2. amps-preamps
  3. 149186-5938

My speakers are set. Magnepan Tympani IVs

A year ago I acquired a pair of restored Tympani IVs (not IVa). I have been driving them with an Adcom  GFA - 555 that I have had for decades.  The matching pre-amp died and has been replaced with a Schiit SYS Passive pre.

The primary source was CD but has transitioned to a Bluesound Node 2 running TIDAL. I will be playing the MQAs whenever possible. My musical tastes are eclectic, with a pronounced preference for female vocalists, piano and acoustic guitar. Genres include rock of the 60s, jazz, folk, world, Celtic and classical.

The Tympanis do not suffer from the lower register issues to the same degree as some of the other Magnepans, but are still prone to occasionally overwhelming highs.  New components should tend towards the warm to mitigate this issue.

It is time to upgrade the amp.  The consensus judgement of people whom I respect and whom own these speakers are that they should be bi-amped.  Options include separate amps for highs and lows and an electronic crossover (Horizontal ?) or monoblocks (Vertical ?)   

I am only into the Tympanis for $1000, but have budgeted $2000 for amplification. One thing I have come to learn is that the traditional percentages of investment don’t always apply when Magnepans are involved as they offer such a high sound quality/cost ratio.

Cables and room treatments are on the to-do list. As always, I am here to draw upon the experience of the Audiogon community.  Please share your thoughts.  If you see something for sale here, please call it out as I am having trouble sorting through the plethora of options.
kythyn
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Georgehifi, which class D would you suggest for the bass panels?  The JC1s are about twice my budget for a pair.  Are they enough to drive these speakers or would I still need a tube amp for the midrange/highs?
A pair of the JC1's on high bias Class-A mode would be magic driving these full range, you wouldn't want for anything.

As for bi-amping any known used Class-D on the bass will do as they are all good at doing bass in to 4ohms loads. And the Parasound A21 on the mids/highs, it will do them full rage also, but the JC1's would be better.
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9e24e-parasound-halo-a21-solid-state

Cheers George
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,149 posts
 
@kythyn   He ran a set of our MA-1s and also MA-2s. IME you can use any good 200 watt tube amp and it will run quite nicely. A good inexpensive example is the RM-200 from Roger Modjesky.
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,182 posts
 
And that last post shows what a really fantastic guy Ralph is !!!!
kythyn OP
58 posts
 
Georehii - thanks for all your help. I will know in the next couple days if I can stretch to a pair of the JC1s. Will hey work with my passive preamp or should I start looking for another preamp, and should it be tube or S.S.?

atmasphere - will the RM-200 handle the Tympanis IVs full range or should I plan on a class d for the bass panels?
clio09
3,372 posts
 
@atmasphere, thanks for mentioning the RM-200, it unfortunately is not as well recognized as Roger's other designs, but it is quite a work horse. It is also fully balanced from input to output, the only time Roger made a commercially available balanced amp. The amp has 8, 4, 2, and 1 ohm taps and is the only tube amp I am aware of that puts out more power into lower speaker loads.

@kythyn, there are a few Martin Logan customers we know of that use the RM-200, and I believe @bdp24 owns one, but not sure he has used it with his Maggies. Personally I like the idea of bi-amping.
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