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Magic with Magneplanars?

Although my last pair was a circa 1984 MG-IIIa, I have always loved the warmth, imaging and immediacy of Magneplanars and never found listening to Martin Logan's, Apogees, WATT Puppies or anything else nearly as musical. I am now assembling a system -- perhaps with MG-20's (are they worth the difference over 3.6s?) -- and I am curious about bi-amping. Could I use Bryston on the bass and ARC tubes on the top? I am also considering an ARC SP-11, VPI TNT, and SACD. Any ideas here (also for cables) would be greatly appreciated!!! Don't care about state of the art, the highest resolution etc but just want to bathe in warm lush magical musical sound...
cwlondon5386
rgd
656 posts
 
While you could be inundated with combinations up the wazoo, I would suggest a pair of Bryston 7B's matched up with a decent tube preamp (fill in your choice...)
el34's avatar
el34
11 posts
 
conrad-johnson tubes,top and bottom! I'm currently listening to MG 111a's with a c-j MV 100 on the bottom and two MV 50's strapped in mono on the mid panels and ribbons. These amps are identical circuit designs,each doing about 100 watts. It sounds GLORIOUS! I've never heard the MG 20's(I'd love to,though),but you'd probably want to get into c-j's newer,more powerful stuff.Pricry,but worth it! Good luck with your search,happy listening! Bob
audiokinesis
2,755 posts
 
My understanding is the Maggie 20's have been discontinued and will be shortly replaced by the 20.1's, which will have a push-pull midrange driver (true ribbon) rather than the single-ended midrange driver of the 20's. I believe retail will be around $13,000. A couple of years ago I owned modified Quad 63's with Gradient dipole subs, and I was on the verge of upgrading to either a pair of Maggie 20's or Audio Artistry Beethovens (I love dipoles). Then I discovered Sound Lab full-range electrostats. Not only did I purchase a pair of the new Millennium-1's, but I believe in them so much I crossed over to the "dark side" and became a dealer! Anyway, if you are in this price range, you really ought to hear the Sound Labs. They are the ultimate expression of the dipole - one driver, electrostatic, warm tonal balance, superb timbre and nuance, and (surprise!) genuine bass. There are two models, the Millennium-1 and Millennium-2, that are in the general price ballpark of the Maggie 20.1's. E-mail: audiokinesis@home.com. Best wishes!
john_l
782 posts
 
In my experience/preference, tubes are great w/maggies. I tried vt100 and mv-50. Both were wonderful. The vt100 was the best, quite a bit clearer, the mv-50 warmer w/very forward midrange. Check out an earlier thread in this forum on amps for maggies. Lot's of good opinions. Not too many childish outbursts either !
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