2. amps-preamps
  3. 149186-5938

My speakers are set. Magnepan Tympani IVs

A year ago I acquired a pair of restored Tympani IVs (not IVa). I have been driving them with an Adcom  GFA - 555 that I have had for decades.  The matching pre-amp died and has been replaced with a Schiit SYS Passive pre.

The primary source was CD but has transitioned to a Bluesound Node 2 running TIDAL. I will be playing the MQAs whenever possible. My musical tastes are eclectic, with a pronounced preference for female vocalists, piano and acoustic guitar. Genres include rock of the 60s, jazz, folk, world, Celtic and classical.

The Tympanis do not suffer from the lower register issues to the same degree as some of the other Magnepans, but are still prone to occasionally overwhelming highs.  New components should tend towards the warm to mitigate this issue.

It is time to upgrade the amp.  The consensus judgement of people whom I respect and whom own these speakers are that they should be bi-amped.  Options include separate amps for highs and lows and an electronic crossover (Horizontal ?) or monoblocks (Vertical ?)   

I am only into the Tympanis for $1000, but have budgeted $2000 for amplification. One thing I have come to learn is that the traditional percentages of investment don’t always apply when Magnepans are involved as they offer such a high sound quality/cost ratio.

Cables and room treatments are on the to-do list. As always, I am here to draw upon the experience of the Audiogon community.  Please share your thoughts.  If you see something for sale here, please call it out as I am having trouble sorting through the plethora of options.
kythyn

Showing 6 responses by bdp24

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,096 posts
 

@kythyn, if you’re pretty sure you will be sticking with the T-IV’s for the long term (I don't blame you, they're fantastic loudspeakers!), and want to stay within your $2,000 budget, consider getting a good high-power solid state amp that you can run full range for now, and on just the bass panels when funds allow you to add an electronic x/o and second (perhaps tube) amp for the m/t panel, bi-amping.

I say this because a used Music Reference RM-200 alone will cost you your $2,000, and the improved Mk.2 version a grand more. As I said on 06-01 and atmasphere did just above, that amp would be great on the Tympani’s, but it alone will most likely not provide enough juice for all 6 Tympani panels. The RM-200 is 100w/ch into 4 ohms, enough for the m/t, but not the 2 bass panels per channel. For them, the more power the better. The m-p midrange driver and ribbon tweeter appreciate finesse, the bass panels muscle!

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,096 posts
 
Oops. In rereading my comment above (06-02, 9:35pm), I see I stated "the two bass panels compromise a considerable square footage", when I of course meant to say they "comprise" such.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,096 posts
 
Hey, that's a great idea. My pair of Eminent Technology LFT-4 have a short (half-height) wing on either side of each panel for that very reason. It partially prevents the front and back wave from meeting on each side and cancelling (the dipole effect), thereby extending the speakers' low end bandwidth and output. Side wings could also provide structural support for the panel, preventing front-to-back "sway".
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,096 posts
 
Right George, the Tympani bass and midbass is really something: very "percussive", taut. They do a drumset like nothing else I’ve heard. An aptly named loudspeaker! ;-) They "go" lower than do many cone woofers (the two bass panels compromise a considerable square footage), but to get the most bass out of them they need to be braced. Grant VanderMye makes a great stand for the Tympani, but it'll cost ya. A cheap way to do it is run a wood rod from the back of the bass panels to the wall behind them. Not pretty, but effective.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,096 posts
 
Good luck finding a pair of JC1's or a Gryphon for $2,000! What CAN be done at that price is a cheap high-powered amp on the bass panels, and a better amp on the m/t (that Maggie ribbon tweeter reveals any grain or hardness in an amp). Bi-amping removes the power requirements of the bass panels, making the use of a (relatively) lower-powered (say, a hundred watts into 4 ohms), sweeter-sounding amp on the m/t panel. The high-pass filtering can be done cheaply by installing an r/c network (just a single cap and resistor) on the input jacks of the m/t amp, only an active 3rd-order filter then required for the bass amp. As I said above, the Dahlquist DQ-LP1 is perfect for the job.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,096 posts
 

@kythyn, great price on the T-IV’s! They’re worth about twice what you paid for them. I have a pair of T-IVa’s (I sold my IV’s a year ago, but not for $1k ;-), and if at all possible, yes, bi-amp them. But to do so well will cost you more than $2,000.

First, you’ll need an electronic x/o to provide the 1st-order high-pass and 3rd-order low-pass filtering. The First Watt B4 and Marchand’s are popular with Tympani owners, but the old Dahlquist DQ-LP1 provides that exact filtering, and can be picked up for around $300 (sorry, I sold mine just a couple of weeks ago).

As you have discovered, that great T-IV ribbon tweeter really tells you what the high end of an amp sounds like, so you may want to consider tubes. But the speaker is a 4 ohm load, which tubes don’t like. That is less true of the Music Reference RM-200 Mk.2, however, a great amp for the T-IV (if bi-amping).

For the bass panels, there is no such thing as too much power. Tympani aficionado Satie over at The Planar Speaker Asylum (a great source for all things Maggie) uses a Crown Macro Reference (2000w/ch @ 4 ohms).

If the above is out of reach, look into finding a used Sanders Magtech amp, and forget about bi-amping.

More to discover