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Good points even if the goal is unclear.

I get it, you're approaching this strictly from a theoretical standpoint, without focusing on any particular model of Magneplanar. It's an interesting exercise, but complicated by the fact that each series of Maggie places different power demands. In your first post you only sought lowest amp power used with Maggies without requesting other crucial data that would need to be weighed.

For instance, over the years, I've experimented with both tube and solid state pre-amps and amps, each having a different sound signature in use. Power ...or rather how much current is available... is only one factor in assessing the performance of a Maggie based system.

The problem trying to isolate the criteria you seek and provide useful info is that everything still hinges on which speaker system is owned, the general set-up (supporting gear) and configuration of the listening room. Bigger Maggies usually need more power to provide the best listening experience. My 3.7i Maggies sounded best with substantial current available.

Prior to the Sanders Magtech I'd used a much lower wattage amp ...the Quad 909... that produced 250 WPC with a 4 Ohm load, but became very warm at the listening levels I preferred.. The Quad is a superb amp, but is now in my upstairs Gallo Reference system which is much less sensitive and doesn't heat up nearly as much. Note: For awhile I toyed with using my back-up Transcendent 150 tube amps, but felt their 100 WPC rating might not be enough to drive Maggies lower efficiency.

While awaiting thermal transistor replacements on my Magtech I also experimented with a pair of Class D monoblocks from Wyred4Sound, but they were actually powerhouse amps with slightly more WPC than the Magtech, so this wouldn't apply to a discussion of low powered amps and Maggies.

For the purposes of discussion I'm persuaded that nearly everything boils down to listening preferences, speaker size and room size. In theory, almost any amp could be used with Maggies as long as the current delivered is stable at 4 Ohms. The sound pressure levels, inner detail resolution and refinement is where the added current makes the most appreciable difference.

To reiterate, I totally get where you're coming from on low powered amps mated with Maggies, but I'm persuaded that meaningful data will require all of the other parameters mentioned as well.

Cheers,
AuPh

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