Magico and Tube amp
Hello all. Wondering if anyone here is powering the Magico (m2) with a tube amp namely the ARC ref 160 mono. Looking for neutral, natural and musical sound. Thanks.
@knotscott +1. Any of the CAT amps will be good though the larger mono blocks are probably best. |
Interesting thread my friend pointed me to this
i also have the m2 i have 2 amps thus far on it, I use a Boulder 2060 as main, and I have classe delta stereo as back up. I was looking at Cary 805rs tube mono for it. I use audio research ref 10 phono and linestage upstream.
cool discussion, I would like to also see what tube maps have worked with this speaker. it can sound majestic |
Hey joey_v, nice to have another M2 owner on the prowl with. How do you like the Boulder? What other amps have you tried and to finally land on the current 2 in your possession. My gut feeling, for the sound Im looking for, tube amp is what’s lacking in my setup. The ARC 160 MKII reviewed very well, but so far lots of people have said its not a good match. Where are you located? |
OP, the Reference 160m is an excellent match with the Magico M2. It can provide the rhythm and pace and midrange bloom you are missing on the other amps. There may be controversy between the detailed / slam folks and the musicality folks. The character of the bass on very realistic tube amplifiers is very different from solid state… instead of bass being a brick wall it is nuanced and well… realistic. If instantaneous brick wall bass is what you want… then a tube amp is not what you want. If you want natural nuanced and forceful bass then the Ref 160m will do it. I seriously doubt that you would need more.. but if you really like head banging music at absurd sound pressure levels then you could trade up later to the ARC Ref 320. |
Magico speakers are evolving rapidly: older designs tend to be very analytical and IMO possibly overly so. Starting with the M9 they are trending towards musicality with more natural tone and detail. The A5 and S3 Mk3 and now the new M7 all use the 5” midrange debuted in the M9. Perhaps that is largely responsible? I bring this up as the discussion of suitable amps is largely affected by this recent trend with Magico.
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