Best Cheap Amps for Magneplanar Speakers


I want to drive some medium sized to large Maggies (1.7 or 3.7) with the cheapest possible amps that will still let them sound great.

I prefer monoblocks and by 'cheap' I mean a kilobuck or so, tho less would be fine too.  I do NOT want to spend 4 thou...
randy-11
brauser....I remember that combination...wonderful...   Also loved the Infinity Servostatic 1A's with ARC. In the old days, I thought ARC was the very best one can get. In  recent years, tubes and s/s have merged their sound.   I use Ayre stuff now which I love
frogman - are there any SS amps that can give that inner detail, etc. with Maggies like tubes do?

maybe a suitable topology using MOSFETs for example?
Randy, I am no expert on ss amps I can’t possibly claim to have heard every ss amp in this price range in order to give you a specific recommendation. What I can tell you is that the most recent good quality ss amp that I tried on my Maggies was a Levinson 23.5. It was a very good amp, but still sounding like the ss amp that it was. In fact, I personally have never heard a ss state amp that sounded like a tube amp. Some do have qualities that are sometimes considered tube traits like fullness of individual images and absence of hardness in the upper frequencies. Of the things that are priorities for me, what tubes do that I have never heard affordable ss amps do is give a sense of dimensionality and separation front to back and not just side to side, a sense of aliveness by way of subtle dynamic gradations and not just the ability to play really loud, and inner detail in the texture of the sound of instruments. To me, most affordable ss amps still sound a little mechanical. While I am sure some will disagree, in this price range the general differences in sound between tube and ss are still pretty significant, imo.

"a sense of dimensionality and separation front to back and not just side to side, a sense of aliveness by way of subtle dynamic gradations and not just the ability to play really loud, and inner detail in the texture of the sound of instruments."

frogman,

I have achieved these results by introducing a ModWright 5400ES (tubes in power supply and player) into my otherwise SS equipment chain. IME, the better SS gear can partner with a great tube front-end to deliver both the realism and musicality you describe while also providing transparency and the current delivery to really wake up the most difficult to drive speakers, even at lower volume.

Best to you frogman,
Dave