New McIntosh MA252

Heard one today at Magnolia in Dallas, but there was way too much extraneous noise in the area to tell anything. They had it set up out in the general area of the store.

Also have an MA6500 and am intrigued by this amp. I’ve not had great experiences with tube amps but I did love the sound when I was able to get them dialed in. Have a lot of NOS tubes of the MA252’s variety lying around and I think a hybrid amp could be the perfect solution. Price seems good even with the slight loss of power.

I'm interested in this also as this will be just the ticket for my Klipsch Bell's. This will be my first & last high end audio purchase (I have four vintage receivers) and it's simplicity appeals to me. I want something easy enough for my wife & daughter to go over press one button and Google play and start listening.

I think the new MA252 is very strange gear although it’s an hybrid the SS section doesn’t include the famous output autoformers Mcintosh is knowing for also its low weight is ringing a bell here ,I certainly think the MC275 is much better option if you prefer tube or MC152 +D150 if SS .

I received mine last week after a two and a half month wait. It's had about twenty hours of burn in time and I like the sound very much. The tone controls come in handy as I have a large CD collection dating back from the present to some thirty years ago and those equalizations are all over the place.

The integrated amp uses the same power amp section as the MA5200 with the distinction that output transistors have been upgraded to a higher current rating.
The really exciting design feature is the new tubed preamp which captures tonal color and smoothness of presentation in voice and acoustic instruments with charm and verve. Lots of triode magic there.

I've done some tube rolling, replacing the stock JJ Tesla 12AX7 with Gold Lion
B759 drop in type. Detail, smoothness and transparency are first rate. I have some NOS Mullard 12AT7 coming in along with the Gold Lion equivalent this week. I'll report on those soon.

Interestingly, the phono and headphone sections are solid state. There is no
power amp input or preamp output, nor is there a home theatre pass through. Other than these omissions the MA252 has everything I could possibly need.
Build quality is excellent and the very basic remote is a joy to use.