Hi,
I have a pair of Magnat Quantum Signature and I am looking for advice for choosing an amp for these (I indicate their technical specifications at the end of the post).
I can provide the following information:
- impedance: the speakers impedance vary between 13 down to 3 ohms, so the amp must have some power margin to perform well with these impedance fluctuations and in particular in the bass / sub-bass areas where it is the lowest (I guess for instance being able to drive easily 2-ohms loads).
- bass: music but also home theatre sound will go through the amp & speakers, and as these go quite low (down to 16Hz), I would not require subwoofers because the speakers should be able to also perform that part, meaning the amp has to be able to render precise and loud basses at low frequencies (also, I want to spare the space that a subwoofer would occupy)
- highs: tweeter bandwidth goes very high (75000 Hz), so even though I can't hear in this range, any high frequency noise might mechanically impact the tweeter and potentially wear or damage it over time : having a clean signal even well above hearing threshold (let's say up to 150khz to have a security margin) seems a necessity
- room: is not that large (10m x 4m) and typical listening distance between 3 and 4m
- power: given room & distance, I guess peak power of 100W RMS at 8 ohms should be more than enough, however I don't know what are the implications of high levels of bass (e.g. from movies or EDM). BTW I am still in search of a calculator that takes into account the frequency bandwidth, especially accounting extra power needed for the basses, given the speakers go down to subwoofer range...
- listening style: I don't listen "very loud" but given the home theater mode I listen to "loud" from time to time (note, I don't want to break the bay windows !)
- coloration: I am seeking no coloration, but precise, resolving and "transparent" sound, because I use these speakers as all-arounds, listening to a very large variety of music (from chamber music, to jazz, to EDM...) so trying to match elements to any "style of music" is not the aim, quite the contrary. Coincidentally, the speakers' response curve being quite linear, they are also quite "neutral" in their fashion and I guess might not need much "matching" or "compensation"
- input: a DAC in input of the amp would very likely be a Topping Pro Octo in balanced mode, however there could also be an AVR through pre-outs such as Denon x4800h
- budget: I am aiming for a first buy trying to max out the possibilities with 2000€ max, including second-hand offers
- amps under consideration: given the above, I am thinking about either a class D with modern module (such as Audiophonics HPA-S450ET/Purifi 1ET6525SA) or a second-hand Benchmark AHB2. The power and linearity, load independence of the class D is very appealing, however the high frequencies distortion/harmonics make me quite nervous because of the tweeters ; the Benchmark seems a good candidate too but is less linear with a slight roll-off at 20khz and some impedance dependency...
Thank you in advance for any advice for either choosing between these two options, or even considering other ones !
Speaker specifications:
- Principle: 3 way floorstanding Speaker, bass reflex
- Equipment 3 x 8“ woofer, 2 x 6.5” midrange, 1.2” dome-tweeter
- Power Handling (RMS/Max) 400 / 700 Watts
- Impedance 4 – 8 Ohms (officially, see picture for impedance vs frequency graph)
- Frequency response 16 – 75.000 Hz
- Crossover Frequencies 200 Hz / 2.900 Hz
- Recommended Amplifier Output > 30 Watts
- Sensitivity (2.8 V/1m) 94 dB
- Cabinet surface (WxHxD) 313 x 1410 x 465 mm
- Frequency response (by horizontal angle & by vertical gap from tweeter)
- Impedance vs frequency
I have a pair of Magnat Quantum Signature and I am looking for advice for choosing an amp for these (I indicate their technical specifications at the end of the post).
I can provide the following information:
- impedance: the speakers impedance vary between 13 down to 3 ohms, so the amp must have some power margin to perform well with these impedance fluctuations and in particular in the bass / sub-bass areas where it is the lowest (I guess for instance being able to drive easily 2-ohms loads).
- bass: music but also home theatre sound will go through the amp & speakers, and as these go quite low (down to 16Hz), I would not require subwoofers because the speakers should be able to also perform that part, meaning the amp has to be able to render precise and loud basses at low frequencies (also, I want to spare the space that a subwoofer would occupy)
- highs: tweeter bandwidth goes very high (75000 Hz), so even though I can't hear in this range, any high frequency noise might mechanically impact the tweeter and potentially wear or damage it over time : having a clean signal even well above hearing threshold (let's say up to 150khz to have a security margin) seems a necessity
- room: is not that large (10m x 4m) and typical listening distance between 3 and 4m
- power: given room & distance, I guess peak power of 100W RMS at 8 ohms should be more than enough, however I don't know what are the implications of high levels of bass (e.g. from movies or EDM). BTW I am still in search of a calculator that takes into account the frequency bandwidth, especially accounting extra power needed for the basses, given the speakers go down to subwoofer range...
- listening style: I don't listen "very loud" but given the home theater mode I listen to "loud" from time to time (note, I don't want to break the bay windows !)
- coloration: I am seeking no coloration, but precise, resolving and "transparent" sound, because I use these speakers as all-arounds, listening to a very large variety of music (from chamber music, to jazz, to EDM...) so trying to match elements to any "style of music" is not the aim, quite the contrary. Coincidentally, the speakers' response curve being quite linear, they are also quite "neutral" in their fashion and I guess might not need much "matching" or "compensation"
- input: a DAC in input of the amp would very likely be a Topping Pro Octo in balanced mode, however there could also be an AVR through pre-outs such as Denon x4800h
- budget: I am aiming for a first buy trying to max out the possibilities with 2000€ max, including second-hand offers
- amps under consideration: given the above, I am thinking about either a class D with modern module (such as Audiophonics HPA-S450ET/Purifi 1ET6525SA) or a second-hand Benchmark AHB2. The power and linearity, load independence of the class D is very appealing, however the high frequencies distortion/harmonics make me quite nervous because of the tweeters ; the Benchmark seems a good candidate too but is less linear with a slight roll-off at 20khz and some impedance dependency...
Thank you in advance for any advice for either choosing between these two options, or even considering other ones !
Speaker specifications:
- Principle: 3 way floorstanding Speaker, bass reflex
- Equipment 3 x 8“ woofer, 2 x 6.5” midrange, 1.2” dome-tweeter
- Power Handling (RMS/Max) 400 / 700 Watts
- Impedance 4 – 8 Ohms (officially, see picture for impedance vs frequency graph)
- Frequency response 16 – 75.000 Hz
- Crossover Frequencies 200 Hz / 2.900 Hz
- Recommended Amplifier Output > 30 Watts
- Sensitivity (2.8 V/1m) 94 dB
- Cabinet surface (WxHxD) 313 x 1410 x 465 mm
- Frequency response (by horizontal angle & by vertical gap from tweeter)
- Impedance vs frequency
