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Mr. Luddite

On 1/13/2014 6:23 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 1/13/14, 6:19 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 1/13/2014 5:30 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 1/13/14, 5:20 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 1/13/2014 3:22 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 1/13/14, 2:57 PM, wrote:
On Monday, January 13, 2014 2:30:43 PM UTC-5, F.O.A.D. wrote:

I've a pair of Magnepan electrostatic speakers that were given to
me by
a friend breaking up his household after a nasty divorce. They're
hooked up with a pretty decent subwoofer. The array suits me.

Magnepans can sound very good, but they require massive amounts of
power (current) from an amplifier that can drive a low impedance, and
they do require a subwoofer.

I have a friend with a pair of them, driven in a bi-amp configuration
with over $6k worth of hi-end amps, plus pre-amps, etc. Great sound,
but costly.

Oh, and technically, Magnepans aren't electrostatics. They are
dipole
magna-planars.

Dipole magnaplaners? Holy toledo! I of course have not a clue what
that
means.

My "magies" are driven by a pretty high powered McIntosh amp running
through a preamp. I got the McIntosh at a pawn shop in Virginia. It
was
practically a give-away, since it had been sitting in the pawnbroker's
store for months, and about every two months, I'd stop by and make
him a
ridiculous offer for it. I've got what I think is called a "passive"
subwoofer that strips the lows off the lines running to the magies.

Magies are excellent speakers. Like 3452471@gmail says however they
are not considered to be electrostatic. They are a form of ribbon
speaker technology that have fine wires on a mylar film, causing the
mylar to vibrate. Also, as mentioned, both electrostatic and hybrid
ribbon speakers like the Magnepans are notoriously inefficient and
require higher powered amps to drive them properly. With due
respect to
your McIntosh, it may not have enough power to drive them for max
performance. McIntosh are fine amps but typically are not noted for
being high powered, except some of the solid state types. If that's
the
case, it's not a true McIntosh .... :-)

You mean, my McIntosh amp was made by...gawk...Apple?

I don't know who made it, if you are claiming it was someone other than
McIntosh. Too esoteric for me. But when I first saw it in the pawn shop,
I knew I wanted it. It was sitting there, like Scarlett Johannson.

The spec sheet reads as follows. I have no idea what most of these
numbers below THD mean:

Power Output per Channel

450W @ 2, 4 or 8 Ohms

Number of Channels

2

Total Harmonic Distortion

0.005%

S/N below rated output

124dB

Dynamic Headroom

1.8dB

Damping Factor

40 Wideband

Rated Power Band

20Hz to 20kHz

Frequency Response +0,-0.25dB

20Hz to 20kHz

Frequency Response -3dB

10Hz to 100kHz

That's a very nice amp. Purest however will stick their noses up at it
however because it's solid state and not tube. I wouldn't ..

I don't think McIntosh made commercially available tube amps in that
power range. 100 amps would likely require at least two sets of
push-pull output tubes and you'd notice that you didn't have to heat the
house anymore.

I'm happy with it. I don't think the pawn shop guy realized what he had,
that, or he was tired of looking at it. It weighs over 100 pounds!

If it's the model I think it is (MC452) you probably got an outstanding
deal if you bought it from a pawn shop. They go for $7k to $8K new.