Power Amp for Magnepan MG 20.1's


I recently purchased a used pair of Magnepan MG 20.1's and I am looking to add a power amp to drive them that will cost under $2,000 either new or used.

I use my 20.1's as part of my home theater set up which includes the Magnepan CC2 center channel speaker, Magnepan MG MC1's for the surround speakers and an active powered subwoofer. I watch Blu-Ray and DVD video discs and also listen to music SACD, DTS, DVD-Audio, Dual-Disc and CD's in both 2-channel and 5.1 channel formats.

I'm looking for a power amp that will allow me to bi-amp the 20.1's in addition to powering the center channel as well as the left and right surround channels so I will need an 7-channel power amp.

I am using an Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray player which plays all of the disc formats that I named above including the 5.1 material so I need to integrate a 7-channel power amp with my current A/V receiver so that the receiver can continue to decode the high-definition audio being received via the HDMI output from the Oppo BDP-93 player such as Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

Can anyone recommend a high quality 7-channel power amp that will fit my needs that will allow me to continue to play all of the audio and video formats I mentioned and bi-amp the 20.1s all for under $2,000?
southernphoenix
The only amps in that price range I can think of that can drive that very tough load are a used Innersound ESL, if you can find one or a Wyred4Sound amp.

20.1's are some of the finest speakers ever made, period. But one of the problems with that, is that they reveal the limitations of the equipment upstream of the speakers like few other speaker in the world. You will usually see someone spend, estimated, quite a bit more on the amplificatoin with Magnepans (especially the 20.1's) than they do on the speakers, usually by a multiple.

I have never heard the big Maggies with anything less than about 800 clean, clear expensive watts in a 4 ohm load. They usuallly match really well with the big Bryston Amps (7b sst2, or better the 28's), or big Pass amps (sweet). You need a lot of current to move the bass panels on those speakers.

Good luck, great speakers.
With your budget I would say the D-Sonic Class D 7 channel amp will fit the bill very adequately. These amps have been reviewed favorably so do a google search and you will find out more about them.

http://www.d-sonic.net/
How about the Wyred 4 Sound MC-7 7 channel power amp?

It has 500 watts in the front three channels and 250 watts in the four rear channels.

I'm assuming that if I used this amp I would be able to bi-amp my Magnepan 20.1's using two of the three front channels and two of the rear channels which would allow me to use the remaining front channel for the center channel speaker and the other two rear channels for my surround sound speakers.

Has anyone else used a Wyred 4 Sound MC-7 power amp to drive the Magnepan 20.1 in a 5.1 HT set up?