Magnepan Speakers LRS, 0.7i, 1.7i etc - 1000 watt amplifiers can't drive them. 50 watts can? 

Q&A: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1LlPPyfraC4.html Part 1: Crazy ribbon speakers for $650 ! Magnepan LRS loudspeaker Sound Review ! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DxZvzWEf-m8.html Part 2: How to Place Magnepans: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-d3IiH-SjhBE.html Part 3: How to amplify: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fw_WSyI1LDI.html

You have done such a great and complete job of covering everything we need to know about these speakers, and have done a wonderful service for all of your viewers. Thank you! This review also helps to demonstrate why all amps do not sound the same.

Much appreciate your 2 cents. Its worth more to me than many specs sheets. Well done and keep'em coming. Thank you!

Thanks bro getting back in to audio and learning right now. Your information helps.Finally somebody that explains things clearly. Thanks again. Rock on from a 55 year old metal head! Love Jazz too

Naim sounds really good with maggies. I had the 2.7's and bought them after hearing them with the Naim 60 wpc amp and pre amp . Really good.

I have been driving my .7s with the Musical Fidelity m6si. Extremely happy with the setup 5 years into it.

Magnepans were my first "serious" speaker - the MG-IIB I bought new as kid. I've had numerous other Maggie models since. Love them, and the new models are their best ever. I've used lots of amplifiers with them. Agreed on the "try it and see" approach. That's effectively the advice Magnepan offers on its website. And assembling a good sounding system by reading specs is a tough way to go. I've used transistor and tubed amps with Maggies, and many power ratings and brands. Typically, I used tubes, either Audio Research or Conrad-Johnson; mostly C-J. Power from 35wpc to 400wpc. I found the lovely and venerable Dynaco ST-70 sounded very nice - until it very quickly ran out of steam. Not nearly enough power. C-J tubed amps of 70wpc (MV-75A-1 and Premier 11A) to 140wpc (Premier 12 monoblocks) worked beautifully. I've very much enjoyed the Odyssey Audio amplifiers. The Odyssey Audio Stratos was lovely with MMGs and 1.6QRs. Try it 'n see...

Schiit Aegir monoblocks work perfectly with LRS's; surprisingly wonderful combo. No clipping. My dac straight into the Aegirs is a little loud in fact, probably the top end of my comfortable volume range. Gain matching is really important, you don't want to have your attenuator knob down at 9 o'clock to be able to listen to your system.

Jay, you're absolutely right, it's all about current. When I had the Simaudio i7/Magnepan 1.6qr's, the i7had a really good grip and plenty of juice for the 1.6qr's. Currently, I own the .7's and have found a truly surprising match withe both the Peachtree amp500, and even smoother sound with their GaN400. If you get the opportunity, take a listen.

Those speakers require a lot of current to get frequencies below 150 Hz. One of the trick is to use a subwoofer with a high frequency filter to remove low frequencies from being sent to the speakers while the sub will take care of them. Thus you can keep all the current produced by the amplifier to be send to the speakers.

Right now I'm listening to my Magnepan MG-1.5/QR speakers driven by an Adcom GFA-555 II amp with a B&K Sonata pre-amp. I bought these components thirty years ago and recently brought them out of storage and they still work great. This amp is a beast and has no problem driving 4 Ohms or lower and the Magnepans are a piece of cake for it.

I tried my Maggie IIIa with Bryston 4B, Threshold, Spectral, Roland, Krell, Mark Levinson back in the 80's. Out of these solid state amps the best one was Mark Levinson. However couple of years later I got a pair of VTL mono 225 tube, with Audible Illusion modulus 3a tube preamp. OMG! Heavenly sound.

I had a Nakamichi TA-4A that I hoped would work with the LRS speakers. I was really disappointed so I gave it to a friend to fix up so I could sell it. I tried an HK Citation 8 which sounded okay but not great. Then a Nikkon Alpha 230 which was better but not great. Then my Nak came back with new capacitors and my gosh it hit the sweet spot. The highs weren't shrill and it had bass and the mids sound so perfect. You're right, there is trial and error. I didn't want to put thousands of dollars into the amplification and I bought everything used on ebay. It helped that I knew someone who could fix up the Nak. One comment about your video, sometimes different companies make different sounding equipment so maybe saying Parasound isn't enough and you should mention the model numbers that you found worked well.

