My jazz collection told me to get a *real* system

randy-11 wrote:

a tube pre with a SS amp will be fine and give you the euphonic sound people are urging
that’s what I use with my Maggie 3.7i’s - and they Maggies are xlnt for jazz
1.7s would fit your budget

This describes my own electronics evolution since getting my Maggie 1.7s in Nov. 2013.

I have matching handwired MAGI PTP phono and line stages. The line stage feeds a 1980s Perreaux PMF1150B MOSFET amp. The amp is rated at 100 wpc into 8 ohms, and given its heft, I suspect it’s feeding the Maggies 200 watts into their 4-ohm largely resistive load. It’s a captivating match.

I think there’s more to tube-driven preamps than euphonics. I hear largely the same tonal balance and timbres as with good solid state, but the tubes do low level detail, the sense of the room size and the bloom and decay of notes, not just in the recording venue, but within the instruments themselves.

Tubes driving MOSFET SS can be a really good match because MOSFETS lend themselves to the same sort of transconductance architecture as is found in tube amps. But MOSFETs bring high current and a high comfort level to low-impedance speakers.

BTW, I've been a big jazz nut since I was 11. I have a pretty sizeable jazz LP collection, and attendance to enough live performances to have a sense of what things should sound like. I've seen Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich (5 times), Stan Kenton, Dave Pike, Gary Burton (with Pat Metheny on guitar), Stanley Turrentine, Don Ellis, Maynard Ferguson, Stan Kenton, Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Quincy Jones with Melba Moore and Sarah Vaughan, the L.A. Four (Shelley Manne, Ray Brown, Laurinda Almeida and Bud Shank), Mose Allison, and Cab Calloway and his big band.

I find the new *.7 series of Maggies to be stupendous for just about anything, but they really shine on jazz. The large radiating surface of Maggie panels is a lot closer to the size of a piano soundboard than conventional speakers. Pianos sound stunningly real. But then, so do horns, flutes, sax, vibraphone, acoustic bass, and brass.

If you consider upgrading your speakers (and with an $8K budget you should), I wouldn't spend a dime without auditioning a pair of Magnepan 1.7i s. And make sure the dealer knows how to show them at their best. My sales rep actually got out a tape measure to make sure he had the 1.7s properly placed and angled.

Jazz therapist,
I wrote earlier that I thought good quality tube components would serve you very well but I’d avoid pushing the idea if you are not interested. Wolf made me reconsider that statement 😊😊. He describes the excellence of low power tube amplifiers with compatible easy to drive speakers and I agree. 

This has been my preference as well the past 8 years and there’s no going back. All genres of music can be enjoyed and most certainly jazz. That Dealer you were referred to carries the Line Magnetic brand. I’d try to hear a few of their SET and lower to moderate power push pull tube amplifiers with appropriate speakers (playing music you know and enjoy) and see what you think.
Charles

Speaking of tube preamp and amp connected to Maggies, The Absolute Sound reviewed the Rogue Cronus Magnum powering a pair of (then) brand new Magnepan 1.7s. The review was a total rave and the Cronus and Mag 1.7s were a great match.

Since that review, this integrated amp is now the Rogue Cronus Magnum II with more power and several other improvements including an additional 6dB of gain in the phono section.

I spent several hours listening to 3.7i and 1.7 (no i) driven by separate Rouge tube gear.  I forget which models but the amp was $4,000.

They both sounded great (I brought my own test tracks - Redbook CD).

BTW, I use euphonic to just mean good SQ - including the above remarks on inner detail, etc.

I also think a good SS amp will do a fine job.  Something by John Curl maybe, unless you want to hunt down some Brystons on the used market.

Maggies like a lot of current delivery (not "Power" per se) but are an easy load to drive as they are a nearly pure resistive load - at 4 ohms.

that same resistive load means you can use just about any speaker cable w/out a change in the sound

you will want to spend many hours moving them around to the best spot; absorption & diffusion can help too (and yes I am one of the people harping on that - it is much more important than the commonly discussed tweeks, cables, little boxes full of fiber, etc.)

for the record, I use a tube pre- (Audio Research LS25 Mk II, and formerly a Sonic Frontiers Line One) with a Bob Carver Sunfire amp.  I may swap to a Benchmark or a newer Class D design, but am headed for a new DAC first.

@jazztherapist Lot of great suggestions here, but as I think more about your situation it strikes me that you're kind of flying blind (listening blind?) on this project. You say that you'd like to move up to a better/more resolving system, but it's also pretty clear that you haven't heard many good systems lately. Brick and mortar is not the way to check out a lot of high end options.

Consider attending an audio convention so that you can actually hear some of what's actually available these days at various prices.  Attending AXPONA or RMAF is a fairly low cost way of educating yourself --- certainly it is cheaper than buying an expensive component or two, only to find out that they're not really what you wanted.

Good luck!