Magico V3 with tubed amplification, will it work ?


Hello There,
I'm planning to upgrade my old Thiel 3.6 speakers.

I was considering Von Schweikert VR5 Anniversary, really liked then, divine soundstage, great transparency. But I have heard Magico Mini on some audio show, I have never heard anything like this, they sounded different then anything else, so involving, truthful, I was captivated literally... For me they bettered all speaker I have heard so far. (I know that they do not have slam of Wilson speakers). But price $20.000 for mini monitors, that is insane.
But, now I have noticed that V3 can be bought for $12.000, which is about as much I could afford. And V3 will have better dynamics and more bass which is all I would need.
I have talked with former Magico dealer and he told me that Magico will not work with 100W tube amplifier (Supratek Burgundy) or Clayton M100 (class A 100W) which I own.
He basically told me that I need strong 300W of solid state power from Spectral, ML, Krell, Ayre to make them sing. With 100W he claimed they will sound dull uninvolving.
I do not want to change amps so I’m in quandary. He was trying to convince me that Wilson Sasha is better choice and they are easy to drive and 100W will do just fine.
I’m not sure if this is genuine advice or just dealer talk, he is selling Wilson Audio now.
How can Sasha be easy load if it drops to 1.8ohm ? I’m not convinced, so I'm looking for second opinion. I heard on numerous occasions WATT/Puppy in shortcut huge soundstage big bass, but was never captivated by music the way I was with Magico. Hence my question:
Have anybody been using V3 with tube amplification ? Can Magico be successfully driven by 100W tube amp ?
sorlowski
I know plenty of speakers that don't need high current- that idea in the post above is an example of a common audio myth.
I think Ebm is referring only to the needs of the Magico Mini 2 speakers. I also own this speaker and in my room, the Pass XA100.5 was not enough. I find the XA160.5 to be a better sounding amp for these speakers. So the 320 watts of Class A power into 4 ohms, 52 volts and 36 amps of current is enough in my room to drive them. Beyond this I will defer to Atmasphere. There are certainly speakers that don't need high current. In my experience, the Mini 2 does.
'What does 100% overrated mean? They are always overrated by every person who comments on them? Or, every aspect of every Magico speaker is overrated, or something else? Please explain your comment, Mountain-high.'

Magico is a very expensive speaker and as such an easy target. I personally think they are way overrated compared to some cheaper stuff I know but that is not to say they are a bad speaker, nor that everyone agrees with my assessment (they don't). And besides the issue here is how to drive them, - not what you think of them.

Thanks
Bill
Thanks for comments I’m getting stronger impression that marriage between 100W tube power and Magico may not work.
Magico Mini I heard on CES were driven by Jeff Rowland 300W monoblocks, and most speakers have been driven by some tubed amplifiers it could not have been an accident.

Wilson Audio dealer has given me nice audition of Sasha speakers, (he used ARC REF110 power amps, pre was from ARC too, as CDP he used AudioAero La Source all wired with SR cables. Huge soundstage , great resolution great transparency, what was lacking was dynamics, bass (strange for WA). Sound was spacious like cosmos but flesh out no physicality to it. Neither me not my friend liked it. It was very surprising to me because last time I have heard WA it was WATT/Puppy VII or VIII with Spectral; dynamic bass was humongous so was resolution and transparency. But still I could not get involved with the music. So it seems that ARC may be not a good match for WA. Actually it was first time I have heard WA fleshed out.
So I’m afraid that 100W tube of SS class A power will not make Magico work as it did not worked with Sasha. Dealer’s room was pretty big at least 450sq. feet.
Mine is 20’ by 15’.
Did anybody compared V3 with VS VR-5 which I liked ?
I have read that Magico considers YG as the only real world competitor.
I have never hear any YG speakers, at least I do not recall it. They have great press though, I have just finished reading all reviews I could find on the web. They even claimed to have best Earth speakers period. Bold statement.
It would be nice to own best Earth speakers :) if it is true of course.
Seems that their speakers are like Magico made from Aluminum but do not fall below 5ohms so they may be easier load for tube amplifier. Have anybody compared SR VR5 with Magico V3 or Magico V2/3 with any YG speakers, are that that good, maybe I should consider them ?
What is YG house sound like ?