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Driving Magnepan MMG's with 50 wpc Rawson GC

I recently purchased a 50 wpc Rawson Gainclone from the man himself and am using it with my Totem Arros. The sound is great! Both the MMG and the Arros are 4 Ohm and just a db apart in sensitivity: The Totems being 87db; the Maggies being 86db.

So, today I just bought a pair of MMG's direct from Magnepan and am faced with needing to buy another amp (and I really like this little Rawson). My understanding is that Magnepans in general require big-time current.

Am I out of luck even thinking of using the little Rawson to attempt to power them? Am I going to have to go back to using my Sony ES's internal amp? (110 wpc into 8 Ohm - electronically switchable to 4 Ohm)

There are a couple of nice Bryston 3B's on this site right now. I may have to sell some things and look in that direction.

Let me know what you guys think.
ballywho
6 responses Add your response
riley804
1,224 posts
 
This issue seems to come up from time to time and the answer that seems to be the same each time is this :

The amp that you currently have will work, but volume levels might not be as loud as you might like them at times....but if you listen at low levels, then you might be just fine.

My question to you is that if you already have a pair of speakers that are at 87 dB, and you have a fairly good idea of the levels that you can get, why did you get a speaker that has lower sensitivity....and then to ask the question of : Do you need more power ?

Not trying to sound rude when I say this , but the way I read this is that you didnt really "think" any of this through....and this is an after thought.
narrod
1,064 posts
 
It will work but you won't, in my opinion, hear how the MMGs are capable of sounding.

Wendell
ballywho OP
134 posts
 
Here's the deal: The Rawson is nice, but was only $200, so having to part with it won't be the end of the world... I've always wanted a pair of Magnepans and went ahead and ordered them. I had a pretty good idea that I would most likely need something with more "umph," but wanted to ask the question to see if I was going to be completely out of luck or if I just might be okay. And in light of your comments - and the fact that I do listen at lower levels - I may, indeed, be just fine.
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Depending on your room size, listening habits, etc, Wendell probably summed it up well. I use actively crossed subs - which reduce power demand from the MMGs - and I still would like just a little more breathing room than my 122 wpc ARC VT 130SE provides.

Marty
j_stereo
130 posts
 
Rawson amps are very nice and I enjoyed mine, but when I changed my system around and got a pair of MMG's, then later a pair of 1.6's I used a Bryston 3B to power them with excellent results.
robr45's avatar
robr45
319 posts
 
Magnepan measures sensativity differently than most so they are really far less sensative than 86db implies. You need more power-
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