2. amps-preamps
  3. 1130197719

Mac gear "Slow" or others "Fast"

When auditioning amps I A/B'd Mac and Classe models and noticed the Classe's were more immediate. Classe bass had more impact, but also decayed much quicker. At that time I assumed the Macs were slow and bought Cam 350's and Para S8's. Since then I've heard much of the community agrees that Mac gear is slow, however I'm now questioning that. Mac tells me others up the gain a bit to "pump-up" the sound and that they(mac)present the original track as recorded. Opinions please? I'm trying to decide on a pre-amp- MacC200 or ML320s. Great forum! Thanks
llong

Showing 1 response by rbstehno

rbstehno
1,506 posts
 
i have owned both mac and classe gear and i wouldn't call mac gear slow. i would think it would depend on the amp and speaker combination. i have heard the larger macintosh monoblocks (1000's), the mc352 and mc500 driving the larger snell and krell speakers and they were not slow. i used to own the mcintosh mc202 amp and the ma6500 integrated. when using these pieces with my totem mani 2's, they didn't do the speakers justice. when i demo'd the mcintosh mc352 amp with the mani's, it was night and day difference. the 352's had the power to drive the mani's. i used to own classe gear (ca200, cp 47.5, cdp 1.5) and i would say that the classe gear that i have heard/owned sounds very similar to the mcintosh gear i have heard/owned.
i agree with nickt above, it is all about personal taste.
More to discover