Current Delivery for Magnepans


Hello all, I was just doing some thinking regarding my Maggies (1.7's) & current delivery. Everyone says that Maggies love current. It's definitely true, however, I think a lot of people may be overstating the actual amount which is realistically necessary.

I hypothesize that there is a degree of diminishing returns after a certain point.

It seems like a lot of amplifiers are rated for 40A current delivery. At a 4 Ohm load, that amounts to 6400W (P=I^2 * R).

With some of these 120A current delivery amplifiers which are available, that works out 57600W!

That seems pretty crazy to me. My main reason for bringing it up is with the slow transition to Class D amplification, it seems like the ICE Power modules which these amps use "cap out" at around 40A current delivery. I question if having more power than this is even noticeable with transients.
dorfma05

Showing 1 response by markwatkiss

I've owned several models of Magnepans over the years and I agree wth your observation that current/power requirements for Magnepans have been overstated.
My amp of choice was Bryston,natural synergy between the products.Also,paired a Cary V-12 with 1.6's at 50 wpc in triode which produced abundant bass and delivered a realistic performance.
I'm not so sure about Class D,I believe the technology is not yet fully evolved,but that's just my opinion.