Mcintosh with Ayre pre-amp


I have always wanted a Mcintosh power amp and love the way they sound, but I don't know if it would pair well with my Ayre K-5xe preamp. I haven't been able to find anyone with this combination. Maybe this is an indicator that mixing Ayre with Mcintosh is a bad idea? Before I drop a few G's on a Mac amp, what would you guys advise? Thanks.
cfaille

Showing 1 response by miner42

You may be able to get a used MC352 for $2200. I have been told the matching has to be a 1:10 ratio pre output impedance to amp input impedance

When matching preamps to power amps, a general rule of thumb is for the load (amp) input impedance to be at least 10 times higher than the source (preamp) output impedance to provide a suitably flat frequency response. Many prefer using a minimum ratio closer to 20 to 1, or having an amp with input impedance 20 times or more greater than the preamp output impedance. YMMV.