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.

As near as I can figure, based on your original post of being 'satisfied' with the 50 watts of the Naim, I'd just suspect the 4x to 5x power of the Simaudio should make you more than satisfied. Naim has its own 'trademark' sound and I am not familiar with any signature sound of the Sim, but just comparing watts to watts, the Sim should work?

Do you still have time to take the SimAudio to a Magnepan dealer and give it a run? That'd be what I'd try.
Having even well intentioned people tell you something definitively without having given it a listen is a recipe for disappointment. I don't want you to get down there and say.....'Those dirty rats! If I catch that MagFan guy I'll wring his neck!'

How much juice did the Bel Canto have? If you GOTTA smuggle it in as 'carryon', that'd be the way to go. About as large as a cigar box!

The sensitivities between the 2 panels is pretty comparable, but the 3.6 has a higher capacity.

It's a kind of miracle that Magnepan have a sensitivity of about 86 db at 4 ohms because their magnetic system is somewhat weak for at least three reasons. First they use flexible magnets instead of ceramic strontium magnets to alnico or neodymium used in regular and high end speakers this means the flux density(gauss)  is weaker and the total magnetic power (Maxwell) are limited .  Secondly the back plate is thin compared to the back plate usually found in speakers in general, moreover on the Magnepan, the "back plate is perforated to let sound pass through. Thirdly there is no top plate as it is found on speakers in general.  The role of these back and front plate is to help the magnetic lines to concentrate and to avoid to escape.

In a magnepan the magnetic lines create semi circle magnetic lines and the conductor is placed in the magnetic lines.  The main problem with the magnepan magnetic structure is the assymetry of the magnetic field relative to the movement of the conductor in the magnetic field. When the membrane and the conductor goes outward, it leaves the magnetic field and when the membrane goes backward it enters in the magnetic field where the concentration of the magnetic field (gauss) is higher. BUT nothing being perfect,  dynamic cone speakers have their own flaws, and suffer from linearity problems caused by their magnetic circuits, mechanical non linearity, In the case of magneplanars, their weaker magnetic structure is the trade-off that limit their efficiency but help for their transparency due to the light weight of the membrane conductors assembly also due to the perforated metallic plate.

 

 

@armagedon36 

do you know you are replying to a thread and a comment that is 12 years old?