McIntosh 501 or 602 for Magnepan 20.1

The JC1 does have a pretty decent power supply -- the best you can get in an amp that only costs $6000/pair.

FWIW, my Magnepan dealer recommends Bryston 7B-SST for the 20.1s. The Bryston 7B weighs only 50 lbs. At least the JC1 is 64 lbs....

Of couse the Omega is better. At $25k/pair it has to be better... Why not get a pair of Simaudio Moon Rocks. They are 220 lbs each. Maybe that qualifies?

Peter

Okay, now time for some facts:

For all I can tell, the Parasound JC-1s are indeed "TOO MUCH" for the MG20.1. For all I can see, Magnepan's specs are completely correct. More than 500W is more than the 20.1 can take... (The JC-1 is in theory capable of putting out approx 1100 watts into Maggie's 4 ohms).

Putting Classé Omegas on the 20.1 and claiming they need, or can take, the power is insane! In practice, the MG20.1s can't take nearly 50% of the power the Omegas are capable of...

The JC-1s are already MORE than the 20.1 can handle!

There's a lot of snake oil going on here, for sure... And I believed in some of it... Duh!

Well, at least I did not fall for all that cable madness :)

Peter

Gladstone: Parasound JC-1 pushed to the limit with the MG20.1s??! That does not sound right. Maybe you had issues with your power connection to the JC-1s, or some other problem.?

I run my 20.1s with a pair of JC-1, and IMHO the JC-1 powers the 20.1 effortlessly! I'm currently adding a 2nd pair of JC-1s for a bi-amp setup, and frankly I'm a bit worried that putting 2x800W into one 20.1 will be too much...

Peter

Gladstone: Are you bi-amping your MG20.1s? From my understanding that's one of the first major improvements you can/should do once you have even a half-decent amplifier. (Just consider the fact that Jim Winey is bi-amping his own 20.1s and recommends this wholeheartedly). One of the nice things about bi-amping the 20.1s is that the low and high require about the same power, so using identical amps is not overkill in any way.

AFAIK, getting rid of the "mediocre" passive crossover is a major improvement. I don't want to buy 2nd hand amps, so my only option would be to get 4 brand new Omegas. That's $50,000. Considering that the JC1's are $12,000 that's one heck of a difference. I doubt *I* could justify paying $38k more for the sound of the Omegas...

Peter