I’ll wager that it’s 125/250 into 8ohms/4ohms. I’ve written to Power Modules, David Belles current company, to no avail. As for my dedicated listening room, it’s 24 feet long by 14 feet wide, with a ceiling that slopes from 9 feet to 17 feet at the apex. One the left, about four feet from a speaker is a wall, on the right the next wall is 12 feet away. I sit about ten-twelve feet from the setup. My second impression with the LRS+ is that it starts to improve when the amp is warmed up. That’s pretty much true for any amp I guess. The speakers were setup about two feet from the rear wall, roughly 8-9 feet apart. To my humble ears they sound best at two feet from the rear wall. I’m a happy camper. |
Enjoy your new speakers Oblgny. I have an old pair of the MMGs in storage. They started to delaminate that I fixed and a foil broke that I somehow repaired by soldering a wire across and holes were drilled into the wood edges so I could mount them on hinges off the stereo cabinet. I feel sorry for my speakers. Living with me is tough. The new victims are the LRS Great revealing speakers and yes it seems the amps need warm up. It would interesting to compare them again. I should sell the MMGs but they are a bit of a mess. |
@oblgny Give the LRS+ about 300 to 400 hours. Mine has gotten much better with more playback. My room is also small which I think helps the LRS+. |
I think the OP likes...you know....music, |
I ended up not following my advice and put the mostly Class A CODA #16 on the LRS+. It is definitely the best the LRS+ has sounded. The LRS+ can really use the power and current. My Sanders Magtech (Magnepan + Tech) was great on the LRS+ at 500 | 900 watts @ 8 | 4 Ohm. The #16 is a bit better on the bass and a bit cleaner on top. I think the Sanders is the best Class AB amp I have owned. I will be getting another CODA amp to replace the Sanders, which is on my other system. Maybe a better LRS+. I am staying with the LRS+. |