Amp question for Maggies

I've used Odyssey stratos extreme's with maggies with great success. However, just got them upgraded to the latest Kismet Mono's, it's astonishingly good! Beats out C298 (purifi), and even the JC1! 

So many people just parrot what they've heard (which was likely parroted as well).
Having had 6 models of Maggies over the years, I can tell you a good 100 watt amp will be all you need.

If I still had maggies, on which I was using a W4S 250/500 MC amp, I would look at Underwood HiFis LSA Voyager GaN amp
That would be a great thread discussion

I just went from a PS Audio S300, which is similar in power to your D130, to a Bryston 4b SST2 for my 1.7is. The 500+ watts into 4 ohms, even at 90db average levels is quite noticeable. Transients are cleaner and more dynamic.

More power is better, or more like more current.

While the S300 is a fine sounding class D amp, the Bryston’s class AB with the added power is just better across the board.

I have been bi-amping Magnepan 1.6QR’s with a Marchand tube electronic crossover (excellent) for some time now.  For the tweeters, I have used a VTL ST85 and a Carver 275.  I much prefer the Carver.  It is a very sweet little amp probably producing close to 90W.  For the woofers, I have used a Hafler 500, a Peachtree amp 500 and finally settled on a pair of Carver BB 350 monoblocks.  The monoblocks are incredible and I will keep them in place indefinitely though they do lack that nth degree of Solid State Slam.  I must say that the Peachtree delivers a whole lot of Bang ( and slam) for the Buck—I can’t really say anything negative about it!  

I drive my 20.1s with the Conrad Johnson MF2500 (better than Ice Power which I also own). Its also excellent VFM.

The Sanders Magteck was designed around the Maggie's you might want to audition they have a 30 day return.

Spectron Musician III works for me on my Maggie 3.7s.

Maggies are well-known to be power hogs. Additionally, IIRC, they also dip down below 3 ohms at some frequencies. For these reasons, they work best with amps that big pwoer and good reserves of power. You could easily make use of 500+ WPC.

Look into getting something like the D-Sonic M2 Series digital amps (http://www.d-sonic.net/) or perhaps one of Emotiva's XPR line of Reference amps like the XPR-2 (https://emotiva.com/products/amplifiers/xpr-2). Both of these companies provide a 30 day in-home trial thus allowing you to really hear how they sound before you commit to them long-term...

Have you looked at the new Carver mono blocks? The first generation Black Beauty 305's uses KT-120's (approx 350 watts into the 4 ohm Maggies) and there is also the Cherry 180's which is approx 225 watts into 4 ohms.

I have the Magnepan 20.7's and have tried a lot of different power amps and so far nothing is close to the Black Beauty's performance. There is no question in my mind that the Black Beauty's seriously out perform several 1,000 watt solid state mono blocks that I have tried. With Maggies it is just not all about "watts".

The Black Beauty's do not break a sweat driving my 20.7's no matter how loudly I play music! Check Audiogon, AudioMart, and WattSpot for a nice used pair of the Black Beauty's or even the Cherry 180's; they will drive your Maggies like you have never heard!

thanks for the info, that is way more depth than I can comprehend, I think my ARC does a good job of getting fairly high spl(I have not measured) but I believe the ARC may run a little shy on power if pushed hard, I am worried about switching at realistic listening levels the ARC sounds very good, I am more worried about what type of change in sound would incur if any if I switched. Thanks for the indepth info.

A little analysis to illustrate your situation, if I may:

from a 1999 Stereophile review I noted that the B-weighted efficiency of your Maggie 1.6QR is 83.7dB-per-2.83V-per meter. This is into an 8 ohm load. From the same review, it looks like the 1.6QR is essentially a 4 Ohm speaker.
I calculated the 4-Ohm efficiency to be 82.2dB/2V/m. That's a pretty low efficiency. It means that for 1W (using a 4 Ohm load) fed into the speaker, you'll only get 82.2dB SPL at 1m/3.3ft.
If you are sitting at 10ft away from the speaker, the SPL will reduce 6dB at 6.6ft & 9dB at 9.9ft.
So, at your listening position, the expected SPL will be 82.2dB/2V/m - 9dB + 3dB (for stereo sound which uses 2 speakers) = 76.2dB for 1W/4Ohms fed into the speaker. That's a pretty low volume, if I may say so.
My calculations show that if you want, say, 106dB SPL peaks with your 1.6QR, you will need a 1000W/ch into 8 Ohm amplifier! And, 106dB SPL peaks are OK high - for some genres of music, peaks can get to 115-120dB which will need even more power...
So, the answer to your question

I know they are more powerful but would my Maggie 1.6qrs benefit from more power than I have or would it be a waste of time/money.

is a yes!
I've known Maggie owners to use high-wattage, high-current amps on this brand of speaker due to the rather low efficiency.
The ARC D130 amp will give you some sound thru your 1.6QR but you are probably not hearing what these speakers are capable of. In your particular case, no amount of amplifier power is enough.

The SQ is something you'll have to determine for yourself since you'll have to live with your amp choice.

IMHO, your ARC D130 has plenty of power for the Maggies. The Wyred4Sound amps are class D, so they are going to sound really different.

The only real way to be sure, is to try one and see if you like it. I'm sure you could get a 30 day or so trial period on one.