Driving Magnepan 1.7

Just read up on the Sanders amp....looks like that will drive anything.

That Stingray uses the EL84 tube. They can make the larger, more powerful tubes sound sluggish and plodding by comparison. Don't know how they accomplish this. It's "the little tube that could". I used them with MG 111A's years ago, no problem. Note however, I believe the 111A's were actually more efficient than the smaller 1.7's. Tubes and Maggies can be heavenly with the right choice of components. Don't blindly believe others that will tell you you only need high watt solid state. Do you want beautiful, in the room presence, realistic timbre music, or rock-em-sock-em HiFi. I know, I know, we all want both. I'll admit then that lower powered tubes may limit the rock-em sock-em side. Not sure if you can have both without spending alot of dollars or happening upon the perfectly simpatico amplification. Don't forget also, that your source and/or preamp can have alot to do with perceived power regardless of the watts at hand. Cable choices too will come into play.

I will go with presence,realistic timbre every time. That is the reason I enjoyed the Quicksilvers. The output tubes in my Quicksilvers were KT88's. Between guitar amps and audio amps I have gone through a lot of tubes. I have never owned a solid state amp....although the integrated Krells look intriguing.

I would not pair Krells with Maggies. It will give you an ear bleed. The Magtechs are a good suggestion, but both the old Cary 500MBs and the newer 500.1s are also great with Maggies. HIfiharv got to what I was trying to say. Tubes and Maggies can work. Israel Blume said he has customers driving maggies with coincident tube amps. Tubes should not be ruled out, but it may involve a compromise. If its a compromise you are willing to make, there you go.

I'm quite happy driving my 1.7's in similar size room with a Prima Luna Prologue tube integrated. Using Kt-120 power tubes remedies the low bass criticism's of the amp reviews of 2 years ago. The pre tubes used will matter... its worth it to dish out for Telefunkens and Siemens. I also considered the Rogue Chronus when buying the PL but found it to be to slow and soft on transients. If I were in the market now, I would gravitate to the Dialogue Premium at the $3k price point.
Not a fan of SS amps as they generally bore or fatigue me with their sound.