Accuphase A-70 enough to drive Magnepan 20.7 or 30.7?

C

Charles Lin

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hi,

Wonder if anyone has experience with Magnepan driven by Accuphase A-70 class-A amp?

More specifically, wondering if A-70 has enough power to drive large panels such as the 20.7 or 30.7. By the way, I saw in an online 30.7 User's Manual that it apparently has the same sensitivity rating as that of 20.7, which is rated 4 Ohms load and 86dB/500Hz /2.83v sensitivity.
 
Charles Lin said:
hi,

Wonder if anyone has experience with Magnepan driven by Accuphase A-70 class-A amp?

More specifically, wondering if A-70 has enough power to drive large panels such as the 20.7 or 30.7. By the way, I saw in an online 30.7 User's Manual that it apparently has the same sensitivity rating as that of 20.7, which is rated 4 Ohms load and 86dB/500Hz /2.83v sensitivity.
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Hi Charles and welcome to AudioShark! While the inherent quality of a pure Class A amp like the Accuphase A-70 would be apparent at moderate volume levels with the large Magnepans, such speakers really thrive on high power and current and in my experience only really 'come to life' when driven with amps rated at a couple of hundred watts and above. Even when not being driven towards the amplifier's limits matching high powered amps with the large Maggies seems to energize and control the panels much more successfully than lower powered amps and as a result they sound more effortless and relaxed in their presentation. Hope this helps!
 
That's such a sweet amp..would probably sound amazing on 20.7s, but, I'd bet that on those occasions where ya want to play hard (loud) you'd be wanting more power.
 
Charles Lin said:
hi,

Wonder if anyone has experience with Magnepan driven by Accuphase A-70 class-A amp?

More specifically, wondering if A-70 has enough power to drive large panels such as the 20.7 or 30.7. By the way, I saw in an online 30.7 User's Manual that it apparently has the same sensitivity rating as that of 20.7, which is rated 4 Ohms load and 86dB/500Hz /2.83v sensitivity.
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I own the 1.6's and they really appreciate the 500wpc of my Pass amp. You lose depth, musicality and dynamics with lower powered amps.
 
When I had my 20.7's I tried as many amps on them as I could but even the Sanders stereo/mono amps struggled at times for me .... ymmv.
 
The A-70 is a high current amplifier and it won't have any problems driving the Magnepans; only things you need to consider are your listening distance from the speakers and your desired SPL at the listening position; based on these two factors calculate if the A-70 has enough power to give you the SPL you want.
 
Anatta said:
The A-70 is a high current amplifier and it won't have any problems driving the Magnepans; only things you need to consider are your listening distance from the speakers and your desired SPL at the listening position; based on these two factors calculate if the A-70 has enough power to give you the SPL you want.
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60 watts and high current will give you music at lower volumes but at louder volumes, the sound will suffer from lack of peak power especially with huge panels like the 20.7's and 30.7's.
 
Mechnutt said:
60 watts and high current will give you music at lower volumes but at louder volumes, the sound will suffer from lack of peak power especially with huge panels like the 20.7's and 30.7's.
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60W is the rated class A power, the actual power available is 130W@8Ohm and 230W@4Ohm; just like the Pass XA60.8 for example is not a 60W amplifier but a 120W one.

http://www.accuphase.com/cat/a-70_e.pdf

I don't know how loud the OP likes to listen but the A-70 will give him 100dB peaks at a 3m listening distance without problems with the 86dB sensitive Magnepans.

http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html
 
Anatta said:
60W is the rated class A power, the actual power available is 130W@8Ohm and 230W@4Ohm; just like the Pass XA60.8 for example is not a 60W amplifier but a 120W one.

http://www.accuphase.com/cat/a-70_e.pdf

I don't know how loud the OP likes to listen but the A-70 will give him 100dB peaks at a 3m listening distance without problems with the 86dB sensitive Magnepans.

http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html
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The class A Bias is supposedly 70 watts @8 ohm , hence the A70 designation, thats 35/35 per channel or 17.5/17.5 @ 4 ohm ...

Accuphase also rates quiescent draw at 280 watts @idle which approximates 70 watts class A output ..


Regards ..
 
Numbers aside . . . . .

I love the balls of the accuphase BUT in my opinion, it would not power the Maggies to a level acceptable. Maggies are an easy load BUT need power.
 
Anatta said:
The name has nothing to do with the class A power available, the A-60 had 300W idle consumption.

http://www.accuphase.com/cat/a-60_e.pdf
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Its 70 watt class A with a an A70 designation , go figure .... regardless the numbers you quoted are way off, extreme irony you picked that to discredit findings ..

Anyway 83db is what 3.6R Maggie ( Maggie usually claim 86) actually measured, best to hook them up and listen from experience 300/300 is what they usually need ...



Regards
 
a.wayne said:
Its 70 watt class A with a an A70 designation , go figure .... regardless the numbers you quoted are way off, extreme irony you picked that to discredit findings ..

Anyway 83db is what 3.6R Maggie ( Maggie usually claim 86) actually measured, best to hook them up and listen from experience 300/300 is what they usually need ...



Regards
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One of the previous versions from Accuphase which was probably the A65 was able to better control the very inefficient MBL 111F's when compared to some 500 watt mono-block amps. WPC is only one piece of the pie.
 
The A65 was just a better amp , surely you not suggesting a 500/500 watt Accuphase equivalent is less than an A65 ...

BTW , Im familiar and have used Accuphase amps since the 70’s ...



Regards ..
 
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