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Magnepan 1.6 vs. B&W 805N

I have the 1.6 almost a year now bought it used. Somtimes i get bored with the maggies, im currently using it with a classe 20 pre and adcom 555II or 535 also planning to upgrade to classe 10 amp. I cant get the sound of i want from the maggies and since i'll go for the classe combo i'm thinking to go with the b&w 805N. I find a hard time dealing with dipole w/ my room. Any sugestions?
xtian_lugz
macdadtexas
1,794 posts
 
When I had the 1.6's and bought an Innersound ESL amp, I couldn't believe the sound. The bass that came out of those speakers was just astounding, comparatively.

Upgrade your amp before you change speakers. There is a reason that Maggies are almost universally revered, they are great speakers.
xtian_lugz OP
19 posts
 
Do you guys think classe model ten will do the job for the 1.6? It puts out 250 wpc at 4 I guess... I know bryston 4B ST is good but I need to stretch the budget a bit. I've heard a 1.6 driven by a red dragon monos and it sounds REALLY good! But I cant reach that far... :) the adcom sounds ok on some areas but Im still finding the high end sound I cant get from it.
bwp
114 posts
 
I think you will be fine with the Classe. I imagine it puts out plenty of current which is what Maggies will want.
james63
534 posts
 
Wyred 4 sound has some pretty good amps out these days with 30 day trials... no harm in trying one.

Never heard them with Magnepans though.
coxhaus
231 posts
 
If I were you I would keep the Maggies and upgrade your amp. I owned an adcom 555II 20 years ago. It drove my rear McIntosh ML1s in my first home theater complete with Laser Disc. When you upgrade you will be astonished as to the difference the change in amps will make. I have BW 801 and I am going to sell mine. Don’t buy the 805s the Maggies will be a better speaker.
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