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You have no idea, mate! :-))

121.220.23.164

In Reply to: RE: And I'll stick with the clarity and correct tone of ss amps done right!! :-)) nt posted by morricab on March 29, 2008 at 03:06:36

I believe you don't own Maggies, morricab, so I guess you've been "doing the maths" based on their published efficiencies ... rather than experimenting yourself? Or maybe your arithmetic is just wrong?

I agree that there can be lots of difference (in terms of their ability to drive a Maggie) between one 200w (into 4 ohms) ss amp and another but one 200w (into 4 ohms) ss amp will not drive a III/3.X series Maggie anywhere near to its optimum, IMO.

A 200w valve amp OTOH could well be fine ... although I do know of someone with a Wolcott tube amp (280w) who only uses it for mid/ribbons on his 3.6, using a second (ss) amp for the bass panels. He's tried running just the Wolcott ... and it didn't sound anywhere near as good.

In my case, when I said "I use 3 of them", what I meant was ... I use 3 AKSA Lifeforce ss amps (rated as follows into the corresponding IIIa driver impedances):
* 200w on bass
* 125 on mids
* 65 on ribbons.

Regards,

Andy

Follow Ups:

RE: You have no idea, mate! :-)) - morricab 04:23:34 03/31/08 (2)
Well you are right that I haven't owned a Maggie; HOWEVER, a good friend of mine went through 3 different pairs of Maggies before changing to other things (he goes through gear rather quickly). He had 2.5r, 1.5qr and 1.6qrs. He tried everything on them from huge Audio Research D250 tube amps, to Class D, to SET to Class A solid state to high power Class AB to high power OTL ...well you get the idea basically the whole amplifier world was represented. The best sound he coaxed from them was using the Maggie 1.6s with Audio Note P4SE parallel SET monoblocks and a pair of Silvaweld 100 watt OTL amps. You probably haven't tried either so I am not sure which one of us has more experience with amps on Maggies. The worst sound was a Plinius SA102 and Mark Levinson something or other. The Accuphase wasn't too bad and the Sharp SX100 Class D amp was ok as well but not amazing. I got to hear all of these combinations in many many listening sessions at his place.

Not to mention my own planar speaker oddyssey. I have had Infinity IRS Betas, Apogee Caliper Signatures, Audiostatic ES100s, STAX ELS F81s, Acoustat 1+1, Spectra 2200 and Spectra 4400 and my own DIY ribbon hybrids. Every kind of load and sensitivity you can imagine is enveloped in that microcosm (STAX with only 76db/watt sensitivity for example).
- "Experience with amps on Maggies" ... - andyr 04:51:11 03/31/08 (1)
  You are right ... I have neither owned 3 different types of Maggies nor tried that range of amps on them. :-))
  However, it was YOU who told me one of my 200w amps should be fine with my IIIas ... I simply begged to differ. IMO, certainly the 3-way Maggies need to be driven actively ... preferably 3-way but certainly 2-way. IMO, 2-way Maggies like the 1.6QR will probably sound better being driven actively ... unless you have at least 200w of tube (like the 280w Wolcotts which are driving the top half of some 3.6s that I know about) or 300w of good ss power available.
  Wow, if you had some Apogee Caliper Signatures ... why did you let them go!!?? :-)) Are they one of the "difficult" (1 ohm) Apogees ... so you couldn't find a suitable amp?
  Regards,
  Andy
  
  Edits: 03/31/08
  - RE: "Experience with amps on Maggies" ... - morricab 02:55:43 04/01/08 (0)
    "Wow, if you had some Apogee Caliper Signatures ... why did you let them go!!?? :-)) Are they one of the "difficult" (1 ohm) Apogees ... so you couldn't find a suitable amp?"
    
    Good question, I miss them sometimes. But the Acoustats were comparable in most ways and actually had better bass. Still, I get to hear them once in a while at the friend who I sold them to. No they were relatively ok to drive being a nearly flat 3-4 ohm load. I could drive them with eveything from a 20 watt SET to whatever you like. My main amp at that time was a zero feedback hybrid called Sphinx Project 14. Great amp but bested by my current champion the KR Audio VA350i.

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