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Infinity Kappa 9 and McIntosh MC402 combo ?

I am curently running a pair of Kappa 7's with a Mark Levinson No.23 amp (200 watt per chanel) and an old Denon pre-amp. This set up seems to be pretty well matched as far as power demands of the speakers and power supplied from the amp.
Recently I found a pair of Kappa 9's for sale on craigs list and I swooped on them! At the time I purchased the 9's I was aware that I would need more power than my Levinson amp was capeable of producing so I have since then been reading as much as I can about what others have tried and what seems to work for other Kappa 9 owners.

Out of all the threads and comments that I have read I have heard of alot of different amps that are capeable of powering these beasts but not once have I heard of anyone pairing the Kappa 9's with a McIntosh amp.?????
(I must tell you that I live in Alaska so buying used equipment is an option for me but a somewhat limited option and requires patience to find it localy or lots of $$$ for shipping 100+ lb. amps from the lower 48 states.)

Back to my question - We have a dealer in Anchorage, AK. that carries McIntosh. I have been considering an MC402 amp (400x2 watts) to run the K-9's with, anybody out there ever heard this combo?

I have also been considering a pair of the Sunfire Signature Series amps (600x2 watts) as they are more cost efective with ample power and at about 65 lbs. each would be much easier to ship.
goodwr3nch
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heyjay
16 posts
 
Hi, the K9's power hungry reputation is due to an unwise crossover trick to force more deep bass out of the relatively small cabinet for 2 12" woofers. If you run them stock, all you have heard about their amp burning reputation is true since the woofer crossover puts a large demand on the amp. The Mc would probably do quite well since they have taps to find the best match with their unique autoformer output design. A friend used a McCormack DNA-2 (300wpc@8, 600wpc@4) amplifier with very good results up to run and hide levels. :>) When I got the K9's from him, I did the modification to bypass the naughty crossover parts and feel the bass is even more natural now and any amp can run them easily. If you are handy or know someone who is, you can make the speaker an easy load and I think make truer bass in the process. Now, hearing you have the Kappa 7's, I have wanted to try a fun thing which could surpass even the K9's and that is, find yourself another K7 pair and stack them upside down on your existing pair! You then have Montana or Dunlavy type beasts at a fraction of the cost! If I do it, I'll report back unless you beat me to it! ,'>) JAY
goodwr3nch OP
6 posts
 
Thanks for your input Jay.
I like your idea with the Kappa 7's and the thought has crossed my mind before. I may be picking up another pair of 7's with rotted woofer surounds for parts but could easily re-foam them and run a second pair.

As for my 9's - I have heard a lot of people rave about the results when hooked up to two Sunfire amps or four big mono blocks but I gotta be honest about the fact that I really like the look, sound, performance and life expectancy of McIntosh products. The thought of spending another $7000.00 for a second mac (if one isn't enough) is not very apealing to me so your input about bypassing the bass crossovers is something I will be looking into,..... though hooking the 9's up to an MC402 and leaving them stock / as are would be best case scenario.
rjhalla
47 posts
 
Go for the MC501 monoblocks right out of the gate and you'll have nothing to worry about...ever!!
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