McIntosh MC501 or Audio Research DS450M for Magnepan 1.7

Thank you for sharing! Yes, the ARC DS450M is a class D amp and it has some mixed reviews but mainly positive.

 Read that it was paired with Magnepan at CES. Think this was the last D amp from ARC, probably due to slow sales.

But does not surprise me that you MC152 feels more powerful than a CJ with 250 class D since McIntosh underrates their true output in their specs.

I would appreciate Any other thoughts!

Have you considered the Sanders Magtech amp? It's very popular with Maggie owners.

Thanks for the feedback. Just checked out the Sanders Magtech amp and looks like it was designed for electrostatic speakers with high current demand. Very interesting indeed! There are none for sell in Audiogon. Looking for something used that I could sell without loosing too much if I don’t like 

Go with the McIntosh. Why? because its MUSICAL as hell and sounds gorgeous,powerful,dynamic,controlled and will drive those speakers without a whimper. Not to mention McIntosh amps are built like battleships, never break, they will protect your speakers from a clipped signal (that's a big one), and the company has been making them in up state New York for over 60 years. And they look gorgeous too!


Matt M

@benagli1  I owned the ARC DS450M and my advice is that they are not a very musical amp. They provide tons of power but that’s about it. Beside that the hum caused by faulty transformer was a complete nightmare. IMHO solid state amps are just not ARC’s strength. 

Cheers