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AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
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Message started by DAN.DERBY on 09/18/20 at 20:53:00

Title: Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
Post by DAN.DERBY on 09/18/20 at 20:53:00

I have several speaker sets - Maggie LRS, Klipsch KG4 (updated) and Klipsch RP-600. I originally bought the KG4s (cheap) just to give me an entry to SET amps but discovered I love the sound of horns. However, a friend sold me his LRSs and I am wondering if they can be comfortably driven by a SE84UFO. Thanks for your feedback!

Title: Re: Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
Post by Lon on 09/18/20 at 21:36:07

I think the Maggies will find the SE84UFO sadly lacking in power. I'd like to be wrong, but I remember other owners reporting they do not have nearly enough power for Maggies.

Title: Re: Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
Post by Showme on 09/18/20 at 21:36:12

I heard a set of LSR's around the first of the year and thought they sounded great. However I don't think 2 watts will drive them loud enough. They're 86dB efficient and I may will be wrong but strongly suspect they'll be under powered. They would probably work will with Decware's 40 watt ZMA amp though. Nice speakers!

Title: Re: Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
Post by DAN.DERBY on 09/18/20 at 21:46:03

Thanks Lon and Showme. I suspected that might be the case. I used to have a set of KEF LS50s that seemed to take a lot of power to open up but Steve Guttenberg's youtube review suggested they worked fine with the SE84UFO.

Not sure how to hide multiple amps from my significant other. Hard enough to explain two sets of speakers.

Title: Re: Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
Post by Steve Deckert on 09/21/20 at 03:32:40

So far the SE84UFO has never found anything it couldn't drive. This includes the Magnapans hanging over my bench, my Acoustic Monitors, Quads. That means it doesn't compromise it's frequency balance, dynamics, imaging, overall sound from one load to another. That said, how loud it will get while it is driving a particular speaker is another story. This story depends on how far you set from the speakers, room size, and subjective interpretation of volume.

Is the amp a good pairing with Magnapans, no because it won't get loud enough for anything other than late night listening. Will it drive them yes.

Steve

Title: Re: Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
Post by Steve Deckert on 09/21/20 at 03:36:54

There are two factors that make it possible to enjoy a 2 watt Zen Triode amp on non-efficient speakers...

1) It's ability to make a speaker disappear.

2) It's frequency and dynamic balance at low volumes.

Because of these two things, it is possible to place speakers in the near field and shut your eyes and hear them sound like they are far away and playing with great power and scale.

Steve

Title: Re: Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
Post by DAN.DERBY on 09/21/20 at 08:19:00

Well, what you describe is what I'm hoping for. I just bought one from a member here and have one set of Maggies and two sets of Klipsch standing by for its arrival. Excited!

Title: Re: Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
Post by alper_yilmaz on 09/21/20 at 10:09:13

Dan,

I have driven 88.5dB ProAC's (with crossovers) with my UFO25 successfully. It is not kidney-stone-crushing SPL, but the balance, tone, transparency, and detail are all there. I might be flamed here for saying this, but instead of most high-efficiency speakers with some crazy shout effect (not all, please note), I would prefer a decent lower-efficiency speaker.

Now, 86dB seems definitely in the lower end in terms of SPL, and I do not think I have ever heard the Maggies, yet give them a try with the UFO; you might be amazed about what you hear! But again most probably, it would OK for late night listening...

Title: Re: Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
Post by HockessinKid on 09/21/20 at 12:56:45

I appreciate the comments and observations of pairing a SE84UFO with inefficient speakers like Maggies. I certainly can understand the pairing, particularly for a near field listening situation given the amps many attributes.

With that said, it seems like this combination presents just too many compromises. Given that listening set ups and our systems often change over the years, I think it would be smarter to opt for one of Steve's PP amp offerings. Just my opinion as a very happy ZMA owner. This amp can drive nearly any speaker in any size listening room, and deliver exceptional sound quality.

HK

Title: Re: Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
Post by DPC on 09/22/20 at 23:16:11

Many moons ago, I had a pair of the smaller Maggies. They were powered by an early model 2 watt Decware amp.

My listening room is well treated. The combination played very well although not overly loud.

In retrospect I regret ever selling both of them.

Title: Re: Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
Post by Stefan on 09/24/20 at 04:22:45

I have the SE84UFO25 and Tannoy Cheviots, they are rated 91dB and have 20-250W amp recommendation. The zen amp easily pushes the speaker in a medium sized room to levels that you can't talk anymore, not super loud to shake the house, but good enough for 99% of my listening and they do sound fantastic together.

Title: Re: Will SE84UFO drive my Maggies?
Post by DAN.DERBY on 09/27/20 at 23:45:40

OP here...just to put the subject to bed as it were...my SE84UFO arrived two nights ago and fair to say it's been a real learning experience.

As to the original question, Maggie LRSs, yep, they are just fine with it. My room is small and I had them in almost near field setup. No problemo. Needless to say, the higher efficiency Klipsch were totally fine.

Actually, what I've found with my early tube rolling with the various ones the seller included (thanks DougK!), loudness varied greatly on the tube combos that were in play. So next you'll see me lurking in all the tube discussions.

Thanks for all the insight so far!