Okay I Bought the Magnepan 3.6's


Okay, I actually purchased the Magnepan 3.6's; now it's amp research time! Temporarily running them with my 22 year old NAD 2200PE (don't laugh, it still works!)...and they sound decent in my 17 x 26 room. However as it has been said before, 'Scotty, I need MORE POWER!'...

After some feedback on the Parasound and big Macs, I have been leaning more towards one of the Pass Labs. (Good deals abound on used ones)... So, which way to go? These look very promising:

X250.5
X350.5
or even the XA60.5 (Pricey!!!)...

Thoughts and recommendations? Also, safe to run a tube preamp in front of these?
stickman451
I wondered if the 150.5 would be enough for the 3.6's in my room which is 17w x 26l x 9h. Or, maybe the 250.5?
I think the Pass 150.5 could definitely do it in your room. Depends on how loud you play your system. The difference might come down to the fact that the 150.5 would be out of class A into class AB, while the 250.5 might stay in class A, though if you play loud the 250.5 would also be out of class A.

Hard to say more than that, unless you had both amps and did a direct comparison.
thanks for the recommendations. I noticed that all three of the X150.5's listed have been sold!
Take another look at Bryston,both companies use each others products when on the show circuit.There is just a natural synergy when these amps and speakers are paired.
A 4BSST,14,and or mono 7's are ideal candidates.
Wait!!! Did you buy the Maggies new or used? If they are new you really need to let them break in for a couple of hundred hours in order to be ale to evaluate amps. The sound of Maggies changes significantly over the first couple of hundred hours and what you describe with the Mac could be attributed to them not yet being run in.

If you go Pass, I would go to the 250.5 or 350.5. I know with my 2.7's they didn't start to sound right until I had 600w/ch per side (4 ohm) going through them. Others have mentioned the big Brystons as they work well with Maggies, and I agree they are worth checking out. Despite what you get, I would make sure you are at least at 500 w/ch.