Magneplanar and Supernait 2

Posted by: Nina on 14 March 2018

I recently picked up a pair of Magneplanar speakers

From what I read a lot of people said the SN2 would not drive the Maggies properly but I'm having no problems and I like the sound

Apparently what Maggies like is a high current amp and one that doubles it's power into 4 ohms.  Does anyone know if the SN2 would be considered a high current amp and whether it doubles it's output from 80w to 160w into 4 ohms

 

 

Posted on: 14 March 2018 by Christopher_M

From SN2 manual, power output: 80W + 80W RMS into 8ohms (135W + 135W into 4ohms)

Posted on: 15 March 2018 by Adam Zielinski

Just enjoy them. If they work and you like the sound those are the most important determinants 

Posted on: 15 March 2018 by nickpeacock

I auditoned some Maggies (1.7s I think) at the same time as I heard (and bought) my Martin Logans. Such a rich midrange, and so transparent. Lovely speakers.

Posted on: 15 March 2018 by Richard Dane

Which Magneplanars are they?  Some are probably easier to drive than others. Some can be trickier than you think...

I used to have a pair of MG2.5Rs, and found them devilishly difficult to optimise.  Firstly, they may appear on the face of it to be not too difficult to drive, but the reality is somewhat different.  A big American valve amp worked fine - ditto a UK equivalent (both using eight EL34s IIRC).  A well respected UK solid state integrated fared much less well, and a big Class A s/s amp for some reason just sounded awful. Secondly, you need to organise the room very much around the speakers.  They will dominate the space completely and where they want to go is where they have to go.  Get it right and they can sound amazing, particularly if you value scale, soundstage, image etc.. However, just as easily they can lack a certain engagement beyond those sonic tricks. 

Oh, and before I forget, the feet on Maggies was a weakness - I had replacements made by the local Smithie and that was a big improvement.

Posted on: 16 March 2018 by Nina

My Maggies are the MG1c's and they are sounding really lovely

Magnepan recommend an amp of between 50-200w (@ 8ohms)...  So the 135w my SN2 has into 4ohms should be ok.  My Maggies are actually 5 ohms for what it's worth

All I can say is the Maggies are really impressing me with their effortless way of producing sound which are also sweet, delicate and intimate sounding... I'm loving them

I am going to improve the standard feet by replacing them with very solid ones and then clamped to some sort of plinth as I agree the supplied brackets are a bit of a weakness

 

Posted on: 09 April 2018 by Nina

Still loving what the Magneplanars are doing sound wise

I consider them one of my best hifi purchases ever and definitely one of the best value

Posted on: 28 April 2018 by Nina

My Maggies are so impressive sound wise.. they are so effortless in their way of producing sound...  I have them just 'leaned' against the back wall at the moment, which is far from thier proper position, while their plinths and brackets are being made and they still sound excellent...

For what I paid for the Maggies they are one of my best hifi purchases ever, a complete bargain

If anyone tells you that the Naim amps won't drive Maggies properly don't believe them as my SN2 is performing perfectly with them and sounding fantastic...

 

Posted on: 28 April 2018 by Adam Zielinski

Excellent! Happy to hear you like the speakers.