OP do not let the cult of McIntosh blind you to the hifi universe. There are a ton of amps that are good matches for B&W speakers that are just as good/better for less money than the comparable McIntosh amps... Ayre, Pass and CODA just to name a few manufacturers, even Bryston I would say. The reason to go with McIntosh is resale value, as the cult seems to have deep roots. As a fellow B&W owner (804 D3s), one thing I will agree with is the need for some power, but less measured in watts and more so measured in CURRENT. Another important consideration if you go SS is how much the amp is biased into Class A. Think about a Parasound JC5 or CODA No. 8 at around 100 amperes and the 1st 18 watts into Class A, or a Pass 250.8x with even greater Class A envelope. Just my 2 cents.
100W, 200W, or 300W?
I'm pretty new to this and could use some help. Working down my list of upgrades: did speakers, room treatment on order... I think next up is to replace my amp.
I'm currently using a Harman Kardon PA2000 stereo amp that I had sitting in storage. 100 WPC @ 8 Ohm. It's "OK", but it probably the weak point in my system right now.
For speakers, I picked up B&W 805D3 tabletops with stands.
88 dbSPL sensitivity, 8 ohm. They recommend 50-120W @ Ohm for the amp power on their site.
I pulled up an amplifier calculator and plugged in some numbers:
88 sBSPL, 8 ft distance, 85 dB volume w 15 dB headroom and this came out to 3W RMS w 94W peak
I have my heart set on blue watt meters so I see the following options:
1) MA5300 @ 100 WPC, no autoformers, integrated
2) MA7200 @ 200 WPC, has autoformers, integrated
3) MC302 @ 300 WPC, has autorormers, seperates
For the MA5300, I'm concerned that there isn't enough headroom. If I even get close to the 94W peak, it means that I'm pushing the amp to the max, so I'd probably be operating in an area of reduced sonic performance since it's being stressed. Is this a correct assumption?
The MA7200 looks like it'll leave plenty of headroom and it also has (for better or worse) autoformers which seems to be what puts the "mac sound" in macs.
The MC302 is just sexy as heck... but is there any realistic gain with my current set up that I would get by buying one of these? Or is it so much overkill that I am just throwing money away at this point?
I'm currently using a Harman Kardon PA2000 stereo amp that I had sitting in storage. 100 WPC @ 8 Ohm. It's "OK", but it probably the weak point in my system right now.
For speakers, I picked up B&W 805D3 tabletops with stands.
88 dbSPL sensitivity, 8 ohm. They recommend 50-120W @ Ohm for the amp power on their site.
I pulled up an amplifier calculator and plugged in some numbers:
88 sBSPL, 8 ft distance, 85 dB volume w 15 dB headroom and this came out to 3W RMS w 94W peak
I have my heart set on blue watt meters so I see the following options:
1) MA5300 @ 100 WPC, no autoformers, integrated
2) MA7200 @ 200 WPC, has autoformers, integrated
3) MC302 @ 300 WPC, has autorormers, seperates
For the MA5300, I'm concerned that there isn't enough headroom. If I even get close to the 94W peak, it means that I'm pushing the amp to the max, so I'd probably be operating in an area of reduced sonic performance since it's being stressed. Is this a correct assumption?
The MA7200 looks like it'll leave plenty of headroom and it also has (for better or worse) autoformers which seems to be what puts the "mac sound" in macs.
The MC302 is just sexy as heck... but is there any realistic gain with my current set up that I would get by buying one of these? Or is it so much overkill that I am just throwing money away at this point?