Thank you for an excellent video. I approached the same subject with a few preconceptions as well. More power, high current, high damping factor, etc. Tried a $12K 75W tube amp, a 460W solid state with a damping factor of 4,000, etc. Ended up with a 110W $75 solid state amp from the eighties. When it comes to Maggies trial and error is the only way to go. But I have never considered NAIM. Will try it.

Naming amps that didn't work would be super helpful also!

Maggie's owner here since 1989.. Accuphase and conrad-johnson PV-3 was a fantastic combo on my SMGa's.. Currently using the Mini GaN 5 class D and it's great.

I drive my MG 12 QR with Hegel H160 and love it...

I play my 1.4 Maggie's with mission Cyrus 2+PSX. Sounds really great! I have to mention I replaced capacitors on the speakers as well on the amplifier.

i drive my .7is with a rogue audio sphinx v2 with no problem & it sounds great.

Always look for an impedance graph for the speakers , and check for watt output at 4 ohm, and even 2 or 1 ohm on the power amp. This will help you know if you can drive the speakers.

Thank you Jay this has been super helpful to me as I just received my Magnepan LRS’ and looking for an appropriate amp to make them sound their best within my budget.

I drive my original MGIIs with a vintage class AB amp from GAS (now out of business). The combination is spectacular at least for my ears. I've been running this combo for 40+ years and why?, because I have not found any better combination. The GAS model 'Son of Ampzilla' at 80 watts drives this 4 ohm speaker with ease. Find one online and keep it as a tester, you won't be disappointed. Good review.

I’m using 2 channels of an ATI made THX Ultra 5 channel amp that outputs 250 WPC @4 ohms the other three channels being used for my 7.4.4 system. I agree on the high current needs of these speakers and putting the tweeters to the outside did expand the sweet spot for a much more enjoyable communal experience. Tweeters to the inside result in more of a holographic effect but the sweet spot is quite narrow and a small movement of your head can change the effect dramatically. It took nearly four months from ordering to delivery so the guy who said he was getting them next week must live next to the factory and have a friend there as well!

Hegel makes some seriously good stuff, I upgraded from a rotel preamp to hegel. The difference is night and day.

I'm using a Rogue Chronus mag 3 DARK all tube integrated with my LRS+'s, very nice sound, plenty of tube power.

Great video! I have had great success powering my Maggie 1.7i with a 75w tube amp. The peachtree you mentioned giving 250w to the 1.7i sounded not so great, however it made my Maggie MMG speakers sound really good. If you have Maggies try out as many amps as feasible.

very honest and informative review - subscribed

I just got my secondhand Magnepan SMGb. My vintage Luxman R800 MK2 can drive them at high levels with only 40 Watts. I haven't played complex music yet. My guess was that lots of vintage amplifier/receiver are high current, therefore have lots of drive even at low watts.

Hi Jay - thanks for posting this vid, thumbs up from me - - been playing with maggies since the later 70's - no doubt, they need current and I appreciate that you made that particular point in this vid - - was just kind of thinking that the crappy sounding class D amp you tried would probably sound crappy in other applications as well, may not be just the "current" thing and I know you get that, just saying, and sure, wattage ratings can't predict an amp's sound, a great point you made through your own experience - however, there are class D amps out there that work perfectly well with the maggies - I'm currently (no pun intended on the "currently"!) using class D monoblocks with the 3.7i's with satisfying results, I still own a great sounding A/B amp that I replaced with the Class D's - both amps are more similar than different sounding, surprising to me cause I would never have considered that a class D amp would work in my system, at least until recently - but anyway, the Class D's, although not "night & day", do sound better and project a better sound stage. I have a buddy that has the Naim you referred to, sounds excellent to me, like you, surprising considering the wattage "specs", it's hard to "shake" that idea even though we should know better- he's matched it with Spendors, love the sound he's getting.

When I originally got the Maggie 2c (the grandfather of the 1.7) back in the 80's I powered them with a pair of Adcom GFA550's. Years later I went w/ Odyssey Audio monoblocs which a superb but affordable amp. I'm currently using Merlins, but will go back to Maggie. Despite their limitations, they are just magical. (the main limitation being they are not very dynamic and it is hard to properly integrate a sub)

Those recommendations are spot on. I had Talk electronics mono blocks and short term loaner Bryston 4B SST, both which ran out of gas and became hard and brittle when the volume went up. Switched to Sanders amplification and sound quality went up dramatically, then finally settled on PS Audio BHK 300 mono blocks and I am in audio heaven(for the moment haha). Funny enough I also have a Hegel H190, but I haven't even tried it on my Magnepan 20.7's. Maybe I'll give it a go just for fun. I would also venture that PASS Labs would be incredible combination with Maggies in general as well.

