Quote Originally Posted by Feanor
'Flier, Perhaps it's of academic interest to you if you're not really interested in Magneplanars ... but a lot people would agree that 200wpc is the "minimum" for the 1.6's, or 300wpc for the 3.6's. The 120wpc Monarchy SM-70 Pro's are working great for me with the 1.6's, but let me explain.
While I am fairly happy with what I have, I also know from hearing other systems, that this isn't anywhere near where I want to be as far as speakers. I haven't settled on a pair yet and one of the attractive features of the Maggies to me is that when not in use, I can push them against the wall, which is not so easy with my current speakers. What is not attractive is having to power them with amps that take up more floor space than the speakers themselves (not to mention suck electricity right out of the wall and act like furnaces to boot). Your choice of Monarchy amps is a refreshing alternative opinion.

As far as your taste in music, your room, and the price point, we probably have a lot in common. I guess what I was asking is how do they really sound? Do you hear the limitations of the amp during passages with a wide dynamic range (e.g. Hovhaness, Strauss, Khachaturian)? Have you experienced any clipping? Is there compression in the frequency extremes?

As a side issue, did you try any class-D type amps? Of so, what did you or didn't you like about them?