Dynaco ST-70 and Magneplanar 1.6QR

If you are open to experimentation, you could try a pre-owned B&K ST140 @105 wpc. Another possibility is one of the older SA series hybrid amps by Counterpoint.

I drove an older pair of MGIIIs with an ST140 for several years, in a smallish room. As long as your volume demands aren't huge, it can do a very adequate job. Buying a used one will still leave lots left over in your budget for quality cables.

As stated here above unfortunately the 1.6's do require a lot of watts. Further because of their flat 4 ohm load impedance they also require a lot of current which really means a good SS amp with a beafy power supply. Also due to the Magies' single ended magnet arrangement and the large driver surface area, good amounts of damping factor is also a requisite for control of the diaphragm.

A lot of Magie 1.6QR owners, myself included are using Odyssey Stratos amps that go around $1,100 new and $800 to $900 used. They pretty much meet the above requirements putting out 150W into 8 ohms and 280W into 4ohms and most imortantly having a good size power supply for current delivery. It's a very nice and sweet sounding amp with very good bass response albeit not a tubey sounding one (don't know any SS amp that sounds like tubes anyway) that is higly regarded many audiophiles. Paired with a good tube pre the stratos will let the warmth from the tubes come through and again that's what a great number of Magie/Stratos owners have in their systems. There's also an upgrade to the Stratos that costs about $75 and which doubles the storage capacitance of the power supply for even greater current capability.

You might also want to check, if not having done so already the following two forums for a lot more info on Magnepans and Odyssey respectively:

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/MUG/bbs.html

http://audiocircle.com/circles/viewforum.php?f=10&sid=6faff33bd59eace7a0c39369a25c40a8

Happy listening!

I tried 3 defferent tube amps with my 1.6s and never got them to liven up, though the Manley Stingray did pretty good and with only 50 watts too.

I ended up going with SS and even then, with a Plinius SA100 MKIII 100 watts per channel class A, I wanted more power. I believe with Maggies you end up craving more and more power, and finally I decided I did not have enough money to get what I wanted for an amp and I sold them.

The moral of the story is: Learn to live with limited dynamic range unless you can throw some serious cash at a high power amp with any Maggie speaker.

I am sure that the various audiophile 100 to 150 watt amps mentioned above may improve performance in subtle ways. However, for the same, or less money, you can have 350 watts of Adcom amp. The difference will not be subtle.

By the way, when you get your new amp I'll take the Dynaco off your hands!

Seriously, the Dynaco is a nice piece, but just doesn't have the muscle needed for the Maggies. However, before you dispose of it, you might try biamping the MG 1.6. The Dynaco would suffice to power the tweeters, and you would retain that "tube sound" (warm-sounding harmonic distortion).