"Pranay" wrote

I have a B&K 307 receiver driving a pair of Magnepan
MG-IIIA speakers.... Even with these figures the MGIIIA
- B&K combination sounds quite satisfying, "satisfying"
of course is my subjective opionion, but I sometimes
feel the need to play the B&K fairly loud to "open" up the
Maggies.

Ok.


Considering the MG-IIIA's inefficiency and 4 ohm power
requirements, I wonder if another dedicated high power
amp for pure stereo listening would work better with the
maggies much more at all listening levels.

Yes. The impedance is actually 4 ohms in the bass
and 3 ohms (pure resistive) for treble with sensitivity
around 83-85dB. The recommended amp was 50 to
200 watts, but I had no difficulty using 550 watts per
channel.


Budgetary constraints ( $450 US) rule out monoblocks
or any high-end stereo amp that would have the required
power characteristics. However, I do have an opportunity
to pick up a used Proton D1200 amp in my budget that
seems to have a design that can deliver peak/transient
power levels going in the vicinity of 1kW/ch (continuous
power rating is 100w/ch). If you are familiar with the Proton
design you may understand what I am referring to.
However I have not been able to find much material on
the web on this amp that would indicate whether this
amp would really make a sonic difference over the B&K.

The Proton D1200 provides 100 Watts/channel 8 ohms
and 160 into 4 ohms with 6dB of head room. In 1988
this was the top of the line power amp for Proton ($700).


Should I go for the Proton D1200?

Unknown. When you say "need to play the B&K fairly
loud to "open" up the Maggies" I think what you are
looking for is greater lower midrange and higher
overall resolution from your power amplifier. A tubed
power amp, mid to higher powered output, would do
this but not at your price point ($450).

An alternative which would accomplish this, at your
price point, is the Carver TMF-55 power amp (380-600
watts) manufactured in the early to mid 1990's (MSRP
$1K).