Entertain Me........ McIntosh

[Verdinut]

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.

I have no reason to doubt that the QSC DCA Series of Class AB and Class H amps are among the very few which will handle 2 ohm loads continuously and remain stable.

 

[PENG]

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...

Well, in terms of electrical theory I suppose I do know better than people who have not studied EE. Anyway, I do apologize to you for the language I used, I resent marketing hypes but I should have qualified what I said earlier, like I did in post#19. By the way, the qualifiers they used for the power rating specs are the same for both gens, just slightly higher outputs for the gen 2 products.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

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.

I think if you are too rich, then definitely go for the bling - McIntosh, Mark Levinson, Krell, etc.

And if you're not rich, then might as well just get a $1K AVR on sale for $599 because getting a $900 Integrated Amp isn't really impressing anyone here.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

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?

Oh, yeah, the McIntosh gives you the psychoacoustic audio advantage.

So if you're going for an integrated amp (or other "separates"), go big - McIntosh, Mark Levinson, Krell - or go home.

 

[panteragstk]

Oh, yeah, the McIntosh gives you the psychoacoustic audio advantage.

So if you're going for an integrated amp (or other "separates"), go big - McIntosh, Mark Levinson, Krell - or go home.

Pfft...boulder or nothing...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Pfft...boulder or nothing...

Well, I said "too rich", not "gods damn rich!"

 

[CB22]

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.

In regards to amplifier output impedance & damping factor section this very interesting, I never knew about this. I'm gonna have to do some research the damping factor, I don't really understand it yet.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Pfft...boulder or nothing...

Only $200k? What is this? A dumpster diving or salvation army throwaway garbage?
This is amp to have if money is no object
https://beverlyhillsmagazine.com/luxury-goods/world-of-pivetta-opera-only/

 

[CB22]

So after reading the post. It sounds like a general consensus can be made that the McIntosh just looks bad ass and will have a better re-sell value in the long-run.

I'm toying with the idea of getting the 801 in the next couple months. Reason being I really want to be able to play high-res digital music and the 801 has the USB capability to do so. + I think the design is awesome.

 

[PENG]

So after reading the post. It sounds like a general consensus can be made that the McIntosh just looks bad ass and will have a better re-sell value in the long-run.

I'm toying with the idea of getting the 801 in the next couple months. Reason being I really want to be able to play high-res digital music and the 801 has the USB capability to do so. + I think the design is awesome.

If you believe DAC makes a difference, you are better off going with external DAC and get a bare bone integrated amp. I found unless you get into really high end stuff, the build in DACs are usually the lower cost, closer to entry level ones. An external $300 DAC+ a $599 AVR-X3400H or $799 X4400H will be much better value, even if you don't need the extra amp channels.

 

[CB22]

If you believe DAC makes a difference, you are better off going with external DAC and get a bare bone integrated amp. I found unless you get into really high end stuff, the build in DACs are usually the lower cost, closer to entry level ones. An external $300 DAC+ a $599 AVR-X3400H or $799 X4400H will be much better value, even if you don't need the extra amp channels.

"you are better off going with external DAC and get a bare bone integrated amp." -- can you give me an example of what you'd recommend? What's a bare bones integrated amp?

 

[slipperybidness]

In regards to amplifier output impedance & damping factor section this very interesting, I never knew about this. I'm gonna have to do some research the damping factor, I don't really understand it yet.

Damping factor just isn't important for a modern SS amp. DF is the ratio of the amp output impedance to the load impedance. Any reasonably well designed SS amp will have "very low output impedance", that is an advantage of SS amps.

Now, if you are talking about tube amps and "not low output impedance", then the DF does become important.

 

[slipperybidness]

So after reading the post. It sounds like a general consensus can be made that the McIntosh just looks bad ass and will have a better re-sell value in the long-run.

I'm toying with the idea of getting the 801 in the next couple months. Reason being I really want to be able to play high-res digital music and the 801 has the USB capability to do so. + I think the design is awesome.

All that $ on fancy gear and fancy DACs, then run it through USB

 

[CB22]

All that $ on fancy gear and fancy DACs, then run it through USB

If you can answer this question for me, the last thing I'm gonna do is buy an integrated amp.
https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/media-server-questions-using-playfi.111051/

 

[slipperybidness]

If you can answer this question for me, the last thing I'm gonna do is buy an integrated amp.
https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/media-server-questions-using-playfi.111051/

Are you sold on that setup, or just something that will do the same or a similar job?

Personally, I use a Raspberry Pi Audio(phile) Streamer. These things are awesome, and the price is great, but there is a catch--It is not plug-and-play. It is a DIY solution, but there are plenty of online resources to guide you.

Mine is currently a "headless" unit, which means I access the player with any device that is on my WiFi network and has a web browser (laptop, phone, tablet, etc). I will be adding a touchscreen in the future for local control option.

One of the advantages of this RPi streamer is that the digital signal is fed directly to the DAC using I2S protocol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I²S

https://volumio.org/

https://volumio.org/product/allo-kali-piano-2-1-bundle/

 

[CB22]

Are you sold on that setup, or just something that will do the same or a similar job?

Personally, I use a Raspberry Pi Audio(phile) Streamer. These things are awesome, and the price is great, but there is a catch--It is not plug-and-play. It is a DIY solution, but there are plenty of online resources to guide you.

Mine is currently a "headless" unit, which means I access the player with any device that is on my WiFi network and has a web browser (laptop, phone, tablet, etc). I will be adding a touchscreen in the future for local control option.

One of the advantages of this RPi streamer is that the digital signal is fed directly to the DAC using I2S protocol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I²S

https://volumio.org/

https://volumio.org/product/allo-kali-piano-2-1-bundle/

By all means I not sold on that set up. It does not have to be a media server. I'd just like to make use of some off all this nice high-res audio that I have on my external hard-drive. So if I understand correctly. I would buy something like this:
https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/bundles/dac-bundle/
Run the high res digital music into the HiFiBerry -> HiFiBerry is the DAC -> then the analog signal would would be sent to my receiver?

 

[slipperybidness]

By all means I not sold on that set up. It does not have to be a media server. I'd just like to make use of some off all this nice high-res audio that I have on my external hard-drive. So if I understand correctly. I would buy something like this:
https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/bundles/dac-bundle/
Run the high res digital music into the HiFiBerry -> HiFiBerry is the DAC -> then the analog signal would would be sent to my receiver?

Yeah, you are on the right track.

This may help some too, but I didn't have time to read it all. But, there are plenty of online resources

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2015/05/23/review-raspberry-pi-2-as-music-streamer/

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

So after reading the post. It sounds like a general consensus can be made that the McIntosh just looks bad ass and will have a better re-sell value in the long-run.

I'm toying with the idea of getting the 801 in the next couple months. Reason being I really want to be able to play high-res digital music and the 801 has the USB capability to do so. + I think the design is awesome.

Denon X4400H Good features, good sound, good value.

Done.

 

[Mikado463]

don't bother with those 'kiddy' amps, get a pair of these and call it a day .......................

https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/amplifiers/MC125KW

 

[CB22]

don't bother with those 'kiddy' amps, get a pair of these and call it a day .......................

https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/amplifiers/MC125KW

And then the creditors come after me