2. amps-preamps
  3. 183902-181825

Warmer class D amps for magnepan?

I am planning on buying a pair of lrs+, and i need a poweramp. I am well aware that class D is despised in the magnepan community, but its unwarranted. Nuforce and the new purifi amps are designed to handle 2 ohm loads, and have been used to power Maggies without falt. My only concern is they will kinda rip my head off if i play any less than perfect recording on them. I’m aware that all modern magnepans are unforgiving, but can be tamed with a smoother amplifier. So why not class A or AB? Unfortunately, i simply dont have the space for the ones that are actually rated at 2 ohms (the lrs is around 3.5ohm, but dips to 2.8, it MUST be able designed to handle a 2 ohm load). Also, any one of them that does go up on sale, the owners almost always refuse to ship them, and want you to pick it up in person (for which i dont have the resources to do so). So I ask if there are any smoother, more forgiving class D poweramps (not intergrated models) that you are sure will power magnepans correctly. They can be discontinued, as i will be buying it used regardless, so anything from 2008 to 2018 would be preferable and my budget is around €2000, so say $2500. Thank you.

hamark
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,800 posts
 

I really think the use of a tube input stage can be beneficial with Class D power. Several makers doing that now.

IMO/IME this is a Bad Idea. Why not just build a proper input buffer? The tube suggests that there's a distortion problem in the class D circuitry that needs masking...

graphicalone
4 posts
 

I read this thread with interest. First, the LRS+ is not the highest end Maggie, so you won't be able to hear what you could hear from a $30K Maggie. I have the lower cost MC-1/DWM in a difficult room (4m wide, 10m long). Placement is very important. The amp, not so much. I tried using my older McIntosh receiver (well capable of 100W @4Ohms) and it wasn't enough. I bought a quad NC500 amp from Buckeye and it pairs and works fine. My experience is that this system, for less than USD5000 is pretty nice (streamer and preamp included).

niodari's avatar
niodari
300 posts
 

You may look for a used Cherry amp. Tommy used their amps with magnepan speakers and he liked how they sounded.

wjt3
204 posts
 

Call Alberto at AGD  He will hook you up.

https://agdproduction.com/gran-vivace/

tomrk
73 posts
 

Based on the Magnepan 3.6R’s that I have, class D sounds fine. I have the NAD M33 which makes about 380WPC into 4 ohms (also will do over 600WPC peak). So yes, the bigger panels need some juice to make them rock. After hours of listening, they still sound great and the amp only ever gets slightly warm, even with the volume set at 0.0 db

As to how they sound, I’d describe both the speakers and amp as neutral and I mean that in a complimentary way.

I compared the M33 with various AB amps that were quite a bit more expensive, one or two that were considered "warm", and I simply didn’t hear the difference. I’m sure some will claim my ears must’ve been blocked that day, but no, months later, I’m still impressed with the sound from this combo both on modern music, classical, jazz, and even country.

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