Tubes On Top Without Getting Ridiculous

Well this is very interesting and thanks for ideas so far....

Hmmmmm......I guess I need to do some more research and off the top of my head, I haven't a clue re crossover frequency for the maggies.

The curious thing is that I would have sworn the solid state on the bottom, tubes on top, with active crossover was a fairly standard configuration for many Tympani owners.

But perhaps you are right, biamping is good, but should use similar amplifiers..

I will report back and also welcome more feedback

Unfortunately I agree with Uppermidfi, mixing amps with a speaker as revealing as a Maggie will probably result in less than perfect results.

You can go with BIG tube amps or BIG transistor amps and both will give you great results that sound totally different.

Which set up wins musically is for the judge to decide, and you're the judge.

I hope I didn't ruin your plan!

There can be problems with using different amps for the top and bottom end. Do you know the crossover point between the bass and midrange drivers? If the bass amps are driving the signal over 100Hz, the difference wil be audible.
The output of the Brystons will probably not be the same as the tube amp you put on the top. This will cause either a dip or a hump in the frequency response of the speakers.

I have given the ss/tube combo some thought but have concluded there are too many compromises when the user employs different amplifiers. In the long run I think you will be loosing as opposed to gaining sound quality.

Monoblocks or bi-amping can be a real good option, but keep the amps the same, you will be happier.