2. amps-preamps
  3. 172369-91258

Solid state amp recommendations for Maggies?

I am looking for another amp to drive my magnepan LRS, looking for a solid state amp to deliver more detail than my current tube amp, but don't want to give up (much) of the soundstage and depth.

I have a small listening room with a near field set up, so I don't need a ton of power for ear piercing volume. I listen mostly to acoustic rock, acoustic jazz and female vocalists.  I want more the guitar on Keith don't go and hotel canifornia intro from hell freezes over to  to sound... better...

at the risk of sounding stupid, I am driving these $650 speakers with many thousands of dollars of electronics.  The amp is a Primaluna HP (80wpc using 4 EL34s per channel), CJ ET7 preamp, PS Audio Direct stream DAC and a Naim digital source. All with MG audio silver interconnects and speaker wire. Even the interconnects cost more than the LRS.  

I am very happy with my current set up, but would like to grab another amp to a change of pace.

My budget is $5-8K, used or new.  My room is such that mono blocks set up well, but that is not necessary. 

thoughts/recommendations?

 

 

meiatflask

Showing 2 responses by meiatflask

meiatflask OP
145 posts
 

From the several people recommending the Pass Labs amps, is there a strong preference for their class A versus their class AB amps?  Also- the pass amps are quite monstrous in size. Do they kick off a lot of heat? I recall hearing that class A amps tend to run hot.

meiatflask OP
145 posts
 

Wow, lots of ideas here. Thanks to everyone for your input.  Hopefully I will have time over the holiday weekend to do some research, look at company websites for details, read some reviews, identify local (chicago-Milwaukee) dealers, and look at the various sites for used candidates.  

The Pass amps intrigue me as I recall loving the Threshold stuff in my youth. But the Hegel, Bryston (another brand from my youth), and parasound will be on the "look into" list, as well as the PS Audio (because I enjoy their DAC). There were several other brands that I have never heard of, so that is always fun to discover new stuff.  And while several mentioned lower cost stuff, I really plan to spend $5k+, so I will pass on them.

And perhaps the most interesting suggestion was upgrading fromLRS to the 1.7xx or larger Maggies.  Yep, this is on my radar, probably a couple years down the road when we move south, and I can have a larger listening room.

But for now THANKS for all your input.

Bill

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