Choking more SPL's out of Maggie 3.6's

I have the 3.6's actively bi-amped. Tubes top (only 40 watts) and ss for the bottom (classe ca-400) I'm not into shear spl's, but before bi-amping, the classe was more than enough power. (800 watts into 4 ohms) If you are clipping, have you ever blown any of the fuses? If you actively bi-amp with a sub output (you would need a 3-way xover) you might be able to get the efficiency up a bit. I use a xm126 tube 2way from Marchand. They can make what ever you desire.

It isn't those Brystons, I'm sure. The setting of the switch on the back of the amps could be something to look into. I wonder what is the best position for Maggies. Maybe someone with this combo could tell you what they use or you could always experiment with it. Sean has a dislike for Bryston based, if I remember some of his old posts, on a 4B he bought for little money, that had been beaten the hell out of, to the extent the casing was twisted or some such. Nonetheless, Bryston did a bunch of warranty repairs on it, but still in all Sean did not warm up to the amp. That's all right, "degustibus non disputandem". I don't think that 7B STs are somehow too wimpy or poorly designed to tame those Maggies. I think that the practical limit of the Maggies has been reached. They are not designed for high SPL listening. I auditioned them for an hour and half at a local dealer with my own cds and was amazed with some of the 3.6Rs strong points. I found them lacking, however, on rock and also in the bass department with jazz. The rest of the equipment was Classé. I still think, now and then, of getting a pair of 3.6Rs and keeping my Paradigm Reference 100 v2s for high SPL listening. Both these speakers are price leaders. Unfortunately, the openness and airiness of the Maggies is not found in the 100v2s, and the out and out slam and meaty sound of the 100 V2s is not to be found in the 3.6Rs. I remember that quite a few people running Maggies with 7B STs have posted here and that they were quite satisfied by this combo. In closing, what would the downside of having the Maggies at one end of the room and the 100 V2s at the other be? Since most power amps (including the Brystons) do not have switching facilities for two pairs of speakers, is there a high quality switch box of some type that would eliminate the need to change the cables every time one wants to listen to the other speakers? The area of the panel may be impressive, but the excursion simply is not there; that's one of the main reasons you still see those boxes full of dynamic drivers, I guess...

Things that work for me are:

1. Get another (center) speaker. Better still, get three more for multichannel DVD/SACD.

2. Set your subwoffer/MG crossover frequency higher. I do hope that you are not running the MG full range with subwoofer augentation. You need to get that LF out of the MGs so that they can handle the rest better.

3. Replace the MG crossover network's LF inductor with a low resistance part. (eg: air core 10 gague or better) Since the panel resistance is only about 4 ohms, getting rid of 1/2 ohm in the inductor will make a difference.

4. The ultimate solution is to get some 15-18 inch pro-sound drivers in big vented enclodures. They will sound exactly like what you hear at a concert, distortion and all!

The REL has a great built in crossover. Use it! Cross them over as high as you can (120hz to 150hz). If you keep the sub in the center, you shouldn't hear any localization. Crossing over this high should effectively quadruple the power available to the 3.6s.

Otherwise, Bi-amp. The maggies can handle almost any amount of power, as long as it is clean. I have had friends who bi-amped with Aragons and even a pair of Moscode 300 watt hybrids!

If you really want to rock, you may find that you will have to go to older apogees or some new soundlabs.

Pbb is very close to the truth but i'm not basing my comments on my past experience alone.

I did have a 4B a few years back that was pretty well beat up. Dennis at Bryston USA went through the amp top to bottom, replaced the chassis and put the unit through its' paces on the bench. As it turned out, the only real problem was the fact that the chassis was so twisted that it was shorting out the rail voltage feeding the left channel. Once all of the internal components were transferred into a different chassis, according to what he told me, the unit EASILY met spec and was working better than many of the other amps that he had previously had in for repair that were of similar vintage. As such, he was very satisfied with the results of the repair and the unit over-all.

I wish i could have said the same thing. I found the amp, which was rated at and tested to exceed 250 @ 8 and 400 @ 4, to be less potent into low impedances than a Classe' 70. For sake of clarity, the Classe' 70 was rated at 75 / 150 / 300 with a 3 dB's of dynamic headroom. Even though the "baby" Classe' could drive the low impedance load better than the Bryston, sonically, i did not like either amp. As such, out the door both of them went.

As such, i will say that the Bryston was built like a tank to take that type of abuse / damage and still keep ticking. I will also say that Bryston is a "kick ass" company when it comes to standing behind their product.

With that experience embedded in my mind, i have talked to a few others that have had newer Bryston amps and have run into similar problems. There have also been a few threads pertaining to this subject on AA, so i know that this is not just a "thing of the past" with their older amps. On top of that, the review that i mentioned in Stereophile went out of their way to make it known that the 7B was "crying out in pain" whereas other lower powered amps were simply coasting along on the same load. If we add all of this up, it sure looks like 2 + 2 still equals 4.

Like i said, take my comments for what they are worth. I'm simply calling it as i see it based on past experiences and the feedback that i've gotten from both personal communications and professional reviews. Sean
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PS... I have nothing against Canadians or Canadian companies : )