Maggie 3.6 owners -- please help

I would like to add to Rooze's response re: power requirements. While it is true that Magnepans are at their best with high power, please keep in mind that it is current and quality as well. I have used Magnepan loudspeakers in various flavors for over 20 years from the SMG, MGIII, MGIIIA, 3.6R. I have never used an amp larger than 400 wpc to get more than adequate spl's in rooms of differing sizes, including the one I am in now (23 x 16.5 x 10). I have used the Sunfire Cinema Signature, Aragon Palladium 1K (still have those), and currently, the Wolcott P220 monos at 220 wpc. The high current of the Sunfire is wonderful, as is the high current output of the 400 wpc Aragon, but the organic rightness of tubes, coupled with the high current and wide band output transformers of the Wolcotts make the magic happen in my room. As long as the amp you are considering has high current output, stays stable at 4 ohms, remember that the sensitivity of the 3.6R is 85db (I don't know what it is for the Eros), there are a wide variety of amps that mate very well with the Magnepans. That being said, depending on the size of your room, I would look for as many wpc as your wallet can tolerate.

If you would like a larger soundstage and sweet-spot than the Maggies provide...Apogee Duetta Signatures may be of interest to you also.

Power requirements are along the lines of the Maggies...no toe-in is needed but should be at least 3ft. out from the wall and in med-large rooms only...bass response is truly full-range and will overload a small room.

Dave

Thanks for the replies.

Slipknot & Rooze -- I will using my Innersound ESL300 which from what I've read is a good amp for the 3.6s. While I'm sure there are better (Wolcotts for example) it will be a good start for me.

My room is 14x20 and the 3.6s would be on the short wall. They would be about 8ft apart. Perhaps I could leave them 3 ft out from the front wall (for aesthetics) and for critical listening, slide them out another foot or so. Are they easy to slide in and out? At least they don't appear to be very heavy.

At this point, I am leaning towards getting the 3.6s. But part of me wants to wait for the HiFi Show in NYC and check out what's new : ) VonSchweikert's VR4 Srs are supposed to be everything the Jrs are with more bass! Yeah Hah! Two months seems like an eternity now!

Thaks again for the replies!

Mike

Mike,
Three feet is a great start. They slide pretty easy on bare floor so if you can move them out a tad, go for it.

As a matter of fact, you've got me rethinking bringing mine out another foot into the room. The current 3 ft 4 in. I have them out is based on the calculations Rives Audio came up with when they did my room design.

I would think that your Innersound amp will be a sweet match for the Magnepan 3.6R.

Best of luck, and keep us up to date.

Slipknot,

I had my 3.6's at 68" for a while then was able to bring them out to around 90". It's a great improvement in stage depth and the bass has cleaned up a little too. If you can get away with it try it.

Also, if you have some foam around or something like a 2'x 2' acoustic foam panel, put it behind your speaker with one side on top of the XO box and touching the back of the speaker, and elevate the other side around 10"-12"
If you have the panels handy it'll take two minutes. You can also try it with a sheet of 2x2 cardboard if you don't have the foam.
Listen for better transparency, a wider/deeper soundstage and slightly better imaging. Adjusting the angle of the foam panel changes the tonal balance just a tad....the optimum angle depends on the height of your ceiling and the distance from the front wall, so you may need to mess with it a bit.

Rooze