How Much Push/Pull Tube Power for Maggies

mmmmm....dave, which post are you responding to? and, the maggie brochure does not say that maggies should not be played loud. it only warns against using an amp meant for 8 ohm speakers.

Cooch

The first part was intended for you...stands and setup. The second part was intended as an "I don't agree" with Warrenh.

My point on the loud thing was that simply adding more and more power to the MMG's (or dipole panels speakers in general) is not always the answer to better sound, ie...if 100 watts is good then 200 watts will be better...and on and on. (never buy a used pair that have been run hard)

The small Maggies will play fairly loud, they will not play as loud as many other speakers, (conventional box, hybrid designs, horn designs)...adding more power will not get them there either...it "will" get them an early trip in for rebuild however.

In the end...your speaker system only needs to play as loud as you like to play it...your amp will need enough power supply to do this without clipping, you speakers will need to be able to do this without distorting...for "some" people, lower powered amps are fine with planers, others not... as confirmed by the above replies.

Some people move on from dipole planer designs when they have had enough of "the amp game" even though, they do like the speaker...it's just the wrong speaker, ie...no amount of power will transform a dipole into a monopole....which better fills their needs for bass slam.

Dave

ok thanks dave. i might as well get some stands and do it right. and i was actually a little surprised with how good and how loud my amp can drive these.. that's why i buy consonance stuff...it's pretty darn good

Sogood51...I absolutely cannot explain why, but my MG1.6 sound better with every increase of amp power rating even if I drive them to the same volume (SPL) in all cases. When I made voltage measurements the average rms value during loud music was 14 watts or so (if I remember correctly) and yet my 600 watt amps could just barely meet the instantaneous peak voltage demand. Go figure.

Eldartford

I guess I can understand that, I know that some music can have 25db peaks...trying to play back this music at loud average levels can no doubt cause problems when these peaks come along. If your average listening level is much over 75db or so, your going to need a good amount (or even a lot!) of power...depending on room size, listening distance, room acoustics, ect.

If I recall, you listen to mostly classical music where some of these huge peaks hang out.

Of course, listening at high average levels (85db and above) requires the speakers to be able to handle those peaks without damage or distortion as much as it does the amps...something more power will not fix.

In my room I get by "very well" with 120 watts a side (tube amps)...and a pair of large subwoofers. Without the subs, not as well. I do still have my old Krell Ksa-250 but have not used it for a long while...around a year!

Dave