So I have recently bought a pair of Maggie's 0.7's I've owned a VAC PA 80 80 tube amp forever and love it! But it's configured in triode mode (35 watts per channel) so unfortunately it just won't have enough watts/current to drive my Maggie's As luck would have it, my friend was selling his Spectron Musical MK lll class D amp This amp was designed by John Ulrich back in the early 2000's Well for a class D amp it's a real beast weighing in at 52lbs! Output is 500watts@8ohm 650@4ohms & 1,200@1ohms but the real icing on the cake is the amp will do 65 amps for 500 milliseconds Talk about soundstage and dynamic inner detail! Even a low volumes ( 1/4 turn of the volume knob) everthing has such weight, energy from a guitar strum to a strike on a piano key. It's as close to real life as I've heard. So Jay is correct in sourcing out a high watts/current amplifier to drive Maggies. If my Spectron goes up in a puff of smoke one day, it sure will be hard to replace without selling my old Porsche : ) I have been looking and the ATI class D amps look very good for the money. Speaking of money and if it's not an issue Jeff Rolland class D amps is also a no brainer

I put my SoundArtist SA200IA to the test and found it powered my new 1.7i fantastically. For the money, it's impossible to beat.

I'm using an old Adcom GFA-535II with my LRS. It works very well.

I drive my Magnepan 0.7's with 833-A radio station transmitter tubes with a plate voltage of 1000 and Hammond 1642SE output transformers run at 4 Ohms output and it sounds much better than the solid state amplifier the store used for me to audition them You have to build these amplifiers yourself and it took me over a year to get my design perfected, but I can't imagine any better combination of amplifier and speaker.

Jay, I am using the .7s. I thought I would have to buy new amps. I have old (1983) and rather rare Technics New Class A SE-A7s. They can be strapped, but unfortunately only for 8 ohm loads, so I haven't tried it with the Magnapans. They are rated at 60 watts into both 4 and 8 ohm loads. Here are the published specs: Frequency response: 20Hz to 20kHz Total harmonic distortion: 0.003% Damping factor: 100 Input sensitivity: 1V Signal to noise ratio: 110dB Speaker load impedance: 4Ω to 16Ω Dimensions: 430 x 53 x 365mm Weight: 9.8kg It plays the .7s to quite loud levels and they sound wonderful! Boy, what a pleasant surprise!

When I got into Magnepans over 15 years ago... I used a Sony 5.1 surround sound amplifier with 120 wpc to drive the MMG Magnepans. After two months the amplifier was toasted. LOL. Now I use a 95 pound Mark Levinson power amp.

Very helpful, gives an idea of how to narrow amp choices down for these.

My MMGs work well with a 90s vintage 200 watt Rotel power amp, a 100 watt Emotiva amp, an ancient 50 watt NAD power amp and a slightly newer NAD receiver capable of an amazing 35 watts. All are capable of driving 4 ohm loads (which is imperative with Magnepan). I'm betting Audio Research amps would be killer with Maggies.

My Maggies 0.7 needs much power,first played with Classe Audio CA 151-2*150 w 4ohm -2*300w 8ohm but after added a Nubert Power A 2*500 w the control and bass much more dynamic.

I have Martin Logan Montis that I used to drive with a 600W/4ohms amp... Now driving them with a Naim Supernait 3 80w/8ohms and they sound way better ! This is actually spot on: look at the power supply in the Naim: huge!

I have a pair of LRS. I have driven them with two different amps. I first used an old Threshold S350e 150watts into 8 ohms and 300watts into 4 ohms. I recently bought a class D, Peachtree Audio Gan 400 rated 400 watts into both 8 and 4 ohms. Both seem to drive the LRS ok to 85 db listening levels with no overheating or shutting down. I have occasionally blown the tweeter fuses with both amps. The Threshold is a little more laid back sound while the Peachtree Gan 400 is a little more forward and detailed. The Peachtree does play a little louder than the Threshold. Also I ran both of these amps direct to the LRS from an Oppo 205 universal player source without a preamp.

Current matter more than watts is my experience. I have 1.7s and had the higher watt class D and was disappointed. One day just for kicks I put on my Scott LK 48 tube amplifier which is only 19 Watts. And my mind was blown. I was hearing everything I didn't hear from the class D. The happy medium was class A B 100 W to 200 W. Recently picked up an Adcom GFA 5802 and it's perfect. Lots of current and power for my normal volume listening.

