Magnepan 1.7i Amp recommendations

I’ve been through many amps for my 1.7. One of the fun parts is that each one is different, and it helps you experience how different companies approach how to solve the problem of being “effortless” on all musical sources. The main takeaway was each had strengths depending on the style of music. You may find yourself avoiding certain tunes as not engaging. The right amp for Maggie’s seems to be one that handles the widest range. So far I’ve lived with or tried:

• wyred5sound st500. - good but lacking compared to others
•  Hegel d90. - good but pricy
•  rogue 100. Fun, but tubes could get finicky. 
• electrocompianet Aw 220 (2 set up as mono blocks)

If you can audition other components or go to an audio show to hear different approaches, personally I like the audio note sound and I think the electrocompianet has that “character” that works across so many different  recordings. Enjoy the journey, just know the Maggie’s can reveal weaknesses in amplification design. 

I'm running a Rogue tube amp with my Maggies. Except for the heat, I love it.

I bought my Maggies at a small shop in SC. He only sold Rogue, Yamaha, Magnapan (for the most part) . I auditioned the Sphinx 2 and the Yamaha 801. I went with the Yamaha. I have had for 5 years and I still thinks it sounds pretty darn good. I have also listened to the Pharaoh and Magnum tube and they are also amazing to my ears, just not in the price range at the time. I feel most who are starting a system, and need an inexpensive amp,  the 801 will not disappoint. That being said I am looking at upgrading this year. Looking at  Bryston, Hagel, Parasound, McIntosh, and NAD.  

i have chimed in over time on many many maggie threads about suitable amplifiers to drive them well

obviously, you can go upmarket and spend alot of $$ and get great performance, many choices (pass, gryphon, d-agnostino, upper hegels, coda, boulder... the list is long for pricey options) but i think what many are likely to value here are cost effective options (used), which i will list below - i own or have owned each and every one of these

-- odyssey khartago stratos or kismet, with cap upgrade

-- van alstine amps 100 wpc or greater, newer the better, older (synergy series and older) amps can be a little grainy

-- musical fidelity a308 or better... 100 wpc or greater ratings into 8 ohms... newer m6 quite capable but more costly

-- primare i-30 (outstanding value) lovely warm saturated sound, excellent grip and punch

-- kinki ex m1/+ (great value and superb performance in a chi-fi product... built to exceptionally high standard)

-- krell s550i - older model, but sonically excellent, exceptionally stout...

-- audio research 100.2 - lovely, best ss amp they have ever made, uber sweet sounding, very reasonable used now, $2000 or below

-- usher r1.5 -- nelson pass threshold design, improved at the margins/made in taiwan... a little on dark side sonically but very musical, built like the proverbial brick s-house

-- classe amps (old and new) are terrific, very musical with excellent current delivery, older ones ca100/150, model 10, and so on, are superb... recent models have gone into nosebleed territory price wise and are more 'modern sounding'

always check, age, condition etc etc when buying used... older ones deserve a health check by a good tech, maybe replace some power supply caps