Ake: I think that there is a VAST discrepancy amongst what many of us here call "average" listening levels. What is "average" to a "rocker" might be "roaring" to a person that listens to chamber music, etc.. On top of that, listening distance, size of the room, types of speakers used, etc... will all vary this equation.
From my personal experience with Maggies, i would suggest using a tube amp that was capable of at least 100 wpc rms or a SS power amp that was at least 200 wpc rms @ 8 ohms. This "should" equate to at least 300 wpc and preferably closer to 400 wpc @ 4 ohms for the SS amp. "Tube watts" tend to come across as being more powerful due to the more "natural" way that they clip i.e. they do not sound near as stressed or grainy when being driven hard. Quite honestly, i don't think that you can have TOO much power with speakers of this nature.
This brings up another dilemma though as many higher powered SS amps do not sound as good as some smaller models do. Much of this can be negated by looking for a manufacturer that uses high quality parts and gain matches all of the output devices. Such designs tend to be of high bias ( Class A or very rich Class AB ) and should deliver excellent sound even at lower volumes. Obviously, these will probably cost a little more, but then again, nobody said this hobby was cheap : ) Sean
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From my personal experience with Maggies, i would suggest using a tube amp that was capable of at least 100 wpc rms or a SS power amp that was at least 200 wpc rms @ 8 ohms. This "should" equate to at least 300 wpc and preferably closer to 400 wpc @ 4 ohms for the SS amp. "Tube watts" tend to come across as being more powerful due to the more "natural" way that they clip i.e. they do not sound near as stressed or grainy when being driven hard. Quite honestly, i don't think that you can have TOO much power with speakers of this nature.
This brings up another dilemma though as many higher powered SS amps do not sound as good as some smaller models do. Much of this can be negated by looking for a manufacturer that uses high quality parts and gain matches all of the output devices. Such designs tend to be of high bias ( Class A or very rich Class AB ) and should deliver excellent sound even at lower volumes. Obviously, these will probably cost a little more, but then again, nobody said this hobby was cheap : ) Sean
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