Quote Originally Posted by geezerrocket View Post
Having said that, the Magnepans were more holographic with a deeper sound stage, and to my ears, better and smoother treble.

I have however have decided to get the 604-8h 111's instead of the 11's and I will be using a 10 cu. ft. box (thanks to Jay Fisher).

The 500 wpc Hafler is probably not ideal for driving that GPA's so I am looking for suggestions.

I do want to stay away from "flea powered" amps like 45's etc.. as I am prone to crank Rush and Sammy Hagar to big room filling levels.

I have a budget of $1500.00 US dollars for a used piece of gear.

Happy Holidays.
Greets!

604s are near-field monitors, so 'holographic'/'deep' sound-staging isn't a primary performance criteria. For this you'll need compression horns with the longer their 'throw' (increasing directivity), the 'deeper' their sound-staging, etc. and the further away you'll have to sit to get their full benefit. It's all about perspective. Another way is to use bipole speakers positioned well away from any reflective boundaries, but four 604s and the big cabs required gets a bit pricey for most of us.

JF's cabs were designed for wall/floor loading and a high output impedance source, so if you don't use a similar tube amp, then you'll need the Hafler's high power since the high resistance voltage dividing network required to flatten the speaker's response (baffle step compensation (BSC)) is going to turn it into a low power one by the time what's left of its output makes it to the drivers. Based strictly on a sim, it will be < 100 W which actually will only be enough for moderate listening levels on dynamic recordings since the speaker's effective sensitivity will be down around 92 dB/m.

Since there's a certain coupling synergy between tube (or at least transformer coupled) amps and compression horns, driving the woofer with a high SQ digital amp and the HF horn with a 'flea' power tube amp (assuming it has a 'stiff' enough power supply, i.e. high enough output voltage to handle the fastest transients (its slew rate spec)) can be a 'marriage made in Heaven' if done right, though some will argue that this can only happen if a PP tube is used for the woofer.

Unfortunately, it's not likely to happen for $1500, so the Hafler/BSC seems the quickest/cheapest way to get up n' running. Next up would be a high output impedance (low DF) amp (McIntosh 2105 or similar) in good condition, but don't have a clue if such esoterica is available at this price point.


Happy Holidays and all that jive,

GM