need amp for Prima Luna Prologue 3 preamp


Hi everyone, I have recently purchased a Prima Luna Prologue 3 preamp and would like to pair it up with a 250 wpc solid state amp to use with my Magnepan MMG's.

The MMG's will be upgraded to the 1.7 in due time. I recently sold a Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated Amp 250 wpc which mated well with the maggies but I wanted a little more warmth in the top end, so back to separates.

So far I've only considered the McCormack DNA-250 SS amp. My budget is no more then $2,500.00

Would appreciate any advice.
grpkmp

If you can get the McCormack more power to you.
My thoughts drift to McIntosh power amps, you would be forced get an older one with about 200 wpc. You might be able to find one on your price range. Yes it would be a vintage amp but if you buy from a good dealer AudioClassics etc. you might be surprised. No one else has even attempted a suggestion - so either settle for a digital amp or an older one. What you really seem to want is a fairly high power class A SS amp for class D money. You might be able to get away with less power and you could play around with highly class A biased amps but they sound class A/B to me. And some amps just sound good regardless of class.
Thank you for the response. I would think $2,500.00 on the used market would get me something decent. I never did care for the Mac equipment and while class D sounds tempting I don't believe it's for me either.

The information I was looking for was an amp that would match up well with the Prima Luna.

I wanted to see if there are other choices, I guess not.
There are many other choices. I would select an amp that would mate well with your future Maggie 1.7s. I'm pretty sure that their are threads on this topic, if not, I'd ask that question and you'll probably get a better response.

One thing to keep in mind is that your Primaluna preamp has a rather high output impedance.

Here's an excerpt from Stereophile's review of the PrimaLuna, "The output impedance was also to specification in the midrange and treble at 2.7k ohms, which is higher than usual, but rose to a high figure of 11.5k ohms at 20Hz. This preamplifier really does need to be used with an amplifier having an input of 50k ohms or more if the bass is not to sound lightweight. At 77k ohms, the Prologue Seven's input impedance will be sufficiently high, I feel."

Your amp should have an input impedance of 10x the output impedance of your preamp so, strictly speaking, you would want an amp with a 100 kOhm input impedance, there are a number of those around, but you should be alright with a 47 kOhm input impedance as you will probably not be playing a lot of music with much 20 Hz musical content.
Tomcy6, thank you very much for your suggestions, it is very helpful. I am currently looking at a new McCormack DNA-250 which happens to be 100 kOhms input and is for sale, New, on Audiogon by Spearit Audio.

My only concern is that I was told by Spearit that it has a warmer sound to it and I'm afraid it might be a little to warm with the Prima Luna. On the other hand, it might be just what I need for the pans.

It very confusing when you have no way to hear what you want to buy. I will have to go with my gut felling on this one.
GRP, I don't think that the PrimaLuna and the McCormack would be overly warm for the Maggies. I have read that Maggies can be harsh with overly lean solid state gear.

The McCormack sounds like it might be ideal in your situation.

I have the same problem with having to buy gear without hearing it first but I don't know any way around it.
You are probably right about the McCormack DNA-250, It looks like I'm headed in that direction. I hope to purchase it buy the end of this week..

I would love to have a retailer near my home to listen/buy like the old day's.

Thank you very much for your input..
I've heard a lot of amps with my MMG's.
Van Alstine Synergy 550 is wonderful.