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Magnepan 1.6QR

Well, I'm sure at least some of you have heard this one before. I walked into a shop, heard the Magnepan 1.6QR's and fell in love. I ordered them knowing full well I'd opened a can of worms for an amp. All I had at home was a Denon 85 watt X 7 receiver for my home theater. My separates were sold off last year when I bought a house.
So here come the Maggies next week and I need something that will work. I know I probably need to spend 2-3K to get the most out of them, but I'm not quite ready for that. I just paid for a HD projector and 120 inch screen! There's only so much money under the mattress.
So the question....is there an amp that will work "reasonably well" with the Magnepan 1.6 for now. I was looking at the Nad C372, which has good reviews and seems to have watts and current to work, but how bad will I be mistreating them? I actually made the shop play the 1.6QR's with a 125 watt Rotel receiver and thought they did quite well with it, but the shop was horrified!
So in time I'll buy better, but is the Nad C372 a good start? Anything else around that price (below or a bit above 1100-1200 dollars) I should consider?

Thanks for any suggestions and tips....

Previous gear owned
Rotel
SVS
Carver Amazing
Heybrook
Royd
B&W
B&K
M&K
Paradigm...and all the rest!

Robert
robbob

Showing 1 response by eldartford

eldartford
4,262 posts
 
For less than $1000 you can't beat the CarverPro zr1600. On my MG1.6 the zr1600 is equal to or better than the well regarded (audiophile approved)Channel Island Audio D-200.

The only drawback is that it has a fan for cooling, which makes a little noise. You can replace the fan with a more quiet one, or even disconnect it if the amp is only used for home audio. The best solution is to locate the amp in the cellar (like mine) or in a closet.

Maggies sound good with low powered amps, but you will not hesr their full potential until you use something in the range of 350 watts, and up (into 4 ohms).

Suggest you Google CarverPro ZR 1600.
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