How Much Push/Pull Tube Power for Maggies

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

gentlemen:

i will be getting roger sanders solid state stereo amp to try with my 1.6s --about 400 watts. i'll let you know what i hear.

i'm a bit skeptical, having lived with tubes for years. many posts have indicated the virtues of solid state with magnepans. i'm not convinced. we'll see when i hook up the amp.

Mrtennis...400 watts ought to do the trick. You have to quit somewhere, 600 watts did it for me, but Sean would you run 1000 watts or more...on several amps! When I went from 350 to 600 things got better, but that was also a switch from a conventional ss amp to the CarverPro ZR1600 digital amp, and the technology change probably had more to do with it than the power rating.