Am I underpowering my Magnepan 3.6's?


My maggie 3.6's are being driven with a Levinson 334 amp (125 watts into 8 ohms - 250 into 4 ohms). While listening to the maggies at levels somewhere around 90db - 95db, I have noticed what I think is more than a dynamic compression. It's almost as if the amp is clipping or the speaker is distorting on dynamic peaks.
As an example, while listening to big band, when a trumpet section reaches 'forte' levels, the stage becomes shallow, the air is gone and the toanlity of the horns becomes scratchy, perhaps even a bit distorted.
Anyone got any thoughts? Could the maggies need more power, or do you think I'm just driving them beyond the listening level that the 3.6's are capable of?
In advance, thanks for you time and any input you have.
louisl
I've tried several amps on a pair of Maggie 12's. Ended up with a Counterpoint SA-20 (220 wpc). Two SA-20's would be good with the 3.6's....

Regards
Jim
Tok2000..Thanks for the response! The rest of my system is an Audio Aero Capitole MK II directly into the Lervinson driving the 3.6R's. In addition, I am using a REL Storm III sub. Speaker cables and interconnects are Cable Research Lab bronze. For a/c cables I am using a Gold FIM on the Levinson a bronze CRL on the CDP, and an Electraglide fat boy on the sub.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions that you may have.
I use a Bryston crossover feeding two McCormack DNA-1 deluxe amps. The 3.6/Rs never sounded good with one amp. My present setup works extremely well in my dedicated room which is 20'x30' with 10' walls and a 14' peak cathedral ceiling. No lack of power and excellent dynamics. Biamped Maggies are truly musical and a major step up from my experience with a single amp.
You can't have enough power for speakers like this. While quantity is important and more is better in terms of "watts", quality counts too. Sean
Wharrenh is right. Maggies LOVE power. When I had the 3.6's, my best setup had them being driven by 2 Plinius SA100 mk3 amps in MONO (665 wpc into the Maggies). The Maggies LOVED it.

If you can afford the upgrade in power, I wholeheartedly suggest it.

Let us know the rest of your system, and I can makes some suggestions.

KF
You can never have too much power (unless it's poor) for those babies. I owned the Tympani 1Ds years ago powered with a Bryston 4B. I considered bridging the 4B with another. Now we're talking.
There have been a few very good threads about amps that work well on maggies try a search you will find a lot of great information. I suspect more power would cure your problem, the louder I play my maggies the better they sound right to the point where the volume is pinned :)
Hi,

I have owned 3 pair of 3.6R's (love them but must keep
playing):o)...But will own another pair...
The best amp I have used with them (still own) is the
Spectron Musician amp. It has the power & finesse to drive
the Maggies like I had never heard before. Finally...bass
that would leave almost anyone not wishing for more.
Audibleguy, I heard many positive things about using the Bryston amps with the Maggies, but unfortunately, have never heard the pairing. In doing some research into the matter, I have come across another three recomendations. They are the McCormack DNA-500 and the Spectron Musician II (both 500 watts per channel into 8 ohms and have read glowing reviews of both), and the BAT VK-500 (250 watts per channel into 8 ohms). Any thoughts on these three?
The pair I listened to at a dealer sounded MUCH better hooked up to a pair of Bryston 7B-ST's than they did hooked up to a 334. I know the 334 is a better sounding amp, so it has to be the power. Short answer, you need more juice!
Thanks Aball, you're absolutely right. I do need to check with a db meter, as I am guessing that my listening range is around 90-95db. It will prove interesting to actually see what the true level of my listening sessions are! From their, I can go to the next step in determining if it is speaker or amp related.
These Maggie speakers like a lot of juice to make them come alive, have tried mine with Pass Aleph's , Levinson, Legacy monoblocs, and the only two I found to drive them very well was the Bryston monoblocks ans the Rogue Audio monoblocks in the reasonable price categories.
Hey - are you checking your dB listening level with a meter? I thought I listened in the 90dB range but then once I got a meter, I was shocked to find out that it was more in the 102dB range! If you are in the same case as me, you may indeed need more power; otherwise your problem may not be the amp. Just a thought I guess.