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Amplification Recommendations For Magnepan .7

I am new at this and I am hoping I can get some good advice.  I listened to the Magnepan and fell in love with them.  I've been gearing up to buy them over the last three weeks.  I started reading about them online and I'm seeing that good, powerful amplification is very important to get them to really perform.  At the stereo store I know they were powered by a top flight amp.  So now I have to get an amp/preamp and DAC, integrated amp with DAC or with a separate DAC. I listen to Tidal a good deal.  

The problem is that my budget is limited to around $1200 so I don't know if that can make the cut to get something that can do the speakers justice.  I'm open to buying used.  I would be grateful for any recommendations.  

amritash
bassdude
488 posts
 
The Parasound Halo A21 is superb driving Maggie's... As is the "Class D Audio" brand amps (SDS-470C).
zuio's avatar
zuio
96 posts
 
Get 2 Crown xls 1500, use them as monoblocks, upgrade fuse and use good power cords, use balanced xlr source - the very best you can afford !!! 
zuio's avatar
zuio
96 posts
 
... the crown has a volume trim, you can finetune with digital volume control on your source and avoid the preamp. Usb audio is not good unless you spend $$$. Look into a logitech transporter or cambridge sm-6 network player. If you have a mac look into a thunderbolt device like universal audio apollo solo and upgrade its external power supply.
rvnye
21 posts
 
I am a big Maggie fan too.  I have a pair of Maggie 20.1s.  I just significantly improved the sound of my system BY DISCONNECTING MY PREAMP!!  If you just listen to digital sources (DAC, CD player, Tidal, etc) then you don't need the additional amplification of a preamp.  A preamp could even hurt the sound your DAC is producing.  Save money by not getting a preamp, and get a passive preamp, or a DAC with volume controls.  A passive preamp is like a nice quality signal level attenuator.  It takes the signal from your DAC and attenuates it for your power amps.  Even better, a DAC with volume control will allow you to go directly from your DAC to your power amp(s).  I significantly improved the sound of my system by going directly from a Berkeley Alpha DAC (with volume control) into my Manley Neo Classic 250 amps.  It sounds amazing and saved me thousands on a preamp.  Take your time and do your research.  That's half the fun, for me anyways.
maplegrovemusic's avatar
maplegrovemusic
1,113 posts
 
rvyne - +1   Yesterday i picked up an Apogee Duet 2 Audio interface . It is used by people who want to do mobile recording . Short summary it can be used for digital playback as a feature . Has a volume knob, USB 2 input , 24 bit DAC . And 1/4'' output . Price used $325 . It was very easy to install . All i needed to do was plug in the usb cable in my macmini and in my music program Audirvana select the audio device (which showed up without installing any drivers) .Sound is stellar . Anyone using these Audio interfaces ?
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