No Bi-Amp but tubes for Maggies -- can it be done?


Someone please either put me out of my misery once and for all. Is there a tube amp that will drive Magneplanars (1.6 or 3.6). Most listened to are female Jazz vocals. If can get some real expert input I'll give up the dream and move on to the best cat coffins I can find or plunge into the world of electrostatic/ribbons. Thanks as always.

F7
fathom7
Don't know if this is an option for you, but there are several hybrid amps out there that are worth considering. Llano and Counterpoint come to mind, plus a few more.

Regards
Jim
Sure. I'm driving the 3.6 model with a 100 watt per channel McIntosh tube amp (2102) and preamp (2200). Sounds great and I listen to a lot of vocal music of various kinds.

Skip
I had a pair of MG3A, that I was driving with a stereo pair of Audio research D-115MK2. Your talking 115w x 4. 1 stereo amp per speaker. This system kept me happy until I purchased Rowland mono blocs ang Apogee Diva ribbons. The ARC D115 can typically be purchased 1000--1300.00. Hope this helps, happy hunting
Scot
I like Duke's suggestion for the Wolcott's- but then again I like Dike because he's a really cool guy :) Another tube amp that would be able to handle maggies amp punishing capabalities are the VTL amps, anything bigger then a 450 should handle it(the 450 may not be enough for the 3.6, but I can not say for sure). I don't think its a lost cause there are a number of maggie users running tubes and they really seem to love it.

F7,
Given your listen taste are geared toward Jazz and female vocals there is hope although not cheap...

I currently run my 3.6R with VTL 225's that run in Class A Triode mode only. Midrange and highs are very sweet with plenty of air. Although these amps have very high current I could still use more power for those last octaves to come out. As mentioned getting large amounts of “Class A” tube power is not cheap. Used Wolcotts are below $6000. VTL depending or year and mods are in the similar price ranges.

Depending on your room size a “smaller” 200 watt tube amp will work nice. For the MG1.6 100-200 tube watts would work well as for the 3.6R 200-500 watts would make them that much better.

Good luck