McIntosh MC1.25KW vs Luxman M-10X

Definitely not McIntosh… great with some speakers but lifeless with Wilson

Although I never owned Wilsons, I have owned McIntosh and Luxman  and I agree with audiojan, it would make the Wilson's dull and lifeless. You need a very bright    speaker to get the best sound out of a McIntosh. Just an opinion having owned many speakers with both McIntosh and Luxman amps/integrated amps.

I have been demo'd several Wilson's and never once did they use McIntosh to power them. 

@deadhead1000,

”you need a very bright speaker to get the best out of a McIntosh.”   That is the biggest pile of BS I have heard Yet.  You embarrassed yourself. 

@stereo5 

Not sure why my opinion upset you so much. I have owned McIntosh and it always sounded best, in fact really good, with bright speakers. I'm not saying you can't use it with say Harbeth's or other British speakers for instance, but they are not going to get the best sound out of them as you would with B&W's or other speakers that are tilted more toward the higher frequencies then lower ones - and no that's not a knock on B&W. One of the best matches I have ever heard with McIntosh are with Horn speakers like Klipsch, I have not had an opportunity to listen to McIntosh amps with panel speakers, so I have no opinion on what that would sound like, so I did not give my opinion on that match.

Again, this is what I have heard and owned. So, no need to insult me or anyone else.  In any case, what McIntosh amps and speakers do you own or have listen too? I notice you didn't give the OP any advice or help, you just posted an insult. Not helpful to anyone. What was the point of your post? To insult and be mean another member who was only giving an opinion? As you state, You embarrassed yourself.

+1 @stereo5  Couldn’t have said it more eloquently myself.

@deadhead1000,

you made a blanket statement regarding McIntosh that is untrue.  As for what I have, I have a McIntosh C2500 driving a McIntosh MC302 amp driving a pair of GE Triton Reference speakers.

you could have simply looked at my profile to see my 2 McIntosh based systems but I guess that is too much work. 

Your speaker has a "High-Velocity Folded Ribbon (HVFR) tweeter." you proved my point -  unless you don't like the sound of your own system. Glad to see you agree with me.

And you still haven't given the OP any useful opinion or advice.

I gave my opinion and will stick to it. McIntosh sounds best with brighter speakers. that's still not a knock on McIntosh, which again I have owned. It's OK to be a fanboy of a product, but there's still no need to insult another person's opinion. Do you also get riled up about Apple vs. Android too? 

I feel like a McIntosh is going to be more forgiving with bad recordings and with something like a Luxman it's going to really show you how bad the recording is!

LOL you guys

What about a Dan D'Agostino S350 Progression line?

Luxman, D’Agostino, Audio Research, Pass Labs XA monoblocks would be nice.
I’ve heard McIntosh sound amazing with some speakers but IMO it just doesn’t have the synergy with the Wilson Audio. Basing this on what I heard in my system. 

I heard the Luxman at an audio show and did not care for the sound- very dry.  

I had a very long listening session with the Mac 1.25 KWs (you are talking about the 1200 watt mono blocks, right?, these are serious amplifiers !).  they were driving huge Magico speakers and the sound was not "word of mouth" McIntosh.  The sound was exceptionally transparent and clear with no haze or hesitation.  It was instantaneously dynamic and live and powerful enough to fill a medium sized theater. 

For a large room and difficult to drive speakers these are my best sounding, final word amplifiers- ever.  If you have the cash you won't be disapointed.  

@avanti1960 Magico and Wilson have very different sound characteristics. I can totally see the McIntosh pairing well with the Magico but I doubt these amps are the best you can do for the Wilsons. 
Ideally, if home audition is possible with these different amps, it would settle it once and for all. 
 

@chauncey what preamp will you be using? I’d go for the same brand preamp and amp unless you use dac as preamp. 

Currently I'm using a Placette Audio passive linestage. 

Never heard it. Going to make an assumption here but it’ll most likely be out of place in a system you’re putting together. Like I mentioned above, you might want to consider same brand amp and preamp. Get the best possible synergy. Or carefully mix and match. Take it one step at a time. Speakers, then amp, then preamp, considering your source is up to the task. 

audphile1 I totally agree with you matching the pre with the amp.  But Mike Lavigne used Placette in his system which was way way way more expensive than my system.  Essentially I was hoping to keep the Placette for a year or so with the new amp before trying a new preamp. 

Makes sense. 

Placette Passive is the most transparent piece of gear I've experienced in my 20 years in this hobby.  Sonically it is essentially the same as going DAC directly to power amp.  This can be a positive or negative depending on what you like.  I prefer an active preamp.

I disagree with McIntosh only sounding good with bright speakers.  This is entirely up to taste.  I like McIntosh with Sonus Faber, which are both well known to be warm and "slow".  I've owned Wilson Tunetots and demo'd Sasha DAW and and I think McIntosh would be a fine match.

If you crave lively and exciting, Mac ain't it.  If you like to savor the tone and texture of acoustic instruments, it's hard to beat as far as solid state goes.  Luxman generally strikes a middle ground.  It's clean, sweet, and very smooth with a touch of warmth and excellent precision and detail.  MY OPINION

Thank you eugene81!

Think I'm going to try the Dan D'Agostino S250.