Gainclone and Magnepans

Leo_Smith · 20th June 2004, 02:26 PM

Hi guys,
I was wondering if anyone here has any experience using a Gainclone amp with Maggie MMGs? They are 4ohms and quite inefficient. I'm waiting for Brians kits and wondering if I should be rounding up parts for regulated power supplies also. Any thoughts? I love my Maggies and they are not going anywhere, if the GC isn't up to the task... oh well. I guess it'll become a carclone.
Thanks,
Leo Smith
http://ducatist.home.att.net/

matjans · 20th June 2004, 11:23 PM

personally, i haven't any experience with magnepans. They do tend to have impedance dips way below 4 ohms. I remember reading that one model (don;t know which one) goes down to about 0.9 ohms.

If this is truly the case you might start looking for another diy project. My experience tells me hese clones don't really like hard-to-handle loudspeakers. They will drive them, but results might not be satisfactory.

cowanrg · 20th June 2004, 11:54 PM

i made one exactly to peter daniel's specs with all the good parts (black gate, riken, etc...) and it sounds like hell on my maggies. i actually scrapped the project completely because it sounded so bad with them. and i even gave it more voltage and optomized it for a 4 ohm load.

carlosfm · 21st June 2004, 12:53 AM

Electrostatics usually have VERY low impedance at high frequencies.
For many amps this is like a short circuit, and the GC is probably one of them.
You should try any amp that you consider for your speakers.

Tube_Dude · 21st June 2004, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Electrostatics usually have VERY low impedance at high frequencies

True!...But the Maggie MMGs are not electrostatic...they are drived by magnetic force and not electrostatic force.

Cheers

matjans · 21st June 2004, 01:38 AM

they're magnetostats allright but they still have nasty impedance dips...

fdegrove · 21st June 2004, 01:57 AM

Hi,

Quote:

they're magnetostats allright but they still have nasty impedance dips...

Do you happen to know around what frequency range they present these peaks?

Cheers,

matjans · 21st June 2004, 02:19 AM

oops, my mistake. i was thinking of the old magnepan mg3a. they were effectively 2-way loudspeakers with a ribbon tweeter causing the impedance dip.

here's a review of the mmg's: http://www.blackdahlia.com/tipindex/...4/tip__14.html including an impedance curve

you can measure (derive, more like) speaker impedance yourself: http://www.t-linespeakers.org/tech/c...rer/index.html
non need for any calibration if you only want to see if there's something really strange going on...

sorry

Leo_Smith · 21st June 2004, 04:01 AM

Thanks for the input guys. I am expecting my kits from Brian in a week or two, I'll experiment with them on the Maggies and let you know how it turns out. The Maggies are actually a pretty much resistive load, easy for an amp to drive, if it can deliver enough current. I'm currently using an Onkyo receiver with 105 watts per channel driving them, I hardly use the power, but the receiver just doesn't sound that good. The Maggies also don't sound good with rock and roll... yuck, but with some Rickie Lee Jones, or, even Norah Jones, they're marvelous!
thanks again,
Leo Smith

carlosfm · 21st June 2004, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tube_Dude
True!...But the Maggie MMGs are not electrostatic...they are drived by magnetic force and not electrostatic force.
Cheers

Oh.
Ok.
Long time no see.

20th June 2004, 02:26 PM	#1
Leo_Smith diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Ventura CA	Gainclone and Magnepans Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone here has any experience using a Gainclone amp with Maggie MMGs? They are 4ohms and quite inefficient. I'm waiting for Brians kits and wondering if I should be rounding up parts for regulated power supplies also. Any thoughts? I love my Maggies and they are not going anywhere, if the GC isn't up to the task... oh well. I guess it'll become a carclone. Thanks, Leo Smith http://ducatist.home.att.net/

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20th June 2004, 11:23 PM	#2
matjans diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Utrecht, NL	personally, i haven't any experience with magnepans. They do tend to have impedance dips way below 4 ohms. I remember reading that one model (don;t know which one) goes down to about 0.9 ohms. If this is truly the case you might start looking for another diy project. My experience tells me hese clones don't really like hard-to-handle loudspeakers. They will drive them, but results might not be satisfactory.

20th June 2004, 11:54 PM	#3
cowanrg diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Lafayette, CO	i made one exactly to peter daniel's specs with all the good parts (black gate, riken, etc...) and it sounds like hell on my maggies. i actually scrapped the project completely because it sounded so bad with them. and i even gave it more voltage and optomized it for a 4 ohm load.

21st June 2004, 12:53 AM	#4
carlosfm Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Lisbon, Portugal	Electrostatics usually have VERY low impedance at high frequencies. For many amps this is like a short circuit, and the GC is probably one of them. You should try any amp that you consider for your speakers.

21st June 2004, 01:38 AM	#6
matjans diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Utrecht, NL	they're magnetostats allright but they still have nasty impedance dips...

21st June 2004, 02:19 AM	#8
matjans diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Utrecht, NL	oops, my mistake. i was thinking of the old magnepan mg3a. they were effectively 2-way loudspeakers with a ribbon tweeter causing the impedance dip. here's a review of the mmg's: http://www.blackdahlia.com/tipindex/...4/tip__14.html including an impedance curve you can measure (derive, more like) speaker impedance yourself: http://www.t-linespeakers.org/tech/c...rer/index.html non need for any calibration if you only want to see if there's something really strange going on... sorry

21st June 2004, 04:01 AM	#9
Leo_Smith diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Ventura CA	Thanks for the input guys. I am expecting my kits from Brian in a week or two, I'll experiment with them on the Maggies and let you know how it turns out. The Maggies are actually a pretty much resistive load, easy for an amp to drive, if it can deliver enough current. I'm currently using an Onkyo receiver with 105 watts per channel driving them, I hardly use the power, but the receiver just doesn't sound that good. The Maggies also don't sound good with rock and roll... yuck, but with some Rickie Lee Jones, or, even Norah Jones, they're marvelous! thanks again, Leo Smith

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