Which Amp for Magnepan MG 3.6/R?

The Wolcotts, will power and control your maggies like few others will. They are also one cool looking and functioning set of mono blocks. Jadis Defy7 MK3 or MK4 will also leave you smilling.....passion and punch!

dan

Thanks everyone for your very thoughtful responses to my question about which amp to use with the Maggies. I just got back from my Christmas vacation. I will post a more detailed response after I have read each of your responses carefully. Thanks again and Happy New Year!

I am very impressed and a little overwhelmed by the response to my question regarding which amp to use with the Maggies. I must say that each one of you have helped sharpen my thinking and test some of my long-standing biases about amplifiers. For this I am very grateful.

If money were less of an object, I would choose one of two amps based on my current system setup: Plinius SA250 MK IV or the Wolcott P220M. While there are many good amps on the market today and many amps would make a very good match with the Maggies, these two units would be the best for my system. Unfortunately, they are outside my budget, and for the Plinius, I must admit that I am a little nervous about buying this amp knowing that I would have to ship it back to New Zealand should it ever need repairing.

Many of you have suggested either ARC or Bryston. The big ARC amps are more than I can afford and I would rather own the Pass or Classe amp over a Bryston. Having said that, I have heard the Magnepan 3.6/R with the Bryston 4B ST and was impressed with how good the system sounded.

I am intrigued by the Halo JC-1 recommendation that several of you have made. To be honest, however, I was not overly impressed with the sound of the less powerful stereo version in the Halo line. With a Halo amp and preamp along with a Sony ES CD player powering a pair of Veritas 2.3 loudspeakers, I found the overall sound to be detailed but rather thin and clinical. On warmer sounding loudspeakers, the Halo equipment might be a good match.

My observation about the Halo equipment raises a concern I have with both the Classe CAM 350s and the Pass X250. In his response, RAL indicated that the X250 sounded a bit cool and lean; that's not the first time I have heard this criticism of this fine amp. As for the CAM 350, Brain Damkroger of Stereophile also mentioned that this Classe amp had a lean sonic cast. If I were using a Conrad Johnson preamp, these concerns would be moot.

Because I am looking for good price/performance, the Theta Dreadnaught and the Belles 350A have to be my top choices. Either amp will deliver a full-bodied sound with plenty of transparency and detail for my tastes. To this list I will also add the McIntosh 352. It has a full-bodied sound as well while having all the power I need. It costs about $4,500.

I will also audition the Pass X250 and CAM 350, but my preferences are leaning toward the units mentioned above.

Once again I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to answer my questions. You have helped me a lot in my purchasing decision.

Best regards,

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.