New McIntosh MA252

I bought an MA252 last Saturday and I absolutely love it. Previously I was using a Bryston 4B and Mirage M1s. I got new GoldenEar Triton 1 speakers at the same time. The amp does have a somewhat more warm tone than the Bryston but I can't really make a comparison because I haven't use it with the M1s. I have read some comments dissing the Mc sound but for me it is perfect and combined with the Tritons I think the overall sound is very good. If you don't require gobs of power then I would seriously consider this Mc.

I'm using an Anthem receiver with some Focal speakers and need to upgrade to an integrated amp to get the best out of them.

Via a bunch of web research I am narrowing it down to a Mcintosh MA252 or Arcam A49, does anyone have any advice or ideas?

Welcome to the forum!

I have no experience with Arcam products but my MA252 works great with my Harbeth C7ES3s. 

No regrets here.

Via a bunch of web research I am narrowing it down to a Mcintosh MA252 or Arcam A49, does anyone have any advice or ideas?

I’ve had the MA252 for 10 months, and I also own the Arcam A39 which it replaced. I’m surprised to hear that some feel there is no "tube" signature. It was obvious to me the moment I switched over. I’m using some 10 guage, stranded speaker cables from the old days and it sounds just lovely. Just enough slam but also the solid state smoothness and control. It is not a Line Magnetic which I also demoed. That had incredible sonic tube brilliance, but I felt maybe just a bit much for me every day.

I'm looking at this amp as I'm thinking of reconfiguring my audio listening room. I have ZU omen Defs. I've been going back and forth on various forums about amps to go with my PS Audio BHK preamp. I was considering a hybrid BHK250. Benchmark AHB2, Quicksilvers, MC275, etc.

However, chatting with someone who asked why not go with the Macintosh Hybrid integrated for $3600? 100 wpc is more than enough. It has a sub out (I use subs with my zus), remote and tube preamp. 

I could almost even trade my BHK for the entire unit. This might be something to think about