The Gear to drive Mini Maggies


First, I wanted to say hello to everyone. So, I am at a point where I want to start potentially building a nice desktop speaker system. I don't have a listening room and my pc desk is inside my entertainment room which is probably medium to large in size. For mostly near field listening would the following items be overkill or would you recommend something else?

1.) Amp: Bryston 28bsst2 (1 for each speaker).
2.) Preamp: Bryston BP26
3.) DAC: Asus Essence one (already own it for headphones figured I would use the balanced out to the preamplifier if that works).
4.) Power Conditioner: Bryston BIT20 Power Conditioner.
5.) Speakers: 2 Mini Maggies
6.) Sub Woofer: Martin Logan Descent i

Now I admit I am not really good at any of this and it would be my first real audiophile set up for speakers. Do you guys think I missed anything from a sound stand point? I appreciate any help that you can provide.

Thank you,
-Jim
jkman
I was considering getting these Mini's for my desktop but now I am also interested in the Audience THE ONE desktop speaker. It would be very interesting to have a comparison between the 2, both provide 30-day trials direct from the manufacturer. I am currently using an Audioengine A2's on the desktop which is passable.
I was considering getting these Mini's for my desktop but now I am also interested in the Audience THE ONE desktop speaker. It would be very interesting to have a comparison between the 2, both provide 30-day trials direct from the manufacturer. I am currently using an Audioengine A2's on the desktop which is passable.
Yyzsantabarbara - You make a good point I did read somewhere that they used it at a show that's why I picked that specific amp. Though that may have been just for the show and maybe it isn't for everyday listening? I really wish Magnepan could weigh in to my question (even though they don't like too). I never heard of THE ONE (though it sounds like a matrix trailer). I will take a peek at those speakers thanks for sharing.
If you were to go overboard for the amp, you should consider the Bryston 3B-SST/3B-SST2 or 4B-SST/4B-SST2 for the Mini. I think it would be a pretty good match considering the Bryston and Magnapan are supposed to play well with each other. A more realistic amp for those speakers would be something like the Wyred4Sound integrated.

You cannot go wrong (in terms of the product working) buying a used Bryston since Bryston will fix whatever ails the used amp as long as you have the original receipt for amps built around 2007+ (for older amps no receipt is needed).

The Sept 2013 issue of Stereophile has a review of the Audience The One. Another speaker that I was looking at for my home office was the KEF LS50.

I currently have the Thiel SCS4 in the living room and I will most likely just move them into my home office when I move to a new place. I have a feeling the Thiels SCS4 will sound better in the office than the other 3 office speakers I have been investigating, Audience ONE, Magnapan Mini, or KEF LS50. Currently, I have the Audioengince A2's in the office.

BTW - There were 3 28B-SST2's on sale here from 40-55% of MSRP I and so tempted to buy a pair and keep in storage until I needed them. If you are like me and tend to stick with what you like (or works) then something like the 28B-SST2 could last you a lifetime. These future big amps are for a future big speaker in a future big room.
Kjman,

"See this is where my confusion is with Mini Maggies. Extreme opposing positions on the amp. Either its Maggies can not have too much power (aka the more the better) or I hear 100w amp ran Maggies great. You can see why someone new like me just scratches their head.

Quote from the manual:
"The Mini Maggie System is a 4 ohm speaker and should be used with a high-current amplifier that can safely drive
a 4 ohm speaker. As a general rule, the Mini Maggie System will require less power when used as a desktop
system compared to use as a woofer/satellite system.
Connect the output of the amplifier to the amplifier input on the DWM Woofer. (Note- There are no left or right
input/outputs on the DWM Woofer.)
Connect the Mini Maggie to the "high" output of the DWM---observing polarity in both cases."

There's a few things that you can do to deal with some of the confusion I'm seeing in your above post. Sometimes you have to stop and ask yourself if what you are doing makes sense. Take the Bryston 28's, for example. Does it make sense that you will need to buy a pair of 15k+, massive mono blocks (I think that's what they cost) to drive a pair of table top speakers/computer speakers? Now, I understand you don't yet know everything about audio, but none of us here does (Except maybe for Al.). You never stop learning. I think the smartest thing you can do at this point is go out and listen to some audio equipment. If you go to a store that has Magnepan, look at what they are using to drive them. When you are listening, its pretty easy to hear an amp that's straining to drive a speaker. Not only that, listen to different brands, as well. Every time you do that, it will be a learning experience that will make this process easier for you.