Budget amp that will give Magnepan 3.6Rs better depth of soundstage

I’ll toss in another Maggie/B&K EX-442 (Sonata) combination.

Maggie model: MMG

B&K EX-442 Sonata - dual mono - (1993 w/Toshiba cans), 200/350 wpc 8/4 ohms, 75 amps P-P current (operative measurement, more important than watts) coming out of a Parasound P5 preamp.

I run my Maggies with a Rythmik F12G (paper cone) sub. I also have a smaller, M&K K-10 sub in an opposite corner to round the sound out. Not sure if davidlatzko was running a sub, I’m thinking not with his larger model Maggies, but my system is highly resolving with a very respectable soundstage and I have no control issues at all, but again, our systems are apples/oranges. MMGs are not bass-heavy speakers by any means. And I, too, have a "problem" room with one wall missing (family/listening room opens into kitchen/dining room). Yes, it’s wonderful if you have the space to get them out 4-5’ from the front wall, but some of us just don’t have the option (mine vary from 27" - 36"). The speakers certainly sound better the farther out they are, but my system sounds exceptionally good with my current configuration. Could it sound even better? I’m sure it could. But my amp/speaker combination works really well.

I just wanted to toss in another Maggie/B&K amp experience (love the EX-442 Sonata, btw; it replaced a modded Hafler DH-220 that did a decent job, but not as good as the Sonata that just carries more current; the Hafler is now on office duty running some wonderful, little Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 speakers).

as a longtime maggie owner of various models (mg 3a, .7, 1.7i, and currently 3.7i), i heartily support the worthwhile pursuit to try to identify and catalog suitable amplifiers to drive maggies to satisfying volumes while producing the tremendous sonic purity the speakers are capable of -- done right, sonic ’nirvana’ can be obtained on a very reasonable budget

i shared some of the experiences with specific amps that are more value oriented in an earlier post, but let me add some add’l thoughts here

-- in general, going for older well made well reputed upper tier solid state amps is a very good idea (classe, bedini, bel, belles, muse, threshold, better musical fidelity, older krell class a and so on) provided the amp is well kept and carefully checked out for aging internal components, usually power supply caps - amps approaching 25-30 years in age will usually need at least a proper health check by a qualified tech, some may need recapping to manage their idle noise levels etc if the intent is to use the amp for another decade plus 

-- historically brystons are well known good mates with maggies, in the 90’s and 00’s, wendell often used brystons with maggies at shows, at a point in the 2010 era he switched to pass labs amps -- my own experience with brystons (and sanders magtech, incidentally) is that these are stout amps in power delivery but lack the nuance, silkiness and tonality of the best ss amps on the market (admittedly more expensive ones)... latest gen brystons (cubed series) are said to have closed this sonic gap (i have not heard this series but they’ve also gotten quite expensive, so the price gap to pass, ayre, hegel, coda etc has narrowed as well)

-- older adcoms to my ear are similar to older brystons - have the brute force needed but lack the fineness of sound, they can sound strident and grainy, flatten apparent soundstage

-- want to call out odyssey once again, these are somewhat large somewhat clumsy looking boxes with very very fine sounding, very powerful, very capable amps inside, symphonic line (germany) designs and parts in economized chassis (cosmetically not functionally) -- in my experience they give you top of class sound at a very reasonable price

-- if one goes integrated, the hegels are absolutely top notch sonically - stay with h160/190 and above for maggies

@ozzy62  "Magnepans are never going to have a deep soundstage."

What? I'm sorry but you must never heard a proper pair. Few loudspeakers can do deep and wide as Magnepan.

I know a little bit about Magnepans as you can see from my system. 

Forget the amp - everyone likes to buy things. Your first order of business is straightening out your room, speaker setup, and room treatment. It's going to be a challenge as a little bigger room with different dimensions would work a lot better and you don't have much to play with.  Pull the speakers out from the wall, put some diffusion behind them, and make sure there's absorption behind your listening seat.  Good Luck!   

You can pick up a Crown XLS2502 for around $400 used, $650 new. I have one here that I use to drive a pair of passive subs, I've messed with it driving fullrange speakers and it sounds surprisingly good. 

I've had 3.6Rs in a room that size and they're compromised by such a small space, but you already knew that. If you can get past the fact that you're not really hearing what they're truly capable of, then there's no reason why you can't enjoy what you're hearing.