the_nature_boy, I strongly disagree that you have to have high powered ss to drive Maggies well; personal opinion based on many years of owning MG3A's with a variety of ss and tube amps. I would suggest that you first try your VAC before changing anything else; you may find that 60 quality tube watts is more than enough for your listening habits and room. For some recent commentary on this topic:
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/best-cheap-amps-for-magneplanar-speakers?page=2
re mods:
****Unless it's something that was gonna push this speaker to a significantly superior level. ****
Personally, I would not worry about mods before getting a handle on what the stock speaker is capable of. Having said that, and depending on how far you want to take things, it is most definitely possible to push Maggies to a significantly superior level. I (and many others) took my Maggies to a level that was well beyond what the stock speaker was capable of. Good stands for greater rigidity are great; but, in my experience, upgrading the xover components and the internal wiring (and jumpers) can yield amazing results. Many possibilities in that dept. If we acknowledge that good interconnects and speaker cables make an important difference, imagine what replacing the 6'+ piece of decent but basic wire that connects the top of that very revealing ribbon tweeter to the internal section of the xover at the base of the speaker with something of really good quality can do; and that's just the beginning of what's possible. Quality caps and coils are even more crucial. If you are not familiar with this site, poke around a bit in the "Tweaks" page:
http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/
Good luck; fantastic speakers that are great as is and benefit greatly from intelligent mods.
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/best-cheap-amps-for-magneplanar-speakers?page=2
re mods:
****Unless it's something that was gonna push this speaker to a significantly superior level. ****
Personally, I would not worry about mods before getting a handle on what the stock speaker is capable of. Having said that, and depending on how far you want to take things, it is most definitely possible to push Maggies to a significantly superior level. I (and many others) took my Maggies to a level that was well beyond what the stock speaker was capable of. Good stands for greater rigidity are great; but, in my experience, upgrading the xover components and the internal wiring (and jumpers) can yield amazing results. Many possibilities in that dept. If we acknowledge that good interconnects and speaker cables make an important difference, imagine what replacing the 6'+ piece of decent but basic wire that connects the top of that very revealing ribbon tweeter to the internal section of the xover at the base of the speaker with something of really good quality can do; and that's just the beginning of what's possible. Quality caps and coils are even more crucial. If you are not familiar with this site, poke around a bit in the "Tweaks" page:
http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/
Good luck; fantastic speakers that are great as is and benefit greatly from intelligent mods.