Entertain Me........ McIntosh

CB22

CB22

Senior Audioholic
Besides that fact that it just looks awesome and you can show off to friends; what audible advantages would you get out of using a McIntosh MA5300 vs a Yamaha 801 to power your speakers?
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Money no object, I'd get Parasound Halo Integ instead.
Practically though, even a mid-range AVR from a decent brand (Yamaha, Denon, and Marantz) could just as easily do the same job. Set it to pure direct and get the same sound.
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
Money no object, I'd get Parasound Halo Integ instead.
Practically though, even a mid-range AVR from a decent brand (Yamaha, Denon, and Marantz) could just as easily do the same job. Set it to pure direct and get the same sound.
Did you notice that the Yamaha A-S801 has better specs than one of their AVRs in the same price range. It will also handle impedances curves going down as low as 2 ohms, which is not the case with any of the AVRs. To me, it's a very good value in its price range.
 
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BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Did you notice that the Yamaha A-S801 has better specs than one of their AVRs in the same price range. It will also handle impedances as low as 2 ohms, which is not the case with any of the AVRs.
Show me a 2-ohm nominal speaker, and I'll show you speaker needing a dedicated VERY beefy amp.
Yamaha's integs are a great value if you're an analog purist, but most practical cases AVR would do just fine.
I recommend you looking for MEASURED specs of Denon 3xxx series
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
The advantage for the Yamaha would be you could afford more content to enjoy...altho resale value on the McIntosh just might be better if that matters to you.
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
Show me a 2-ohm nominal speaker, and I'll show you speaker needing a dedicated VERY beefy amp.
Yamaha's integs are a great value if you're an analog purist, but most practical cases AVR would do just fine.
I recommend you looking for MEASURED specs of Denon 3xxx series
As per your suggestion, I perused the specs for the AVR-X3400H. They don't compare to that of the Yamaha amplifier A-S801. In addition, they will accept some speakers with a nominal impedance of 4 ohms, but I am sure they won't be able to take a weird impedance curve going down to 2 ohms at low frequencies.

I didn't necessarily mean a speaker with a 2 ohm nominal impedance, but some, as you know, have impedances that go down to below 3 ohms at some frequencies, a situation which is not compatible with a lot of amplifiers.
Show me a Yamaha AVR that can handle a speaker with an impedance curve going down to 2 ohms at frequencies under 400 Hz.
 
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Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
Talking about an amplifier that could handle a 2 ohm speaker, I have three 2-channel QSC Digital Cinema Amplifiers Model DCA 1222 which will drive up to five 8 ohm speakers in parallel. Actually, they are designed to continuously handle impedances as low as 1.6 ohms. In addition, they are not beefy. They use a switching power supply and they weigh only 21 lbs.
Those Class AB amps are being used in Cineplex theaters across North America. I am using mines to bi-amp my three front channel loudspeakers.

https://www.qsc.com/resource-files/productresources/amp/dca/q_amp_dca_usermanual_en_es_de_fr.pdf
 
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P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Besides that fact that it just looks awesome and you can show off to friends; what audible advantages would you get out of using a McIntosh MA5300 vs a Yamaha 801 to power your speakers?
You will get lower distortions if you have speakers rated 4 ohms nominal and you listen at levels above the power output limits of the A-S801, otherwise none.
 
A

Andrein

Senior Audioholic
My Anthem mca 525 specs provide power output for 2/4/8 Ohm speakers. I think they explicitely say the amp supports 2ohm speakers. Anthem is probably cheapper than Mcintosh.
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
https://www.audioholics.com/av-receiver-reviews/yamaha-rx-z11/rxz11-measurements
Read section re: Amplifier Output Impedance & Damping Factor
I could not find Yamaha AVRs measured down to 2ohm, but if 4ohm speaker dips down to 2ohm I am sure RX-Z11 would power it nicely.
I agree with you here. However, that RX-Z11 is a receiver that was released in 2008 and no longer manufactured.
But take a currently made Yamaha AVR, have it drive a 4 ohm speaker with an impedance dipping to 2 ohms, it will undoubtedly shut down under its protection circuit. :D
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
My Anthem mca 525 specs provide power output for 2/4/8 Ohm speakers. I think they explicitely say the amp supports 2ohm speakers. Anthem is probably cheapper than Mcintosh.
I think you are mistaken. There is no way any MCA series amps support 2 ohm speakers. The rated they provided for down to 2 ohms are dynamic ratings, Yamaha and NAD are very good are that particular spec.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
I agree with you here. However, that RX-Z11 is a receiver that was released in 2008 and no longer manufactured.
But take a currently made Yamaha AVR, have it drive a 4 ohm speaker with an impedance dipping to 2 ohms, it will undoubtedly shut down under its protection circuit. :D
https://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio_visual/av_receivers_amps/rx-a2040/specs.html#product-tabs
is rated down to 2ohm and bench measured to yet again, overachiever:
https://www.soundandvision.com/content/yamaha-aventage-rx-a2040-av-receiver-review-test-bench
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
I agree with you here. However, that RX-Z11 is a receiver that was released in 2008 and no longer manufactured.
But take a currently made Yamaha AVR, have it drive a 4 ohm speaker with an impedance dipping to 2 ohms, it will undoubtedly shut down under its protection circuit. :D
Even their latest models are rated to 2 ohms, but dynamic ratings only. People often get mislead by those figures. As ADTG and I mentioned before, some Denon AVRs were capable of even 1 ohm for short duration. The 3805 is an example.

There are very few class AB amps rated for 2 ohm continuous/and stable regardless of price, and for very good reasons. If they did, they need to be verified on the bench.
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Yes, I know, I have one (the previous version) so I am aware of what they said/advertised but there is no way they can do it on continuous basis. Just look at their transformer size, power consumption, heat sink, weight etc., it doesn't add up.

On the same basis, their P series look credible, but then they claimed continuous into short circuit, that defies science, obviously and that's where they lost credibility, again.

Edit: The trick is, under certain conditions, such as the duration, number of channels, distortion levels etc., manufacturers could claim much higher figures. Some of those Anthem amp could probably do it if they define continuous as X seconds, 1 channel driven into a resistive load, at 1% THD.
 
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Andrein

Senior Audioholic
Yes, I know, I have one (the previous version) so I am aware of what they said/advertised but there is no way they can do it on continuous basis. Just look at their transformer size, power consumption, heat sink, weight etc., it doesn't add up. On the same basis, their P series look credible, but then they claimed continuous into short circuit, the defies science, obviously and that's where they lost credibility, again.
Ok. Dont know. Havent seen measurments in gen2 which is different from gen1. At least for my speakers which have a drop to almost 3.5ohm the amp is hardly warm after hours of listening.

By the way 1200w high output is about the amp working with 2ohm. But wont argue any more. You prob know better. The amp is 62lb. Has 2 not small transformers which both serve sll channels as per gen2 design change.

Actually i think i made math mistake. You are right...
 
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