Why do Maggies need a lot of power?

I think that a lot of what people mean by speakers "opening up" when being fed by a measurably bigger amp is actually related to the lack of dynamic compression that the bigger amp doesn't have to deal with. Not only does the sound improve in terms of spl capacity, it sounds far more liquid, natural and suffers from far less grain and grit. Loud actually becomes LOUD, yet it does not sound as loud because the amp is not "straining" ( rhymes with "graining" ). You can listen louder AND suffer less fatigue.

This is also one of the reasons that active multi-amping can sound so much better i.e. the strain has been taken off of one amp and divided amongst two, three, four, etc.... The system picks up more dynamic headroom and each amp benefits from less strain and a smaller amount of reactance to deal with in a limited bandwidth. Sean
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Blw, that was undoubtedly the case. As an MV-55 (45wpc, BTW) owner, I can assure you that this amp is not up to driving Maggies (which I used to sell retail) to realistic levels in large rooms and cannot pump out the bass current the speakers demand (although a stack of Krells driving a wall of Maggies would probably sound bass-shy in the room you describe!). In fact, my guess is that if the sytem seemed over-bright on poor recordings, it was likely due to the mis-match with the amplifier. If one were to go C-J tubes with that set-up, I think you'd be talking Premier Eights or nothing at all.

I am impressed by the exchange of opinions here without anyone getting offended. Great Job!

I have had both tube and solid state on my 1.6's. The VTL MB250's were great but I had a Polyfusion 960 SS mosfet that I have been living with and have been so totally happy. Usually I don't keep amps that long but I have no urge to get rid of this thing. Hit the Polyfusion website.

when we say that the maggies open up and bass extend at high power, how loud are we talking about, over 100 dB at 1 meter?

Ake

Ake, using an amp with enough power to drive these speakers comfortably at high levels will not only change the sound when you're head-banging, but can positively affect the sound quality at all levels. Normal listening is usually done at only a few watts at most, but that is merely the average level. Music is dynamic by nature, and as Sean describes so well above, there will be momentary demands for power many times that of the average level, and the amp has to be able easily accommodate these without approaching its limits in order to sound unstrained. Also, the higher-power amp will be better able to rigidly control the driver panels, resulting in less unwanted motion that can impair transient response and decay. The improved bass authority you will get from a higher-current amp will be audible at all volume levels. If the amp gives a more 'open' sound as well, that is probably due to the relative lack of compression resulting in less congestion of the soundstage, wherein macro-dynamic events tend to overwhelm micro-dynamic events as a less-powerful amp is stressed by competing demands. However, I've got to add that Maggies are probably not the speakers for you if your #1 priority is listening at rock-concert levels.