No Bi-Amp but tubes for Maggies -- can it be done?

I like Duke's suggestion for the Wolcott's- but then again I like Dike because he's a really cool guy :) Another tube amp that would be able to handle maggies amp punishing capabalities are the VTL amps, anything bigger then a 450 should handle it(the 450 may not be enough for the 3.6, but I can not say for sure). I don't think its a lost cause there are a number of maggie users running tubes and they really seem to love it.

I think(have never tried them myself on maggies) the atma-sphere's would sound great, the only problem I have is that they are OTL's. Which means nothing is between your output tubes and your speaker, and in the maggies case may be dangerous if you did any work to them(i.e. if the fuses aren't in place, I wouldn't even think of trying an otl). Don't get me wrong I love otl amps, and ribbon tweeters are relatively cheap for magnepans, but your much more likely to have problems with this set up and it would get tiresome quickly- IMO. But if you have fuses there is much less at risk and I am sure the sound is first rate.

Greenman- Your missing what I said, the magnepan uses a ribbon tweeter- I sure hope your amp doesn't have a tweeter in it! I was merely pointing out that you are more likely to have a tube failure effect a ribbon(on the speaker) with an OTL then with any other type of amp. Some will never have a problem with output tubes but with a power hungry speaker the tubes are working over time. The load isn't a big deal its a stable 4 ohm load, but the maggies are still an 85dB with TONS of driver area that needs gobs of power(both watts and current) to make it happen. And as I said if you have not modified your speakers then this is not an issue but then again your not even hearing 30% of what your speakers are capable of with out modification. Does that clear up your confusion?

If that's the case why did you think that I said your amps had ribbon tweeters in them? Just calling them like I see them. And I do have experience with OTL and maggies just not the atma-sphere's so try and relax this hobby is suppose to be fun ;)

Gullahisland- What seems to be your problem? He did clearly say

The Atma-sphere is NOT a ribbon tweeter eater.

I assume he meant either not eater. I have a great understanding of the English language and how to use it- appreciate your insight though. I don't think you could be further off base with your statements and yes I will defend my statements when they are clearly misunderstood(for those who have been around for a while I sort of feel like Carl_e here!). I don't care how long someone has been in this hobby there's always something new to learn, I don't claim to know everything, heck I don't claim to know much!. Any other comments? or am I still just digging myself deeper because I can comprehend what was said- either way I handle it, trust me ;)