McIntosh amp help

[deepinton]

Given that a vald abx test requires exact level matching and instant switching, you'll be hard pressed to pull it off properly. Genuine audible differences (if there are any) are usually due to differences in output impedances of the different amps under test.

Either way, you have some nice toys to play with. The hypex based Buckeye amps are pretty much SOTA, and those MC 501s are hoss amps. Both seem appropriate for the impedance dips and phase angles of your speakers, which are notoriously difficult loads.

Agreed, proper abx testing is difficult to set up and needs help which is not always forthcoming. I did one recently to compare Qobuz with Spotify. Kept everything identical except the streaming service and had my kid switch for me. I picked Qobuz for 8 of the 10 track segments where Qobuz offered a hires stream. That kinda settled it for me, although some folks claim that Qobuz uses algorithmic equalization to make stuff sound better.