Recs on Tube Monos for Maggies under 2,500 Used

Melton,

I have had Maggie 3.6's for 2 years.

I have heard them with a lot of amps.......

You want to get the best out of the Maggies........

DO NOT use tubes with them. Tube preamp... Yes. tube amp... heck NO!

At $2500 no tubes even used will drive the Maggies remotely as well as a serious SS amp in that price rage.

The Maggies thrive on power. They are POWER MAD!

I run two Plinius SA100 mk3 amps in MONO (665wpc into the Maggies) into my 3.6's. This powerful combo is Maggie heaven.

My advice would be.... get a Plinius SA100 mk3 (folks seem to want to give them away for around $2300-$2500 on Audiogon). When you want to upgrade again... Get another and go MONO. You will not regret this...

My system is listed here in the virtual systems.

Frankly, I have never heard a single 2 channel amp that competes with my Plinius's driving the Maggies. Tube or otherwise. No 100 or 200 watt single amp on the planet competes with the Plinius amps in MONO. Hard to beleive... but I tried a Sim Audio Moon W-5 [360 wpc into 4 ohms] (Stereophile Class A rated, and HIGHLY recommended for planer speakers), the comparison between the W-5 and the Plinius amps was a joke. It was not even in the same ballpark... not even the same sport. The Plinius's in MONO are truly amazing.

If you are a tube fanatic, all of what I have said... probably will seem humorous...

So I will say something constructive....

Of all the tube amps I have heard with the Maggies... I like the ARC VT100 mk2 BEST. (which is in your price range used). The VT100 is a great amp... and a classic. If I had a tube amp it would be this one. If I ran tubes on top, I sould use this amp. ARC tube gear is great, thier customer service is the pits... and new it is overpriced, but used it is a deal.

That being said... I still think 2 Plinius' will make the VT100 seem way underpowered when driving the Maggies.

Peace.

Keith

Email me if you wnat to talk Maggie talk ;)
tok20000@aol.com

These Maggies sound excellent with a pair of Rogue Audio Monoblocks 120's. They also sound fantastic with solid state monoblocks, such as Bryston 7B's, Legacy monoblocks.

Aranovs -- 110W/side -- 4 x KT88's. Someone is selling a pair for $2400 (a great price). Still, your Maggies might like even more power and in your price range a solid state amp might be a better choice.--Lorne

hello VTL deluxe 300 amplifiers can be had in the $2500 range here on Audiogon they are powerful and sound very good especially on acoustic instruments and vocals.

why used ...why not a "DEMO"pair

check out our showroomon audiogon for the Granite Audio 860.1 kt-88 tube monoblocks ,,,,

stephen