Curious

[hondaman01]

Hello Keith!
Couple yrs back now I purchased a new Basx a100.
Just fantastic to playback music.
But I was thinking ,would say a McIntosh amp be any different?.
Not so much in the power out but just in the overall sound.
At the same level of volume would I hear a difference.
Thankx for your input

[creimes]

Aug 22, 2019 17:56:32 GMT -5 hondaman01 said:

Hello Keith!
Couple yrs back now I purchased a new Basx a100.
Just fantastic to playback music.
But I was thinking ,would say a McIntosh amp be any different?.
Not so much in the power out but just in the overall sound.
At the same level of volume would I hear a difference.
Thankx for your input

Subjective question that is as most things audio related, you would have to try it yourself an if there was an improvement would it be worth the extra cost, McIntosh gear is not cheap.

Chad

[tropicallutefisk]

That's not an easy question to answer. First, its a matter of personal preference and second it depends on the rest of your system. Since my earliest days of visiting HiFi shops, I had always hoped to one day be able to afford McIntosh gear. A number of years ago I finally had the opportunity to purchase my first McIntosh amplifier, a MC152. Unfortunately, it ultimately disappointed me. Not because there is anything wrong with it, but because it wasn't a good match for my speakers. It seemed to struggle with my Magnepan 3.7is. Imaging was poor, bass was weak and it just sounded like it was giving all it could to reach a good listening volume. On easier to drive speakers, I might have had a completely different experience. I replaced it with a pair of DR1s and my Maggies suddenly came to life. Imaging and bass were light years beyond what I got from the MC152. There was also a better "sparkle" on the higher frequencies. Now, had I replaced the MC152 with a pair of MC601s perhaps I would have experienced a similar improvement in sound quality, but it would have been a $14K upgrade versus about $2400. So, in my case, I doubt I would upgrade to a McIntosh from where I am now. Its not saying the Mc is as good as the Emotiva DR1s or that I could not find the Mc an improvement, but rather that its a huge price jump. A jump that I am not sure is worth the significant "investment". Though this really is just my two cents.

[simpleman68]

Aug 22, 2019 21:08:44 GMT -5 tropicallutefisk said:

That's not an easy question to answer. First, its a matter of personal preference and second it depends on the rest of your system. Since my earliest days of visiting HiFi shops, I had always hoped to one day be able to afford McIntosh gear. A number of years ago I finally had the opportunity to purchase my first McIntosh amplifier, a MC152. Unfortunately, it ultimately disappointed me. Not because there is anything wrong with it, but because it wasn't a good match for my speakers. It seemed to struggle with my Magnepan 3.7is. Imaging was poor, bass was weak and it just sounded like it was giving all it could to reach a good listening volume. On easier to drive speakers, I might have had a completely different experience. I replaced it with a pair of DR1s and my Maggies suddenly came to life. Imaging and bass were light years beyond what I got from the MC152. There was also a better "sparkle" on the higher frequencies. Now, had I replaced the MC152 with a pair of MC601s perhaps I would have experienced a similar improvement in sound quality, but it would have been a $14K upgrade versus about $2400. So, in my case, I doubt I would upgrade to a McIntosh from where I am now. Its not saying the Mc is as good as the Emotiva DR1s or that I could not find the Mc an improvement, but rather that its a huge price jump. A jump that I am not sure is worth the significant "investment". Though this really is just my two cents.

Spot on brother

Scott

[garbulky]

Aug 22, 2019 17:56:32 GMT -5 hondaman01 said:

Hello Keith!
Couple yrs back now I purchased a new Basx a100.
Just fantastic to playback music.
But I was thinking ,would say a McIntosh amp be any different?.
Not so much in the power out but just in the overall sound.
At the same level of volume would I hear a difference.
Thankx for your input

First, are there better amps out there? Yes.
Would a macintosh amp be good value compared? Depends on who you ask. My answer would be no because of the steep price. I heard their top of the range monoblock amps (I think it was 20 or 30 k) and compared it to my XPA-1 gen 2 monoblock. I found myself thinking, the mac amp wasn't bringing much different to the table.

[DYohn]

McIntosh amps are prettier.

[patate91]

Based on specs an A-100 is transparent.

If don't need more power ans you like the look and features there's no need to change.

[tropicallutefisk]

Aug 23, 2019 15:50:35 GMT -5 DYohn said:

McIntosh amps are prettier.

I think so, but my wife strongly disagrees. She prefers the Emotiva styling and was glad when I got it out of the room. She said it was ugly and distracting.

[AudioHTIT]

Aug 23, 2019 16:08:05 GMT -5 tropicallutefisk said:

Aug 23, 2019 15:50:35 GMT -5 DYohn said:

McIntosh amps are prettier.

I think so, but my wife strongly disagrees. She prefers the Emotiva styling and was glad when I got it out of the room. She said it was ugly and distracting.

I think ‘distracting’ might be a fair comment, just like she might say the same thing when a pretty woman walked in the room. 🙂 I think Mac gear looks great, but that could make it distracting if you’re trying to watch a movie.

[gsand]

Aug 23, 2019 15:50:35 GMT -5 DYohn said:

McIntosh amps are prettier.

I agree!

[lehighvalleyjeff]

For what it’s worth, I purchased my first McIntosh amp and preamp in the past 30 days. After almost 4 decades of this hobby I’ve had many amps in my system from a wide array of manufacturers. This is my opinion only.

I swapped the McIntosh mc462 into my system and was immediately impressed by almost everything I heard. Tones, timbres and details were more articulate and natural. Attacks and decays were more believable and there was a sense of musicality that I’m not sure of how to describe. I did not like the price tag even for a second. But I figured I’ve been buying and selling gear searching for a certain sound that the McIntosh just instinctively had.

In fact 2 weeks later I ordered the C2600 preamp bc I was so happy with the Sonics and performance of the amp. Again I choked on the price tag but the preamp improved my system more than the amp did. I’m listening to vinyl right now thru the system and it just has a sense of being there in the performance rather than listening to a Hifi. I’m no fanboy for anybody. But sonically I have never had this level of satisfaction with any gear I’ve owned to date.

[creimes]

Aug 23, 2019 22:52:42 GMT -5 lehighvalleyjeff said:

For what it’s worth, I purchased my first McIntosh amp and preamp in the past 30 days. After almost 4 decades of this hobby I’ve had many amps in my system from a wide array of manufacturers. This is my opinion only.

I swapped the McIntosh mc462 into my system and was immediately impressed by almost everything I heard. Tones, timbres and details were more articulate and natural. Attacks and decays were more believable and there was a sense of musicality that I’m not sure of how to describe. I did not like the price tag even for a second. But I figured I’ve been buying and selling gear searching for a certain sound that the McIntosh just instinctively had.

In fact 2 weeks later I ordered the C2600 preamp bc I was so happy with the Sonics and performance of the amp. Again I choked on the price tag but the preamp improved my system more than the amp did. I’m listening to vinyl right now thru the system and it just has a sense of being there in the performance rather than listening to a Hifi. I’m no fanboy for anybody. But sonically I have never had this level of satisfaction with any gear I’ve owned to date.

I would love to hear your setup, but it would have to be someone else's as that much of a system will never be in my budget haha.

Chad