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In Reply to: RE: Want McIntosh, can't afford it - what do? posted by theforerunner on October 03, 2015 at 20:10:47
Thanks for jumping in! My mind is pretty much made up - a MA6900 if I can get someone to cough it up for about $3k USD, otherwise I'm seeing the MA6500s for about $2k. I wonder if I'd be doing myself a disservice by jumping straight to the 6900? The 6500 will probably blow my mind in 2, but there's this long standing debate re: 6900 vs 6500, mostly due to autoformers.
Any thoughts?
Follow Ups:
I went through the same dilemma back in 2002. McIntosh makes specific models in bunches, then moves onto another model. When I was ready to purchase, the MA6900s were temporarily unavailable.I then had long conversations with a McIntosh engineer and a customer-service specialist. Both told me to make a choice based on my preferred features. They assured me that sonically the MA6500 and MA6900 would be impossible to tell apart. When I asked about the debates on the internet about Autoformers, both gentlemen said they are designed to be sonically invisible. Again, I was told to focus on the differences in features.
So instead of waiting for an MA6900, I purchased the MA6500. I am glad I did so. There are two advantages in selecting an MA6500: it is much easier to lift and costs far less to ship if it ever needs repairing. Another key difference between the two units is that the MA6500 has bass and treble controls, whereas the MA6900 has a five-band graphic equalizer.
I have not visited McIntosh's website for a long time, but they have always had info available that explained the purpose of the Autoformer. Sometimes the info is at the back of a downloadable (integrated amp or power amp) user manual.
Edits: 10/03/15
That is EXTREMELY helpful - thank you!
By chance, do you know much about what's changed between that generation of amps and the newer gen? MC152, 452, etc. vs. whatever was out at that time? Because amps are always summarized with the same basics specs, at first glance you'd think the only thing they changed was from bulbs to LEDs.
Cannot help you there. Sorry. I have owned many preamps, power amps, and integrated amps--both tube and solid state--but I am so pleased with the MA6500 that I decided to not bother looking into other McIntosh amplification for my primary system.
I purchased an MA6300, which is still a current model, for a secondary system, but it was returned due to being much too elevated in the upper mids and treble, as noted earlier. The MA6300 did not have that smooth, neutral to a bit warm, nonfatiguing sound for which McIntosh is well known. Why the MA6300 sounded more like a Bryston amp is a mystery. I was told later the unit was performing as designed. Strange.
Whatever you purchase I hope it can be returned for a refund. You never know what a component will sound like until it is installed in your system.
Gotcha - I have a lead on a 6900 for a really good price, albeit still more than the average 6500. I am concerned, as you say, about never knowing what something sounds like until you get it home. But, the only McIntosh I've heard that I didn't like was the MA5200 - and that may have only been because it was hooked up to B&W 683s (I don't like B&W, generally, and the 5200 doesn't have the power necessary for that speaker at my listening levels IMO).
Thanks again for all your suggestions - it's definitely put my mind at ease about making this project work out!
Glad to help. Keep us updated if you can.
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