Best Amp with Magnepan 3.6's

Pass Labs. Some friends and I have had several amps with Maggie 3.6's (and before that, 1.5's and 1.6's). The Pass Labs, in no special order, were the X150.5, X250.5 and X350.5. All 3 were excellent in bested the others in every category, in our opinions.

I'm using the X150.5 now and it has no problem in driving the 3.6's very easily (HiFi News mag. tested the X150.5 and found it clipped at 280wpc @8ohms!!! and 380wpc @4ohms).

The other amps tried were Krell KSA 50, Classe 201 and 401, Plinius (250wpc - don't recall the model #), Hafler 9501, Parasound (200 wpc - don't recall the model #). The Plinius was second best after the Pass Labs amps.

Bryston is all you need. Im with Markwatkiss here. Even the 4BST is a nice combo with a good tube pre amp.

I Tried the Bryston 4bsst at home for a weekend with my 3.6r's. The sound was much more powerful sounding as expected compared to my old 100w PSE amp. However the topend still sounded somewhat bright.

I've since then replaced the PSE with a Classe CA400 with the power doubling into 4 ohms at 800w. The going price is about 2k if you can find one.
The CA400 has a real sweet topend and midrange needed for my room, which has also been acoustically treated.
It also sounds as though I've added a sub with increased bass response.

If you stay with Bryston look into the 14b or 7b series.
The Cary CAD500mb is also a great choice as Cary Audio will build one for you when I last called them in August.

I have had the following in my system with Maggie 3.6's.

Classe'25. Used with 2 Vandersteen 2WQ subwoofers. Very dynamic but somewhat aggressive on top end. My long time friend. Drove my 3.6 for 5 years and prior to that my 1.6 for 4 years. It is a better match for the 1.6 which has a softer treble presentation.

Bel 1001 MkV. Only 100WPC@4ohms but had ample drive for music. Great bass even without subwoofers. Good mids and highs. Made a positive impression although it was auditioned in my home for only about 4 hours. Interestingly, one MkV was very immediate and dynamic but two MkV's had a more distant perspective similar to that of the Classe'25.

Theta Dreadnaught II. Also used with 2 Vandersteen 2WQ subs. Smooth top end along with a very expressive and expansive mids. Almost tubelike. Great soundstage. No loss of dynamics compared to the Classe or Bel. The best I've heard in my system. Installed 4 months ago.

The tube preamps I have used were the Music Reference RM 5 MKIII, the ARC LS15, 16, 25, Quicksilver linestage, and Full Function. I like the MR RM5 MKIII, and the Quicksilvers. The Quicksilver linestage is unbeievable for the money. I use the Full function Quickie as I need the phono. It is highly modified with new caps, silver wire, etc. The preamps worked well with the Brystons. I tried the 3.6 also with the 4BSST on the mid treble and the 7BST in the bass....very nice...addictive, and a tube preamp, electronic Xover/XM44 Marchand, and I want nothing more. My tube ammp is an Eico modified with V-caps, silver wire, etc.