New to Magnepan, a volume question
Hello, new to Audiogon and Magnepan both. I just acquired a pair of used MMG's and I'm really enjoying them, especially on certain types of music; acoustic jazz, vocal, and small to mid scale classical. My problem with them is that I run out of volume knob with my current set up. It is: Schitt Saga preamp and Adcom GFA-555 amp. The Saga is basically a passive preamp, it doesn't add any gain to the signal, and though I love the sound, full volume with this pairing gets me to just below an average listening level, no where to go when I want to push the envelope. Will I get to higher SPL's using the passive with more wattage as long as the amp is a high current design? The amps I'm considering are McCormick DNA-500, Bryston 7B ST or SST, and Bel Canto REF600 or REF1000 if I can find them. I'm looking to build a better power amp foundation for the system of the future, as I can see now I may very well be heading toward larger Magnepans or electrostatic speakers in time. I have a other preamps that will add gain, but they don't sound as good as the Schitt, and do push the Adcom to flashing lights when I get closer to where I want to be volume-wise. Looks to me like the Adcom, as much as I have loved it, doesn't cut the mustard with 4 ohm loads. I have heard that Bryston is a natural match for Magnepans, and also the they sound somewhat dull or flat. Good reviews from users for the McCormick, and yes and no about class D amps (the Bel Cantos) with Magnepans. I admit, I'm all at sea... Any advice appreciated.
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- 18 posts total
george, may be you’re talking about something different but all things being equal, an amplifier with a 0.130 volt input sensitivity- not gain, will play much louder than an amplifier with a 1.5 volt input sensitivity. A line level input of 2 volts is "spent" more quickly on the amplifier that has higher input sensitivity. P.S. GFA 555 is rated at 325wpc into 4 ohms so it has plenty of power to drive MMGs. You need an active line stage preamp. I have run MMGs with one paired to an Adcom preamp and you can barely push the volume past half before it gets way too loud (for me). |
kalali No Kalali read a bit closer, the specs on the MkI I got from the net (if right) said with .130v (130mV) input and it gave out only 1v from it’s outputs, that's a voltage gain of 7.6 times. Cheers George |
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- 18 posts total