Bought a new McIntosh amp
Folks, Thank you all for taking the time to respond and giving points and ideas. I really do appreciate it and that’s a good reason forums like this exist and give us great information. Now I am very happy to say I’m hearing good vibrant music from the MC152. Burn in time is only approximately 10 hours and there’s noticeable sonic change. Vocals are clearly more defined vs the Rotel. I say acoustic guitar sound is very lively and that’s driving the 800f via Rotel pre. Clearly the 152 will be the foundation of my new hifi, keeping the Heresy on top of wish list as 2nd pair of speakers. That’s my plan as long as I have the part time job. I’m retired and at 71, I only want to fund my gear from that source and not touch retirement income. Anyway, I took amp and speakers downstairs to test them out, I’m sure soundstage will be amazing. I have a 40 yr old HK integrated driving a pair of budget Elac DBR2 sounds amazing in the living room where we have wood floor and not a lot of clutter. It’s going back up to my office/bedroom/music room after as promised to the wife. I know I need to do room treatment upstairs so it’s on the list of wants and wishes. Many thanks again to everyone here, let’s all be happy and have musical enjoyment. |
I have had a MC152 for a few years now, fronted by a PremaLuna Dialogue Premium tubed preamp, driving a pair of Martin Logan ESL speakers... This, so called small, amp drives theses speakers with effortless authority and sound sublime... I would note that many MC152 amplifiers test at over 200 watts per channel in real life... Speaker placement is everything... Try REW to help with that... Enjoy your system... |
No worries on the Mac. I own something from all the brands you are talking about. I have McIntosh, Rotel amps, and receivers in the past (still use old Rotel on my rears). I own both Klipsch and Paradigm among other speakers. I have listened to all the Klipsch heritage line. The MC150 was a fine purchase. Mac will not wow you with any one sound quality but they are solid performers all around and have a sense of musicality some other brands lack. Well worth keeping and growing with. It will not be the bottle neck for along time. The only down side of mac is there are no cheap preamps. The matching C49 is $5,000. For sure the speakers and maybe the preamp are holding back the system. But I think you dodged a bullet on the heresy. They are a dumpster fire of a speaker imo. If you are going the Klipsch rout save up for the Forte IV. It is a much better speaker. It actually has bass unlike the heresy. It also sounds less boxy to my ear, less sharp in the upper mids too. Maybe even give the RP8000F a try. I know it might seem like a downgrade but it sounded pretty good on the MC462. As for Rotel vs McIntosh I find rotel brighter and harder sounding. The Mac is much more refined. The difference in amps is subtle. The speakers and room trump everything. Hersey review with Klippel measurements. https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com https://youtu.be/fRku8ACgVSc |