I've used Rotel, a low wattage tube amp, some older JC1 monos and Modular Electronics ME850 (massive toroidal transformers, dual mono and no negative feedback). The ME was great and the Parasound JC1s were excellent, if a little clinical... in my house.

I am using a Hegel H390 with my 1.7i, I recently purchased a ADCOM 555SE and I must say the it gives the H390 a run for the money, the rest of my rig consist of PrimaLuna Premium Dialogue PreAmp, Lampizator Atantic TRP DAC, custom Solid State computer as a server and an Isotek Aquarius conditioner, the 1.7i sound spectacular with this setup.

I am currently use one McIntosh 275 tube amp ( 75 W ) driving my 3.7i without any problem, great senergy, no clipping. Use 50% Volume from PA and pretty loud about 80 dB already.

I passed up a great deal on some PSB Gold i because I wasn't sure my if 90 watt(@8 ohm) amp would work with demanding speakers. I've since learned there is very few speakers that the Yamaha A-S2100 can't drive. Great, warm tone, fully differential circuit, it's a bit of overkill with my Forte's, so I got a 3w SET that sounds amazing, I love switching between the two, but definitely interested in trying Magnepan with the Yamaha, just waiting for the right deal to come along.

Very nice job !! God luck to you and your future success.

I bought two Harman Kardon Citation 22 power amps, I will bridge them to produce 400 watts per channel (Conservative), they are High current amps and I can't wait to hear them. The secret why some amps with low watts sound great and with authority is that they are high current amps. For instance my Harman Kardon H/K 730 receiver is just rated at 40 amps, but they can drive my Magnepans at reasonable volume, I was wondering how was this possible, until I read that these ratings are conservative and that they use 2 transformers for each channel, so they never run out of juice (High-Current)! These great Harman Kardons can dip as low as 2ohms as tested in labs!

The info here is much appreciated. I'm thinking of either the Magnepan LRS or the .7. Amps under consideration are the Dayens Menuetto, Schiit Vidar with the Saga+ preamp, or the Outlaw Audio 2160 Mk ii. Here in SD there is really no place to see or audition any of this, so reviews like this are invaluable. Thank you!

Great review! By chance have you compared pairing a Hegel H90 vs. H190 with the Magnepan LRS without a subwoofer? (I'm considering adding a REL sub but that's another topic)

Ok since last post, I got a Schiit Vidar. Can't drive LRS with any volume without overheating and shutting down. Sticking w/ my pick of Odyssey. Love to try a Hegel someday.

Now can you do a video on possible Magnepan setups, ideal rooms, etc...?

The Hegel H90 is the one! I heart my Hegel and can’t wait for the .7s I just bought to arrive. Unfortunately, they’re way back-ordered. 😕

Hey man, love your videos. Had my LRS for about a year and a half now, and I love them, I notice you mention them a lot and talk about amplification for them, I don't drive mine particularly hard and i don't notice anything particularly off about the way they sound, but like everyone with the audiophile bug, I'm always intrigued by trying other gear. I know there are some modern amps you recommend with them, but I'm inclined to go vintage, I've always wanted a Yamaha mx1000 and I feel this a good time to try. While high wattage doesn't mean high current but the mx1000 is stable down to 1 ohm so I think they would be worth a try with the magnepans. What do you think, will the mx1000 have the current to do the LRS justice?

Much needed video! 200 Watts per side! That should melt glass. Mentioning price and actual model wouldn’t hurt. 🤓 For example I have a parasound new classic because of price... but it’s very different from the high end parasound...

Hi, what are your test tracks? How long are your listening time? Used to have 1.7 drove with Hegel h160 they're good but my problem they clip, thermal sensor triggers, is it maybe because 1.7 dips more in resistance than LRS? My room is 11.5x13.5x8,5 ft to be exact. Hope you can shed some info. Unfortunately already sold my Maggie. But I am l planning to come back w/ schiit vidar and LRS combo thank you nice video on your experience w/ maggies and btw i started with mmg drove by a sunsui AU9000 then ADCOM GfA 555mk2 then Krell s300i then Hegel h160

I've been looking into peak current designs myself recently in trying to understand why their Naim Amps have such a reputation (well deserved) for pace rythem and timing. I've yet to hear amps that match it and I'm kinda stuck with my 250DR until I can find other amps which match this aspect of their design. Thanks for this piece, its very interesting.

Audiolab 6000a pushes 9 amps good for hard driven speakers £600 new and the 8300a model but I would go with the 6000 I don't think there's much in it. Have you tried it?

