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Is it good to drive the magnepan 3.6?

I have 2 classe Twenty-Five power amp, and I just purchased a pair of Magnepan Speakers: model 3.6 and its rate is 4 Ohms speaker. I was wondering, if I "bridged" my power amp to function as "monoblocks" to drive a pair of magnepan 3.6. Will it cause the amplifier to "see" a 2-ohm load? Does that stress the amplifier's current capacity and will the amp be overheated?

Here is the power amp's rated output:
Rated Output :
8 Ohms Stereo: 250 Watts
4 Ohms Stereo: 500 Watts
8 Ohms Mono: 1000 Watts
4 Ohms Mono: 1600 watts

I don't have that much of experience on this audio system, so can any one give me some advice , please e-mail me.
Thank You
vinhd
dokblues
3 posts
 
Your Magnepans will be happy with the 500 watts you show at 4 ohms as that is what they are rated for. I have an older pair of completely re-done SMGA`s with different crosover circuits. They are powered by 300 watts per channel and I just went to a friends home who got his set of 3.6`s and they are powered by a McIntosh 352 at 350 watts and they sing!! Don`t see any reason to push them any harder than 500 watts.
macdadtexas
1,794 posts
 
Actually, 500w is about the minimum that I have used that will open up Maggies. As any Maggie owner will tell you, "more is better" as far as power goes. Now, I have not used the Classe's before, but I would suggest using them in a mono configuration and you should be more than fine.

I tried 12 different amps with my 3.6R's before I found my current, and final configuration. Good luck, don't be afraid to try something else if you are not getting what you want.
tweak1
3,655 posts
 
When biamping you need to replace the OEM XO. On the cheap is either the DBX or Behringer CX 2310 or a bit more expensive Behringer DCX 2496
rootmann's avatar
rootmann
78 posts
 
I drive my 3.6's with a McCormack DNA-500 at 500 @ 8 ohms, 1000 @ 4 Ohms. They(3.6R's) act like teenaged football players. The more current you feed them, the more they take and the better they play. I have fooled with other amps, but to my taste I like the McCormack sound with my setup. Like in Young Frannkenstein, "More power Igor....."!!! I agree with Mac that you might want to listen to some other amps to see what floats your boat.

Good luck. Enjoy the music.
kiwi_1282001
312 posts
 
Macdadtexas, could you list what the 12 amp's you tried with the 3.6's and why you finally chose Cary? Thanks.
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