Recommendation for used Amp to power Magnepan 1.6

1.7i's here with Proceed HPA2's.  Pretty happy.

If interested, I can forward you the article of Absolute Sound. 

Hello, I’m reading this very late. I’ve got good experience with several versions of Magnepans. Especially the 1.6.   A great amp to match these speakers with is a Conrad Johnson SA-250 amp. High current solid state 125 watts. I own 2 and also a SA-400. Years ago, Absolute Sound Magazine had an article of a “Dream System” under $15,000.  It consisted of the Magnepan 3.5’s being run by SA-250 amps.  I’m preparing to let go of my SA-250 amps soon so let me know if interested. 

Magneplanar makes great loudspeakers. I own both a set of Magnepan 1.6 and a pair of the newer 1.7i loudspeakers.

Magnepan speakers are a great value, but what you’ve saved from your loudspeaker budget will be absorbed by your amplifier costs.

Magnepans need an amplifier producing a least a solid 100 Watts per channel into a 4 ohm load. Magnepans will also expose your amplifier’s deficiencies or colorations much more than many other loudspeakers in this price category.

I drive my Magnepan 1.6 loudspeakers with an Audio Research VT-100 Mk III stereo vacuum tube amplifier producing a reliable 100 Watts RMS per channel into a 4 ohm load. My Magnepan 1.7i loudspeaker are driven by an Audio Research 300.2 stereo solid state amplifier producing a solid 500 Watts per channel into a 4 ohm load.

100 watts of vacuum tube power drives them nicely at normal to moderately loud levels, but the 500 watt solid state power does a better job with loud rock and large symphonic works.

You’ve stated you have $1000 be spend. But that may be a bit low unless you’re willing to explore the second-hand amplifier market, and even then you’ll have to be a very savvy buyer.

If you’re willing to spend a little more and purchase new equipment the 300 Watt per channel PS Audio Stellar S300 power amplifier at $1499 is a great value.

The 300 Watt per channel Odyssey Statros Stereo Extreme for $1800 is another good choice, and has been an Absolute Sound Editor’s Choice repeatedly.

A quick eBay search found a used Audio Research VT 100 Mk III with new tubes with a Buy It Now for $1250 + $89.92 shipping from WV. (This is what I’d buy)

Wyred 4 Sound’s ST-500 Mk II Series Stereo amplifier produces 430 Watt per channel into a 4 ohm load and also gets the Absolute Sounds Editor’s Choice year after year. For $1499 it’s a bargain.
The new amplifier are probably also available second hand for less.
-gb-

I’ve owed 1-series Maggies since 1980. For a while I used to have a pair of 1.6s. Now it’s 1.7i for the front channels and 1.7 for the rear channels. Count me in with the Bryston crowd.
A few years ago I picked up two Bryston 4bst amps and have been very happy with them. A really sweet 4bst will stretch your budget by a hundred or two, but at that level you would have a high quality, 400W into 4 ohms amplifier with a few years warrenty remaining.
One other consideration, (thinking that you might like that good ol' tube sound), Bryston amps will match up better with almost any tube pre-amp (if you decide to go that way), than most other amps. Most Bryston amps are rated at 50K ohms of input impedance which puts them in a small 50K+ group that includes my old Adcom amps, McCormick amps, I believe Levinson amps, and maybe one or two more,
In my system I use a pair of reworked and improved MacIntosh C-20 preamps, one right before each Bryston amp. These two C-20s provide volume control and l-r balancing for my front and rear channels, and have been providing that sweet tube sound to my ears for almost 4 decades. Long before the term "tube buffer" came into vogue. In the C-20 instructions, MacIntosh advises against using the preamp will amps with less than a 50k impedance.
Just saying - if you ever decide to go with a tube preamp in the future, it would be good to pay some attention to how the output impedance of preamps you might consider match up with the input impedances of amps you are considering.  I like a 1 to 10 ratio, others go as high as 1 to 20.  (Thats ouput pre to input amp).
On the other hand if you stick with SS equipment, you can disregard everything I just said.  🤔

Below is the wording from my MacIntosh Manual to give you a better idea.

"The MAIN and TAPE output jacks are fed from cathode followers. The input impedance of devices connected to these outputs should be 50,000 ohms or greater, and the capacitive reactance of audio cables connecting these devices should not be less than 8,000ohms at 20,000 cycles. This is the reactance of acapacity of 1,000 mmf. Audio cable having a capacityof 25 mmf per foot may be 40 feet long; 13.5 mmf perfoot cable may be 75 feet long."

I drive my 1.6’s with a 30 year old Hafler DH 220 and have no complaints, plenty of power.

I've had Magnepans for over 40 years, and currently own 1.7's and 1.6's.  Both are driven with Emotiva XPA-2's.  The 1.6's with a generation 1 version and the 1.7's with a gen 3 version..the current model. That goes for a grand brand new with a five year warrenty. It puts out 300 watts per channel at 8 ohms and 490 a channel at 4 ohm., and it sounds very nice with my 1.7's. 

Re: Rotel-  Rotel amps seem to be one of those amps that people either love or can’t stand.  I personally never though they were that great,but love my Sunfire and there are plenty of people that hate Sunfire.  

Re: Aragon - Great amps that double as room heaters.  I would suspect most need the caps replaced by now, but if the cost of doing so is reasonable, the 4004 and 8008 are great with Maggies.  

