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McIntosh MA5200

I haven't seen too much written about this integrated amp. Any opinions out there?
jimmymac
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"I'm the type of Audiogoner who like high end sound but doesn't always understand a lot of the science behind the specs. :)"

Its like my dead grandmother always said: "You don't have to be a scientist to listen to music."
miner42
709 posts
 
jimmymac - your Special 25s are very special. Don't you work for McIntosh filling the tar pots?
raydog10
1 posts
 

I've run a MA5200 with Legacy Audio Signature SE 4 ohm speakers now for 6 months. This was with McIntosh supports blessing that it would drive them or I would not have purchased it. It runs super cool, never hot, almost no heat at all. I hooked up a MA7900 and the volume knob percentage number is exactly the same . That tells me that it is putting out 200wpc at 4 ohms. The MA5200 sounds better to me than the autoformer unit. Nice mellow sound, not over done at the top but very clear and musical, it sounds like a Mc. I preferred it over the MAC6700 also with these speakers. I think they like the direct connect more than the autoformer. McIntosh does not want to put it in competition with their other 200wpc and more expensive units in my opinion so no ratings other than 8ohms.

niodari's avatar
niodari
300 posts
 
Another small late complement to this discussion (on an interesting for me topic).  I am also using MA5200 with 4 ohm  (non-sensible 86db) Thiel CS6 for about a year.  The amp never gets hot,  it keeps almost cool after hours of working. No sign of the lack of power at all, I rarely raise the volume higher than 40% of the total power. It gives clean warm (tube) sound, no notable distortion at all. (These observations agree with ones from the last post of raydog10 and the earlier posts of zd542.)  

With MA5200 experience,  now I think solid state amps have one advantage over tube ones (I was always fan of tube amps) - tube ones, despite all the pros produce notably higher distortion. 
vdotman's avatar
vdotman
140 posts
 
I know this is an old thread but I just got a MA5200 and could not be more pleased with its sound quality driving a pair of Spendor SA1’s. Plenty of power, typically registering 10 - 15 watts on the meters, runs cool and sounds clear without any grain or glare, natural being an accurate description.
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