McIntosh MA5200

A German Hi Fi Mag. Stereoplay found 206WPC into 4 Ohm. McIntosh does not provide a 4Ohm measure.

And that is one the reasons why I did not buy this amp and went with my Marantz reference unit instead. Anyone know the reason why McIntosh does not give this model a 4 Ohm rating? Especially if it supposedly tested as such?

The reality is that the MA5200 is designed for an 8 ohm nominal load, not 4. Given how well make Mc is, it won't fail, but it is safe to predict that it won't sound its best either.

Well said. This is exactly why I stayed away from this amp as I have 4 Ohm nominal speakers. If it was stable into a 4 Ohm load, surely McIntosh would have published the specs. They did not and even went so far as to stamp 8 Ohms only on the back panel by the speaker terminals.

I am willing to bet if McIntosh was contacted, they would not provide a 4 Ohm rating. If they did, then again, why not say so out of the gate like they do for their higher level products. As for the stereo mags review that was sited, well IMO you have to take those with a grain of salt.

Again, I strongly considered this amp and auditioned it with a pair of Sonus Faber Cremonas, a 4 Ohm speaker. And while the MA5200 did drive them, the Marantz PM15S2 (90 wpc into 8 & 140 wpc into 4) did a much better job. So much so that this is the amp I went with to drive my VA's and have no regrets. I would suggest to anyone with 4 Ohm speakers to be leery of this particular Mac product.

tend to speak my mind, not trust reviews and use listening as my primary method for component selection.

I had to offend them in another thread. Its the only way that I can explain their posts.

In the future, if you have an issue with me, come to me with it. You high jack a thread where the OP is just looking for some good advice and twist everything around just to be spiteful. You end up looking like the fool that you are.

Huh? Where did this come from???

I agree with another poster, Effischer and you think this is some kind of attack on you? I wasn't even addressing you Zd.

Looking at the more salient points of your rant, IMO the only one who looks like a fool is you. Not to mention paranoid. Or maybe just narcissistic. In fact, in my post nothing was about you. It was addressing the OP to assist him in deciding if this is truly the best amp for his speakers. Based on past experiences with this amp in auditions, I happen to think its not. I believe there are others who think this way too. In others words, yours isn't the last word pal.

I have to laugh about your accusations. Both my posts collaborate with each other - first post I said I did not buy it and the second I elaborated why. Also, how can I be hijacking anything when my original post was the 4th in this thread?

I do agree with you about one thing though...I don't trust reviews either which I why I auditioned it. What I can't figure out is why you are advocating this model if you don't trust reviews either? Unless, you have you actually heard it like I did? Did you?

Oh yeah, learn to use markup tags too and you may start writing more coherent posts.

Also, I'm not trusting any reviews. A review is an opinion. I just quoted the specs. They don't support your argument, so you don't count them as valid. If the same exact specs supported your argument, they would be fine.
You're only concern is to win the argument, and in doing so you missed the point of the discussion. And that is to determine if the MA5200 will have enough power to drive the OP's speakers properly. Given everything we looked at, the answer is yes. In this application, it won't lack for power.

The above quote is yours. And it is absolutely senseless.

You don't trust reviews and then you say you quoted specs. Whose specs? The ones from the review? If so, they rate the amp into 4 Ohms. But you don't trust them. So did you quote McIntosh's specs? If so, these are clearly expressed into 8 Ohms. You know the OP has 4 Ohm speakers, yet you say this amp will be OK. You even continue this assertion in your most recent post above. Do you even understand what your writing?

I have no idea who the hell you are other than someone with a weird compulsion to comment on just about every post on this website. I really don't care either. But I do care when you lash out against someone simply because they don't agree with your position. In this case that someone was me so do me a favor - mind your business, OK? I know you will be disappointed in knowing this but again - I was not even addressing you. My post that invoked your confused ire had nothing to do with you.

Finally, I could care less whether you believe that I auditioned the amp or not. To an intelligent person, the continuity of my two preceding posts suggests that I do.

Now, just like a child would do, go ahead and get in the last word. I'm bored with this.

To Jimmymac, follow your initial instincts and be leery of this model. Don't listen to me but do take Effischer's advice seriously - he is a Mac owner and doesn't recommend it. Good luck to you Jimmymac.