Magnepan, How Low Can You Go...power-wise

Thanks Magfan, though I am a little confused with your answer. Are you saying the Sim will give me 200 -250 watts at 4 ohms and that is ok? I think that is the gist of what you mean. The other thing to remember is the Sim will be running 3.6 Maggies as opposed to my 1.6s and I guess they would take more power to drive.

Thanks for all the input guys. Yes, I realize that more power helps and it would be nice. However, I am hopping on a plane and can't carry heavy separates. Plus, if I put any gear into checked luggage customs are alerted straight away and a heavy taxing comes into force (twice the price of the gear!!), so it boils down to what I can get into my carry-on bag, which basically means a decent, not too big or heavy integrated, and even the Simaudio i7 is pushing it a bit. It is a great integrated, my only concern is would I be doing the Maggie 3.6s a disservice.

Just hopping on here to thank you guys for the input so far - very appreciated.

To Magfan -I am going to check out the specs on that small BelCanto- thanks for the suggestion.

Nissancrazy Thankyou. When you say 150 - 200w will run Magnepan speakers what model are you referring to? I am curious about the 3.6s. I assume that as you go up the line of Mag speakers you need more power. What kind of power is in those Bryston amps they run to show their speakers?

Thanks guys.

Macdadtexas, thanks for the input. I realize that to make the Maggie 3.6s sing you need good power. What I am getting at is what is the lowest power amp you could use but still get GOOD sound - would 150w at 8ohm from a good integrated (Simaudio i7) cut it? The Vandersteens have definitely interested me but I have the opportunity to buy the 3.6s very cheaply in a country where I spend some months each year. If I had the same opportunity to pick up the 3a Vandees at a good price I would, but that is not going to happen in Brazil. The 3.6s belong to an american in Sao Paulo who can't justify dragging them back to the US, so is letting them go very cheaply.