2. amps-preamps
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Has anyone tried SET tubes amps with maggie 1.6's

My long time ss amp died a few weeks ago, and I only had a tiny integrated, single ended pentode, 5 watt tube amp on hand, to run my maggie 1.6's. To my astonishment it worked!

The manufacturer of this tiny SET is no longer in business: Wright audio, there were 2 companies with the same name, this one was out of Seattle.

Of course the musical picture is not quite complete. There is a noticeable lack of punchy bass and dynamics are softened compared with a Plinius 8200 mk2 that I auditioned not long ago (of course that has 175 ss watts compared to 5 watts with my tube SEP).

However that aside, the sound is actually quite loud enough and the realism is nothing less than startling. Femal voices, for instance, have a warmth, body, tenderness, emotion and silky transparancy that melts your heart and often brings me to tears. Strings are rendered with a rich silky transparancy as well. Horns, woodwinds, and guitars seem to posses an extra dimension that is uncanny.

As you might suspect, when the music gathers to a complex transient pitch, the instruments muddy as the amp clips. And there is a bit of sibilance from time to time. Also the piano losses its authority as the all-over dynamics are restricted. The sound stage also softens somewhat and losses its potential perception of real depth.

However the sound reminds me of the new iteration of the older British Quads, the 998, which I heard recently. In fact the maggies with this SEP amp sounds better, more involving.

I should mention that I modified my maggies by using large Hovland capacitors, and huge copper coil inductors from Alpha Core, in place of the standard ones, which might be contributing to the maggies all over sense of refinement here.

I would deeply appreciate it, if anyone in our audiophile community, has had experience with an SET amp that had/has a bit more power than my 5 watt SEP, and what your results were on the maggie 1.6's. Especially in the area of dynamics, and low level resolution of complex musical passages.

If there is a not-to-terribly expensive SET amp that might work for the 1.6's, I will stop my search for an ss amp (which up until now is somewhat disapointing because of hardness of strings and the lack of real warmth to voices) and concentrate on auditioning SET's.

I would like to thank everyone in advance for your help and idease which I deeply appreciate.
america
ake
48 posts
 
SET and Maggies1.6 may be a bit too compromised (I was somewhat happy witht my 7W SET with Maggies 1.6s though).

If I still own the 1.6s, my first choice is probably a good tube amp. One Cary Rocket 88 (20W?) reviewer was very happy with the amp driving a piar of 1.6s. I think it will come down to how loud you listen and how big the listening room you have. To me there is not much point to have 200W amp if you use only the first 10W for most of your listening session. Of course it helps for a peak dynamic.

ake
america OP
25 posts
 
Thanks everyone for kindly sharing your thoughts and experiences with me on this important issue.

It is very interesting Dennisj, that maggies used to be driven by tube amps and have now become identified with ss amps almost exclusively.

Your description of maggies using lighter myler, translating into a faster and more effecient load, sounds very interesting Bobgates. And could easily explain why my tiny intergrated 6 or 7 watt SEP (pentoid) amp works so effectively with them.

I will look into the Cary Rocket 88's, Ake. I understand they need a powerful preamp to run them, since they do not have the usual driver stage (Cary claims this results in a less distorted sound).

Thanks rgd for your suggestion about AA. I took your advice and tapped into that rich source of information. A great resource!

Thanks Flacre for your suggestion about Wright Audio. It turns out not to be the company I bought my amp from but they have very interesting amps and I am looking closely at them now.

Your new speaker looks totally awesome Ake. How do they sound?

I am also looking into so-called digital amps (ICE module or pulse width modulation types) which claim they are not affected by the load of the speaker. If this is true, they should be capable of easily driving a 4ohm speaker like the 1.6's (which are, never-the-less supposed to be fairly flat, i.e. stable), or any difficult speaker load. Of course the size of the transformer must still play a part in any digital amps ability to get the signal to effectively drive speakers.

I wish all of you a wonderful new year, filled with peace and joy.

Thanks again for your help. I deeply appreciate it. It's great to be a part of audiogone. A great community of real music lovers with a deep appreciation of what the right equipement can do to bring one closer to the magic of living music.
pboutin
55 posts
 
Maggie's can unravel the big climax in such a convincing manner that it is a shame not to be able to go there sometime. Solid state as gain some refinement over the years and I presume that a Golmund SRM would be a good recommendation.
dh114307
9 posts
 
America,
Just caught your inquiry - I run an Audio Electronic Supply Super Amp Signature (20 watts/ch) into an mmg to very good effect. I spoke with Dennis Had about a year and a half ago and he mentioned that he voiced the Super Amp and Rocket 88 with the aid of 1.6's. My dedicated sound room is 12x17x8.
When I want a litle more volume I switch to my Pass Aleph 3. I do use a REL Storm 3 to augment the bottom octave and a half.
america OP
25 posts
 
Hi Dh,

Thanks for the suggestion and information on your AESSAS. I will certainly look into it. If there is a particular sight you can suggest that would have more information that would be helpful as well.

I once had the occasion of speaking to Dennis Had of Cary Audio
as well, and found him a lovely person to talk to; accessable and honest and refreshingly candid. Nice experience.

I had no idea he used the maggie 1.6's to voice any of his amps and found that most interesting information.

I also read with interest your using the Aleph 3 on occasion with your maggie 1.6's because I have been contemplating purchasing a Aleph 30 (the successor to the Aleph 3 with "improvements" or so that is how it is described...I have not actually "heard" it yet) and wondered if anyone had any experience with it...

How would you describe the sound of the Aleph 3 with your maggies Dh?

Also, do you find that your REL Storm 3 to be "seamless" with your maggies, or is there a "sense" of the sound being (somewhat) "added on" (that is-slower)? And while we are discussing the use of a subwoofer with the maggies...do you feel they help to flesh out the voice region of the midrange? I have heard they can effect this area by "building" a foundation under which the "voice" can achieve a more perceived tonal presence...

Thanks again for your help and feedback Dh...if you can direct me to more information about your AESSAS, I would deeply appreciate it...

Best-Richard
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