Current you hit the nail on the head. Your three amplification choices are mine as well. However out of my price range. Although the Parasound is closer. Lastly I ended up buying a Rogue Sphinx V2 and the tube preamp section makes a big difference in the sound. And yes it's class d, but really damn good sounding class D!

Watts = VA (if there is no reactive power var), if the amplifier's output impedance is high, it limits the current output. A high damping factor High Wattage amplifier must be High Current Amplifier. A modern designed Class D amplifier can output 30A plus current which means much powerful than the naim, so the current shouldn't be a problem to drive LRS.

Thinking about getting the .7 Maggies, but would my two Monoblocks Primaluna HP Dialogue 148 watts each had efficiently enough power? As stated in many reviews these speakers are hungry for power. My amplifiers seem to be very beefy 66 lbs with dual power transformers.

Which Hegel amp? The Röst is rated at 75wpc, and the H90 is 60, I believe, but I know they can give more punch than their rating.

Willsenton R8 Tube amp is an amazing match for them, of course those are tube watts even on Triod mode at 25 watts per channel.

I bought a pair of LRS and Hegel H90 from Audio Excellence and it’s sounds incredible. Only problem is it overheats the Hegel around 60-65 volume. Would the Naim 5si be a better choice? Does it have overheating problems like the H90? Is there anything else you could recommend without breaking the bank? Love your videos and thank you for doing what you do.

Do you thing the Ice power AS1200S2 would be a good fit. It's a class D 1200 W per channel at 4 Ohm.

Hello Jay. I'm a new subscriber and a returning "audiophile." I listen to your videos the most when it comes to audiophile subjects. I grew up listening to Magnepans and I mostly listen to classical, vocals and jazz music so perhaps its a perfect fit. I plan to purchase the LRS and would like to pair it with the right "high current" integrated amp and if possible with streaming capabilities. Aside from the amps you mentioned in this video would you have new recommendations taking into account that more than a year has passed since this video? Thanks in advance and more power to you!

You are right, amperes(Current) is more important than watts. lots Watts+lots of amperes= lots of power! I have a Cambridge Audio CX-A80 and drives the Magnepan with Authority, due to lots of current and muscle! You can get a used Adcom GFA-555 Mrk II, Bryston, Parasound or the brilliant high current Harman Kardon amplifiers!

Hi Thank you for your excellent recommendation. I was wondering if BlueSound Powernode 2i could drive these speakers well.

At one point (maybe STILL ?) Magnepan was using Bryston for their show demos.

The way you can tell if an amplifier will be able to handle difficult reactive loads like Magnepans is to look at how their power increases into lower ohm loads. If the output doubles with every halving of impedance (i.e. 50 watts into 8 ohms becomes 100 into 4) means that the amp has good current dumping capacity. You also need to verify with independent measurements that it actually does this as some manufacturers lie about it in their specs. Amplifiers from companies like Accuphase have ratings down to two or even one ohm impedance and they are actually stable at those difficult loads. Even though the amp may only put out 30 watts into an eight ohm load, if it can put out 120 watts into ranges where a speaker drops down to two ohms (or even lower) it'll laugh at speakers like Magnepans.

I have a NAD M10 amp. Like your friend has.( The video that you made comparing the H90 with NAD M10) I ordered the LRS speakers . Would it be possible if you can let me know if that will be good combo to drive these speakers. I know you always recommend Hegel amps, but that is out of my price range at this moment.

Would first watt amp pair well with the magnepans biamping? I plan to use first watt just for the high/mid. I have another amp for the low.

I have an Atoll IN100 would that be a good match with the Maggie’s in your opinion. Or have you reviewed any Atoll amps. I have it paired with Klipsh RP8000F.

I have a Naim Uniti Star with a streamer built in...only 70 watts per channel...at only 50%-60% and it is way to loud and I have to dial it down. I am driving 2 new monitor gold 200 towers that are 3 way speakers that have 2 6 1/2 base drivers and a 4.5" midrange and a ribbon tweeter. NAIM WATTS ARE POWERFUL! This bad boy can drive Sopra 2's no problem and Focal voices them with this amp. You have to try one and the integrated streamer does tidal directly to the amp over wifi perfectly. Most people are blown away with Naim the first time they hear it and can't believe it. Naim for life here!

Hi Jay, thanks for the great reviews. Please make a review of matching speakers to low watt tube amplifiers like the Boyuurange A50, thanks

Like your desktop speaker rig. (I did the same - different speakers.)

