Bought a pair of Magnepan LRS. Should I buy a Schiit Vidar or Bryston 3B-ST?

Hello jt35,

     Yes, you ’re correct and that’s been the advice from Magnepan as long as I can remember. Typically recommending at least a 100 watt class A or AB amp that doubles its power into a 4 ohm load. It’s the main reason that I always used various class AB stereo amps with my Magnepans for years, a variety of 200-400 watt amps such as Adcom, McCormack and Aragon mainly with a tubed VTL 2.5 preamp. They all sounded very good and similar.
     About 4-5 years ago, after reading many mainly highly favorable reviews on the newer class D amps at that time here on Audiogon and other audio forums, I became curious and bought a Class D Audio SDS-440-CS stereo amp to audition in my system to drive my older pair of Magnepan 2.7QR speakers that are still in very good condition and utilized in my system today. I chose this amp because it was rated at 440 watts into 4 ohms, I’d read many very favorable reviews on it from owners as well as professional reviewers and it only cost $540 at that time.
I wasn’t overly optimistic about its performance once it arrived since it was about 1/3rd the size and weight of my current and previous class AB amps that were all very large and weighed up to 85 pounds. This amp did have a traditional linear power supply with a toroidal transformer, and not a switched mode power supply (SMPS) like some other class D amps. but it still only weighed about 15 pounds.
     Even after installing this little amp and playing it right out of the box without any warm up, however, it was obvious to me that it performed and sounded better than any other amp I had used in my system driving the Magnepans in all the aspects I’m normally concerned with. The background was inky black and dead quiet, I had never heard or felt better bass response and dynamics from the 2.7QRs and didn’t even realize since owning them that they were capable of such powerful, detailed, dynamic and natural bass quantity and quality. I was actually a bit stunned and very pleasantly surprised.
     The midrange and treble performance of the class D amp was not as significantly superior than my previous class AB amps. Overall in the midrange/treble and imaging qualities, the class AB amps I’ve used have given me the impression of being more similar than different sounding than the class D amps I’ve since used with the exceptions of the class D amps being more neutral in character, slightly more detailed and with a bit better dynamics. In my experiences, both are equally capable of delivering smooth and natural midrange and treble performance with good imaging and without sounding overly harsh or bright.

     However, I’ve also noticed the class D amps are definitely more revealing and less forgiving on source material that is poorly recorded, mixed or produced. I tend to appreciate this accuracy and honesty but realize some may not.

     But I’ve also read several good reviews on the Schitt Vidar amp. Steve Guttenburg of the Audiophilliac states on this You Tube video review of the LRS speakers that the Vidar is a good choice to drive the LRS speakers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdqchci3AhU

I’m just suggesting that Mr. Reasonable  may want to audition a good class D stereo amp or pair of monoblock amps on his LRS speakers before buying a Vidar amp in order to make a better informed decision.


Best wishes to the OP, areasonableman,
         Tim

I just received my LRS's this week and power them with Schiit Vidar monoblocks and the Freya plus pre-amp.  So far, so good.  Sorry, I don't have a Bryston around to compare.Brian

Hello esch1238,

     I've only read the numerous very good reviews on the Magnepan LRS and haven't yet heard them in person.  It seems like these would be incredible bargains at $650/pair, especially considering it's described as a full-range quasi-ribbon 2-way speaker. 
     I'm very curious how these speakers perform and sound in the mid-range, treble and sound staging aspects.  
     Esch1238, could you give us your impressions thus far of the sound in these areas with the LRS being driven by your Schiit Vidar monoblocks?
     I'm also interested with how you have the LRS positioned in relation to your listening seat and the front wall behind them. Here are some questions I hope you don't mind answering:

How many feet apart are they?
How many feet away is your listening seat?
How many feet away from the front wall are they?
Do they sound very accurate, detailed and natural in the midrange and treble without any harshness or brightness?
Do you perceive their imaging and soundstage as wide and deep with 3D and palpable images?  In other words, does it seem like the musicians are in your room or like you are at the venue?
Are you using subs to compensate for their limited bass?

     The reason I'm so interested in the LRS is that I'm currently using a pair of older 2.7QR Magnepans.  These 3-way planar-magnetic speakers still sound very good but I realize they're now over 30 years old.  The 2.7 QR also have what's described as a quasi-ribbon treble section just like the LRS but I'm thinking, with the LRS utilizing the newest version of their quasi-ribbon, it likely outperforms their version from 30 yrs ago.    
      I believe my current monoblocks would be a good match for the LRS since they sound very natural and have plenty of power, 1,200 watts into 4 ohms, to drive them well just as they drive my fairly inefficient 2.7s very well.   I'm also utilizing a 4-sub distributed bass array system that provides very powerful, smooth, fast, detailed, natural and well integrated bass  with the very fast 2.7QRs that I believe would perform equally well with the very fast LRS. 
     So, my main concern is with your impressions of their midrange and treble performance.  However, I believe the OP, areasonableman, and probably others reading this thread would appreciate a more thorough full-range description of your impressions about how well the combination of the Vidar amps and LRS speakers are performing.  

Thanks,
  Tim

Update: Found a good deal on a local Class D Audio SDS-470C. If I get it I'll post impressions that aren't particularly helpful since I can't find a reasonably priced vidar or 3b-st.

Noble100,

I think you might be disappointing with the LRS.  They are going to sound significantly brighter than the 2.7QR and lack the midbass slam that the 2.7s are capable of.  I ran the 2.7s for a decade and they were great except for being a bit dark, even in comparison to the .5s 1.5s at the time.  Every generation of Maggies has gotten a bit brighter.  You may be better off targeting a 1.7, 3.5, or 3.6.  I will say after going to the 3.5s after multiple QR designs, I wouldn't go back.  The ribbon is more open without sounding harsh.