McIntosh MC-501 vs McIntosh MC-1.2KW

A few things to consider that haven't been mentioned 1) room size 2) available A/C power

Aside from that and as an McIntosh customer, my room is 13' X 17' with MC501's and Sophia II's. That is enough for me, it took a while to come to this point (to say 500w is enough) though. If I had the cash last year, I would have the 1.2KW's for sure.

Instead, I held out (ie, was broke for a time) and when I had the CC paid off, I went with a kick ass Pre-Amp, the C500T from McIntosh.

The reasoning was it improved the sound in a very, very big dramatic way as I was using a Classe SSP600 Home Theater Proc for 2 channel and for Movies/TV.

Buying the 1.2KW's would in no way shape or form give me that kind of sound.

With the MC501's in my room, the decible meeter hits 96db's and there is still room to go, there are probably 5-8 more db's left before the powerguard kicks in. At that db level, the "experts" say you begin to lose hearing and its true, but the hearing comes back to normal after a bit.

So my take is to buy the MC501's and spend the rest of the money elswhere in the system (speakers, pre-amp, source (maybe a DAC?))

I´m playing on the SF Stradivari. I have one dedicated 230V/16A line. Before this, my room was 8x7m, there I drove the Strads with the MC-602 easily, never run out of power. Now the room is half that size, so as power concerned, I think the MC-501 will do.

I run the 1.2's and love them. They drive my 1K's with the authority that's needed. I listen to plenty of 501's and they lack the power to drive the system to its full potential. I understand many who might differ, however if you listen you’ll hear the difference. This is something that everyone has to decide for themselves. The 1.2’s offers extraordinary control at any sound level. They exceed the performance of my former amps, MC 1201’s. Actually my 1201’s exceeded the authority of 501’s I have heard on several occasions. I would advise you to listen and choose carefully, it will make the difference in your system development.

Happy New Year,