New McIntosh MA252

I was going to suggest that you pop the top off yourself but I didn't know if you'd be comfortable doing that. I'm glad that you were able to take care of it yourself and won't be losing sleep over it tonight. :-D

I tried it with Focal Kanta 2's.  It's all solid state sound.  Even the dealer said he thinks they just put the tubes in there for looks.

This 252 is a marvel - loved every bit of it. 
Changed my brystons to all Mc with no regrets. My current setup is MB50, D150 and MA252. Its jaw dropping. Drives my power hungry VA Strauss tower speakers at 90% on 14X21 listening room - without a hiccup, just pure musicality being portrayed. It sounded a real orchestra, like my sons orchestra in HS. The D150 serves as a DAC and made a huge improvement - smoother, warmer and more air - real music. IC’s and speaker cables are all nordost red dawns. By the way I sold my 402 and returned my 601’s - not worth the price difference compared to the 252. Just my honest opinion. Happy listening 

I have a McIntosh C2500/MC452 driving a pair of Focal Sopra No2 speakers.  In my search for those speakers I found that many of the amplifiers didn't pair well with the Sopra's, especially with their tweeters, but the smoothness of the "McIntosh house sound" paired really well with those speakers.

One of my audio buddies, a guy whose opinions I respect, recently auditioned one of the new Focal Kanta's with the MA252 and was very positive on how those two paired.

I suspect that McIntosh will sell tons of those MA252's, nice unit, great looks and (for McIntosh) a more affordable price!

I had a MA252 in my bedroom system; and ultimately sold it off. I found it harsh on the top end and rather harsh sounding with my Focal Electra 1028s; my older MA7900 sounds fantastic with them .. may be the hours on it, or the output transformers etc., but its a very different sound. I also have a PrimaLuna EVO400 with KT150s.. saw PL mentioned above.. its a wholly different animal.. very 'tube' as its a real full tube amp. the MA252 is tube on input stage only and I for one, didn't really feel it made any difference; not mention the silly green LED lights.