Magnepans and vintage gear

[Jupiter1610]

How would a pair magnepans generally fair with solid state gear from the seventies? I currently have a pair of PSB Alpha A/Vs (w/ modded cabinets) but will hopefully upgrade next year to a pair of Magnepan MMGs. The speakers are said to typically need in excess of 50W to sound decent, but wattage seems to be pretty relative especially with regards to vintage equipment. I am currently looking at maybe a Sansui AU-517, or possibly a Marantz 2270 receiver. How do these two amps pair with a low sensitivity (85dB ?) 4 ohm load? What would be the best vintage integrated amp (>$200) or receiver (>$400) to pair with these speakers?

P.S. The amp must be pretty warm yet clean as maggies can be quite revealing.

 

[Markw]

Keep in mind the maggies are a solid 4 ohm speaker. I would definitely NOT use the 2270 for these. 2270's, unlike most other receivers, do not like driving 4 ohm loads.

Also keep in mind that maggies DO like a lot of power, particularly to bring out whatever bass they are capable of.

...and this is from one who owned MMG's and now own 1.6's, driven by a Rotel RB-991. My NAD 214 was barely adequate for the MMG's and without a subwoofer, I would not have been satisfied

Simply put, to get the best from maggies, don't skimp on quality power. The more the merrier.

Oh, and I also have a 2270.

 

[EchoWars]

I wouldn't even consider anything under 120WPC for those speaks, and that about eliminates most integrated amps. Off the top of my head, I can only think of the Kenwood Model 600, which is 135WPC. Would be a good one though...all FET design except the output stage. Closest thing to a tube amp this boy has ever heard...

With full-blown receivers, there are a lot of choices in the 120WPC and up catagory.

 

[B3Nut]

I owned SMG's for many years. When we first got them, they were driven with an SX-535 (20 wpc). It worked amazingly well. They really sang with a NAD 3130 (30wpc), much better than the last Denon receiver I had on them (55wpc). An SX-1010 would be a good unit.

But they do like power, and if you can give 'em a monster amp, do it. I want to get back into Maggies one of these days, and methinks my G-22000 would make a pair sing.

TP

 

[Jeff H]

I'm gonna let Bauhausler answer this one; he used my current amp in exactly this capacity before he passed it on to me.

The amp is a SAE Mark IV DM (100 wpc) and the maggies were, to the best of my recollection, woodframed vertical rugs. I'm not sure but the amp may now be old enough to legally have a beer with me, and it's in sad enough shape that I'd like to offer it one. One of the level meters was nonfunctional so I cut both of them out of the circuit. Only a few of the seven panel lights still worked so I snipped them too. Several screws are missing from the (insanely complicated) case, the power supply transformer buzzes slightly when it's real quiet, and the input jacks have just slightly loose connections. Poor thing. It's the next component I'll replace.

 

[dr*audio]

For the maggies, it isn't only output power you need to be concerned about. Damping factor is more important, because the speakers really need an amp with very low output impedance.
Any of the Sansui G series receivers from 8000 up should drive them just fine.

 

[Jupiter1610]

Well it looks like I am going with a Sansui AU-517 for sure, and from the sound of the comments made above, perhaps I should consider a pair Vandersteens. Thanks everybody.