Which Amp for Magnepan MG 3.6/R?

Artar1,

Why would you need to send a Plinius amp back to New Zealand to be fixed???? Last time I checked they have a repair center in Oklahoma in the USA (it may be in NY now). But they have good customer support in the US.

One of the best deals in amplification right now is the Plinius SA250 mk4 used. People are dumping them. It really is a shame. This amp is world class in a lot of ways. My only problem with it is it is a hearnia waiting to strike. It weights something like 150 lbs! Ouch my back!

Another option would be go for mono Bel Canto 200.2 amps. These amps are amazingly powerful, and would probably drive the Maggies very well.

All I would suggest is think power and current. The more power and current your amp has, the better it will be at driving the Maggies. No 100 wpc amp in the world save something like the LAMM M1.1 monoblocks is going to sound as good as the Plinius SA-250 amp into the Maggies. This might be a little bit of an overstatement... but not by much.

KF

Speaking of High current has any one had the opportunity to try an Accuphase A/50V on a pair of maggies? I am curious what the results would be, only 50 watts but tons of current and the ability to drive the most demanding load with ease, hmmmmmmmm.

Hi Tok20000!

I did not know that there was a repair facility in the United States for Plinius amps. That makes a big difference. By far, the Plinius is the best sounding solid state amp I have heard. A new one is not cheap, but the sound quality is wonderful.

Do you know why so many people are selling their SA 250s? Weight would not be a deterrent for me. I use a Proceed AMP 5 in my home theater system, and it weighs more than 100 pounds.

I noticed that you are selling a GamuT D200. It's a nice amp in the right system. Very detailed and sweet sounding with a high degree of transparency. Are you upgrading or are you looking for something else?

Best regards,

How about bye amping the Innersound amps? in comparison? I am running Maggie 3.5s with (1) Innersound and they work well! Not so expensive as your favorites but the company with take them back if your not satisfied and I would like to here your comparison. Seems to be the talk of AA lately. I purchased!

Altar1,

People are dumping SA250mk4 amps because Plinius is in the process of upgrading their entire amp line. They started with the SA102, and the SA250 will be replaced I am sure as well. Plinius amps are great for driving Maggies. Maggies need and crave power. Plinius amps deliver it.

I think the GamuT D-200 is sonically superior to every one of your amps on your short list. I am selling mine to pay off some impending bills. However, I will replace it with a new D-200 in the future (watch for my review).

This being said about the GamuT D-200, I would NOT recommend buying a D-200 to drive Maggie 3.6's until you hear the results for yourself. The D-200 is a powerful amp; however, it really is not designed for speaker that are very difficult to drive. The 3.6's are on the very edge of what I would drive a D-200 with. HOWEVER, the GamuT might drive the Maggies very well... I would love to hear it tried. Why would I not try to drive the Maggies with the powerful D-200? The D-200 is designed to see a load less than 1.5 ohms as a short, and the circuit protection kicks in and the amp shuts down.

I know Maggie 3.6's dip pretty low in ohms in the bass (I think around 1.5 if I remember), so the D-200 would not be my first amp of choice when laying out a system on paper (without trying it first).

NOW if you have an active crossover from your subs to your Maggies (the subs getting everything below maybe 40hz), I would absolutely reccommend the GamuT D-200. The D-200 is amazingly detailed and transparent with neutrality that few solid state amps achieve (especially in the $8k and under price range).

KF