Dear Tim in Texas,
Yep, a little too late, yet . . . Maggies in general are very sensitive (fastidious) to the choice of amplifier. I also owned the Magnepans .7 (+ two REL's 'Quake') and fed these with the power of a 4 Ohms 500 Watts Dussun V8i. An absolute great combination sounding absolutely great too. As an ESL-lover I later switched to Martin Logan Vantage. I was shocked. An absolute mess! Boomy, harsh and loud. Even at low volumes. So I changed my Dussun for a 'Luxman L-120A'. 2x 160 watts at 4 Ohm with a great multi Hz tone control. What a relief! Music like live. So the Maggies are never to blame. A bad combination of speakers and the amplifier is. So, no worry. No hurry too. Just try and listen before you buy and you certainly will find the Maggies-amp combination that will make you extremely happy. Good luck!
Basic question about power/watts
Hi everyone - I have a question that I can't seem to wrap my head around.
I purchased a pair of Magnepans a few months back. Honestly, I do not like them. They have their moments but overall, pffft.
So, related to this, I keep reading from various Maggie owners you need TONS of power to make these things sing rather than squawk. I bought a new amp that is rated at 80 wpc at 4ohms. This, I realize, is low power when I see these guys saying they are running some crazy amount like 600 watts per channel. Here is my actual question:
When you are listening to your speakers at a normal volume, the wattage you are using is not near the POSSIBLE output, correct? My 80 wpc is unbearable with the volume at the 11 o'clock position. Why does a person need or want 600 watts? I suspect I am missing something here. Maybe this has to do with why I dislike my Magnepans. Somebody take a moment to set me straight?
Thanks!