For speaker cables make some with 24g magnet wire. Set you back like $10. If you have less than 8’ runs it should sound great

I think you should hear few First Watt amps :) you would also change concepts about damping factor

Hey Jay, thanks for all great content. Could you try the Outlaw RR2160 with the LRS? I'm curious because I've only seen Steve Guttenberg talking good things about it; but besides his review, no one else has done one. Soo... do you think they can lend you a piece?

Mmmm, does anyone have experience with Nuprime amps and Maggies? The mcx-2 is rated at 550 W, but not sure if current or damping would be a good match ?

It would be helpful to talk about which model you used of each manufacturer

I have a pair of sound integrated which drives my 1.6 modified Magnapans extremely well. What would you suggest to drive a pair of JBLL 100 classics?

Watts mean nothing, its almost a marketing term now. What you want to know is constant and peak current delivery which most manufacturers do not show.

Will my schiit aegir monoblocks drive LRS in a medium sized room?

My ancient Sumo Nine class A amp has always sounded fine when used with both my Maggie IIb’s and my MMG’s. Another great design from the late James Bongiorno. “Bongo” never received the credit he deserved within the audio industry.

The Meitner's were 100 watt amps. They weren't particularly high current, but were very neutral. You couldn't really assign a sound to the amps. People would complain that they didn't have a strong bass or extended top end. But it was because they weren't particularly coloring the sound in those areas. A lot of high end amps back then actually sounded "scooped" with too much emphasis on the extremes. I had them and biamped (4 total amps) Apogee Duetta 2's with them. The sound was great but you could overheat the amps if you pushed them too hard. They have small heatsinks and although they were class AB amps they must have run them at a pretty high bias. More like A/AB maybe? The volume was sufficient though that it wasn't necessary. I got one set for free. I used to sell them and they had a program where you could earn "dollars" towards equipment and I sold enough of their gear to get a set. I bought the 2nd set (employee pricing) so I ended up with both sets for $1500 out of pocket. To be clear, if I was at the time going that kind of money ($3000 retail a set in the 80's) I would have spent it on something more substantial. But $1500 for two sets of monoblock 100w amps that sounded like they did was a no brainer. Anything else that actually sounded as good but was higher current/more power would have been much more expensive. They were 1/2 the price of something like a Krell or Levinson, IIRC. And IMO more neutral than either.

Any thoughts on using a Music Hall A25.2 integrated (50 w / 8, 100w / 4)with MMGs or LRSs?

off subject per se, but in same context-what have readers found dried electrostatic/quads well ? Ive hard they need VOLTAGE rather than wattage/current ?

Have you tried Maggies with the Atoll IN30 amp? And have you heard the Tekton OB Sigma loudspeaker?

Have you tried a single vidar or two as monoblocks? Because I really like a dark presentation. For ex. I love my meze 99 Classics

I had the SMGa magnaplanar speakers coupled to a Linn Majik intergrated amp. it sounded great!!! that Linn is 33 watts into 8 ohms and 66 watts into 4 ohm. I always listened at levels that filled the 14 by 18 foot room. that same amp still is being used on my first generation ELAC 5 bookshelves which ate also considered power hungry. I never have had issues with the Linn My son in laws Sony 7.2 channel amp sounds like crap with the same speakers. He bought a used VTL 85 tube amp which is much better than most under 100 watt solid state amps when driving magnapan or ELAC speakers.

I would imagine a high current amp such as the Parasound A-21 in my system would give you a revealing/dynamic presentation with the Maggies. It works wonderfully with my Martin Logan ESL 9 electrostats which are 4 ohm. Thanks for your reviews (O:

Would the Hegel 190 provide any real advantage over the 90? At about twice the price?

Are you planning a review of the Audiolab 6000a integrated?

Excellent work guys. Are you going to be doing a video in sub pairing?

? would by mac 275 run the new entry level maggies LRS? thx

Hi Jay, can the Burson Funk Jay version able to drive the LRS for near field listening?

High current class A/B with a fairly high damping factor. There are actually good amps under $500 that qualify.

If the amps he's talking about are from Pyle or other low end sound re-enforcement manufacturers that are rated at 700 watts or more I can certainly understand the problem. These class D amps can produce a high current level but only for a very short period of time. Maggies need reserve power and having a well designed power amp with high current reserves is paramount to them working like they should. A well designed class D amp with a robust switching power supply can supply the current needed in a small efficient package and help keep your power bill down.