Mcintosh 501's with Magnepan 1.6 QR

Hi Dan,

I am a newbie but I have been reading a lot about the 1.6s and here is what I have discovered - The 1.6s do not go well with tubes (and I think Magnepan themselves say this). I have read this on many discussion boards.
Also, John Valin, a very highly respected reviewer in TAS was reviewing your A21 and at the end of the review he said something to the effect of "Oh, wow, what a magical combination this amp would be with a pair of maggies." From what I gather you can't go wrong if John Valin makes a stement like that.

I think you may be more than fine with what you have and based on my research, in fact I have a pair of 1.6s, an A21 and a Jc2 coming this week.

Anyway, you might find me on here next week asking some set-up questions when my gear arrives, but I feel pretty confident that the gear combination is right, just got some tweeking to do hopefully.

Good Luck

I have the MG3.6r and they can be even brighter than the MG1.6 with their true ribbon tweeter.
The key for taming the highs is power and current which my Classe CA400 provides.
I would suggest a tube/hybrid preamp, diffusion behind the speakers, absorbtion on the other end.
Make sure the quasi tweeter is further from your ears than the mid/bass driver.

From what I've been reading, the parasound amps deliver a pretty smooth sound and have good current requirments for planers.
Search under Audiogon member"Macdadtexas" and see what amps he's been through to give you an idea on amp choices.

I tried a older mc7200 Mac amp with mg1.6's before and the sound to me in my room was lifeless and very laidback.

If your using digital for your source, try a NOS tube dac (mhdt Havana, Audio Note)to tame the highs.
And above all else, play vinyl.

How old is your Halo A21? You may want to give it some time to break in.