Bi-amping Using the Mcintosh MA7000

You would have to make sure your second amp is higher in gain than your Mac's amp. And it would also need input level controls to so you could reduce the input to it so it will match then the same level as the Mac's amp.

Once set to the same levels, then the Mac's preamp volume control will bring both up and down equally.

Cheers George

What I was considering was using the second set of preamp outputs from the ma7000 to drive another amp, perhaps the mc252 to bi-wire a pair of speaker.

Not sure if you are referring to driving an external amp with the pre-outs of the MA7000, or driving the inputs of the power amp section of the MA7000 from a separate preamp or from the pre-outs of another integrated amp. In any event, the main concern is that gains have to be properly matched, so that a given signal level from the source results in a voltage level at one pair of speaker terminals that is essentially the same as the voltage at the other pair of speaker terminals.

While the gain of the power amp section of the MA7000 is not explicitly specified, it can be approximately calculated from its 250 watt rating and its 2.5 volt specified sensitivity, **assuming those figures are accurate.** Post back if you want that calculation. But keep in mind that the gain of the power amp section will be different depending on whether its 2 ohm, 4 ohm, or 8 ohm output taps are used.

Regards,
-- Al