MV 100 - Magnepan question

[TonyK]

I have a vintage MV 100 amp, rated 90 watts/channel into 8 ohms. Thinking of matching it to a pair of Magnepans but unsure whether the amp produces enough current to drive the 3.7i.

I spoke with Tech Support at Magnepan and was told the amp would drive a 1.7i, but the 3.7i might be a stretch. Does anyone have experience with this combination or something similar?

To confuse things, the Magnepan FAQs on their website says that power requirements do not vary with size of the speaker. Opinions?

[AnotherJohnson]

I think they’re nuts.

From their website. https://magnepan.com/pages/faqs

90 wpc into 4, 8, or 16 Ohms. Based on the Premier 4.

https://conradjohnson.com/vintage-conra ... -products/

Unless it’s broken, it ought to handle 3.7s.

[admin]

Welcome to CJO TonyK! Great to have you with us.

It should work fine. I've used multiple CJ amps with maggies (and currently do as well). 90/watts should be bien. Unless you plan to blast the audio levels you should not have any problem.

[TonyK]

There seems to be a consensus developing--sounds like the 3.7i's are feasible. That leaves me with only one concern: I am considering downsizing my residence and now have to think about whether my future digs will have a listening room large enough to accommodate the larger Maggies. But that is a different concern that can't be resolved here, at least not right now.

As to condition of the amp, I took it down to cj to have it looked over since it had been boxed and unused for such a long time (my son now lives in Northern VA, so I find myself making regular trips down that way). It was gratifying to hear him tell me that my MV 100 was in the best condition he had seen for such an old amp. It's been in a time capsule! I used to live in VA and took the amp to the factory for service a couple of times over the years and had all the available upgrades performed. But now replacement parts for this old amp are becoming difficult to source.

As an interesting aside, I had a chance to talk with Jeff Fischell when I picked up the amp from the last checkup, and he told me he got his start at cj building MV 100's.

This is really a great company. I had trepidations after learning that Lew and Bill had retired. But Jeff seems committed to supporting even vintage equipment. I'm glad that Jeff is committed to continuing the tradition. Anyone interested in cj equipment who is concerned about the change in ownership should be reassured.

[AnotherJohnson]

Great story!

Jeff is an honest broker and straight shooter.

Ask him what he thinks about whether or not the MV-100 can be matched with Magnepan 3.7is.

But with that said, you’ve raised another issue, ie the room.

That’s going to really drive whether or not the rest works.

Conrad Johnson attracts a lot of vintage audio aficionados.

I would venture a guess that at least 50% of posts on CJ gear are from folks doing something related to 20th century CJ.

I think many of us are old and some bit of CJ was on our bucket list at some time or another. I know when the MV-100 was in its hay day, I would not have spent so much money on an amp. I was running an Electron Kinetics Eagle 2A. My experience with tubes was McIntosh based. MC 240s and 275s. I thought they were pretty soft compared to my SS.

The fly in the ointment is that what one person thinks sounds great, another person thinks is deficient.

The MV-100 on any Magnepan is going to sound delightful to some folks, and it’s going to seem to lack dynamics and low end to others. The room will play a part. Both visually and sonically. And both are important, unless you have a dedicated space, or are a hermit.

Best of luck as you rebuild your system. The MV-100 is worthy of being the anchor. And, as you point out, CJ is willing to do their best to preserve unmolested survivors.

[Big Dog RJ]

G'day mate, greetings from down unda!

Have owned many CJ amplifiers since the 80's to date, and none of them had issues driving Maggie's. The ones listed below were used with the MG3.7's, MG3.6 and MG3.5/r. The last combination was probably the best since the panels were a newer iteration of Maggie's but the amp drove within limits. That is, upto certain levels it was fine, the moment I tended to turn things up, the LEDs would flash, especially on extended highs and low freq extension.
At the time LJ told me that the amp was being stretched a bit but that was quite normal. Of course this wasn't an issue for the Prem12's being 140w monoblocks, capable of higher current and voltage drive.

These were amplifiers in order:
MV55, Premier 11A, MV60, MV60SE, Classic 60SE and Classic 62SE.

All these were rated at less than 100w / ch and drove those Maggie's listed above beautifully!
The preamp used at the time was mostly the PFR and later on the PV12 and then finally onto the ART preamp. Thought I'd mention the preamp as well, since this is just as important as the power amp. Both must match well as one amplifier driving a particular type of load in speakers. Then that great element of synergy comes into effect, and it's simply marvellous!

Cheers, RJ

[admin]

There seems to be a consensus developing--sounds like the 3.7i's are feasible. That leaves me with only one concern: I am considering downsizing my residence and now have to think about whether my future digs will have a listening room large enough to accommodate the larger Maggies. But that is a different concern that can't be resolved here, at least not right now.

Maggies can sound good in smaller rooms. They probably sound their best in large ones... but this is true for most speakers. I think what is really critical is positioning. Box speakers in my experience certainly have an optimal room placement, but they are more forgiving than planar speakers. The fact that maggies are bipole, adds another layer of complexity.

Do you know what room size you are planning to have and perhaps more importantly, how much flexibility in positioning you will have in that room? You can have a 30x30 ft setup in your living room but if the wife says one speaker has to go into the corner and the other in front of the window,... you are going to have a major problem.

As to condition of the amp, I took it down to cj to have it looked over since it had been boxed and unused for such a long time (my son now lives in Northern VA, so I find myself making regular trips down that way). It was gratifying to hear him tell me that my MV 100 was in the best condition he had seen for such an old amp. It's been in a time capsule! I used to live in VA and took the amp to the factory for service a couple of times over the years and had all the available upgrades performed. But now replacement parts for this old amp are becoming difficult to source.

This is very reassuring and give me even more confidence with keeping the MV100 in the system.

This is really a great company. I had trepidations after learning that Lew and Bill had retired. But Jeff seems committed to supporting even vintage equipment. I'm glad that Jeff is committed to continuing the tradition. Anyone interested in cj equipment who is concerned about the change in ownership should be reassured.

This has been my interpretation of the situation as well. I think CJ is in good hands.

[TonyK]

AnotherJohnson, I see you are in TN. Johnson City? My wife grew up in Kingsport. Still visit a couple of times a year to see in-laws. I lived in Blacksburg, VA, for several years. Beautiful part of the world!

Agree completely with Big Dog about synergy. My first pre-amp was a PV 1 mated to a VanAlstine-modded Dynaco amp. Graduated to the MV 100 after that (got a deal on a demo unit) and then to the PV 9a. Back in the 90s almost every stereo junkie I knew wanted to buy my PV 9a.

I'm annoyed with myself that I sold the PV 1: it worked just fine and I got a pittance for it looking back. Not sorry I got the 9a, but I just wish I still had the PV 1.

As to the issue of room size, my current listening room is about 15 x 21. Recently auditioned the 3.7's in a listening room that was not much larger and was very impressed with the sound. Size of future listening room will be a subject of future conversations with El Wifo, no point opening that can of worms right now. Wife has always enjoyed listening to music with me. I hope after hearing the 3.7's she will be onboard with the purchase. Once she's hooked and it's time to move we will have the conversation about the listening room requirements. I'm looking at the 3.7's as a gateway drug.

Great thread. Thank you all for your comments.

[AnotherJohnson]

I was an engineer at TEC (Kodak) in Kingsport 48 years ago. I bought my first real component based stereo system from Mr. Toad’s Sound Concept in 1975 (Johnson City). Up til then, I’d had a Magnovox console (do it all in one giant piece of furniture).