I was using my Aragon 8008BB to drive my Maggy 1.7i with excellent results. It's a dual mono amp that is very high current. 200 watts at 8 Ohms & 400 watts at 4 Ohms which the Maggie's is rated at. I got the upgrade bug & bought a PS Audio BHK 250. While it's amazing with the Maggie's the Aragon holds it's own. I'm selling mine for $900 + actual shipping costs. The Aragons are built to military spec & last forever. A truly iconic amp at that price point & have stellar reviews. 

I'm using a vintage Classe Audio DR-9, the last product engineered by David Reich, the uber engineer of the Classe heyday.  It's very high current into 4 ohms and performs well with the LRS. I have no idea what it costs on the used market though.
Keith

There are a few Rotel rb-1080’s on eBay now. One of them is near $600.
They are 200 wpc @ 8 ohms. They’ll be in the 300 wpc range with your 6 ohm Maggies.
I have a Rotel rb-1070 driving mmgi’s and at 130 wpc @ 8ohms...it does a great job driving the 6 ohm Maggies.
The Rotel rb-1070 drives them better than my 100 wpc Parasound htc-800 ii and my 100 wpc Rotel rx-1052 ever did.
The rb-1080 was Rotel’s top of the line amp.

Yes - the Parasound Halo A21 is great with Maggies - I use one, as well as the Parasound Halo JC-1 monoblocks.  

Or... if... you want to try a class d amp - the Class D Audio SDS-470C sounds great with Maggies - which I also use with them.

http://classdaudio.com/sds-470c-class-d-audio-power-amplifier.html

Bryston 4B asking price 590 bucks.  Buy two they are cheap.  I am not the seller but this guy does have two of them along with a crossover.  There you go there you have it IMHO.

Let's see, when Magnepan shows off their speakers, they use Bryston, or a Parasound A21? 

4B Bryston under a grand.

Another Parasound A21 owner here. I use it on my Magnepan MMGs. It sounds terrific and as a side note, I have a much lower watt tube amp that I had used on the MMGs but did not sound quite as good as the A21. Of course, as it had been mentioned already, high current is needed. If you find a quality dual mono amp, it would sound better, since it would present less strain/demand on the amp. I heard the Musical Fidelity M6 500i integrated amp some years back and the 1.6’s would sing sweetly with that amp.

I have the Maggie 1.7QR's driven with a Parasound Halo A-21.  It is a wonderful combination.  It may be a few hundred outside your range, but worth every penny IMHO.  Being a class A/AB amp it runs warm, but never hot, and has all the gusto and clarity of the bigger money amps, your results may vary.

Re birdfan: I do too.... the Anthem MCA 20 is an excellent choice to drive the 1.7i.

I run my 1.7i’s with an old Anthem MCA 20. Great sounding amp and you can find one for well under your budget. 

Best

@Ihassaguy is correct.  High current and a quality item is best.  With Maggies, you only hear what you put in, so what you hear is whatever the designer of the amp wanted to feature.

Cheers,

Richard

If you can find the old PS Audio 200C in good working order, it puts out 200w/ch at 8 ohms, 400 at 4. I've seen them go for around $400. Check the power supply capacitors!

I agree with @Ihassaguy. I own a pair of 1.7i Maggies. I had Schiit Vidar monoblocks. But I sold them because one channel went into thermal protection when I played Jeff Beck loudly. I think the best I can recommend for a reasonable price, but outside of your budget is the Bryston 4B3. There are plenty of used ones around. So you don’t have to buy a new one. They have plenty of power. When you get more cash, you can also get another one and run them in Bridge mode as monoblocks. 

Richard Gray, who is a Maggie lover, told me that I needed 300wpc into 4 ohms to make my 3.6r's really perform. With his blessing I bought a used Parasound Halo A21 here on Audiogon. I've been very pleased with the results. 

As a long time Maggie owner, they need lots of current.  At your price point I am reluctant to make suggestions other than you may need a bit bigger budget to make them bloom.

I spent about 10 percent more on used amps than I spent on new Maggies.  I also use a tube pre amp and the combination is magical when you get enough power to them.  

Good Luck in your journey!!!

mcreyn, you are being hard on yourself for no reason. He stated he was using 40 watt tube amps, but is, now , looking into ss. You got it right buddy. Enjoy ! MrD.

I just realized the OP asked about tube amps.  Sorry for giving a list of SS amps.  Oops.  

True  , I have used the 150A ref. with Maggies and it does the job if you are not blasting .
I have a Van Alstine 450 that putts out  300 watts a side at 6 ohms that does better .

The preowned Belles amp has a nice tube friendly input impedance, will sound like music and will work nicely with the Magnepan 1.6. Best JohnnyR

You don't even need to buy used.  A Schiit Vidar is $699 new.  Closeout Parasound A23s are available for on closeout for $850.  Used, there is a PS Audio S300 on US Audio Mart for $975 right now. For less a Parasound HCA1500A can be had for about $500-600.   

Keep in mind; that Perreaux 3150 is a 30 year old piece of gear. Count on having all it’s electrolytic capacitors replaced, unless recently done. The PMF1150B, even older.      http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.823.6133&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Need more power? There is a Perreaux 3150 available on EBay at auction. Starting bid is $700 + $124 shipping from California. So far no bidders! Auction ends tomorrow July 15 at 10 PM. Seller is "music52". For a monster power amp this is a real good deal! Sonically equal to any of today's four-figure amps!

How about a Perreaux PMF1150B? There is one available now on Ebay. $350 + $60 shipping from Illinois. Seller is "zimbida01". Perreaux (New Zealand) made excellent SS gear. This one is 100wpc and should easily drive your Magneplanars!