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REVIEW: McIntosh MA6600 Integrated Amplifier (SS)
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Posted on January 2, 2013 at 09:40:15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Posts: 898
Location: Suburban Philadelphia Joined: February 22, 2003 |
I've owned my McIntosh MA6600 for just over a year now and though it appropriate to share my impressions.
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RE: REVIEW: McIntosh MA6600 Integrated Amplifier (SS), posted on January 2, 2013 at 13:03:26 | |
Posts: 4585
Location: New York City Joined: August 24, 2012 |
Curious, what did you replace them with...? |
Did you used to write for Stereo Review? nt, posted on January 2, 2013 at 23:10:49 | |
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Joined: April 12, 2002 |
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Actually, I have, posted on January 3, 2013 at 06:15:26 | |
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Joined: May 12, 2000 Contributor Since: April 5, 2002 |
A pair of 2301s in a particularly nice system. I've also toured the factory and heard their demo system. Very nice folks. Mac can play at Power Guard levels all day, never damaging speakers. Other brands shut down. In over forty years, I've never damaged any speakers nor owned any amplifier that has shut down. The 1981 Threshold Stasis has no protection circuitry at all. |
Bother?, posted on January 3, 2013 at 06:31:33 | |
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Joined: May 12, 2000 Contributor Since: April 5, 2002 |
But the other features Mac embraces such as bass/treble/ balance controls, mono switch... I prefer controlling the HF balance at the speaker to tame particularly bad recordings. Which fortunately is not often. Never had any use for a bass control. There are bass shy recordings to be sure, but you cannot restore what was never captured. Only thicken what is there. As for the other features in the quote above, you'll find my ARC preamp has them, too. Why does this bother you so? You confuse bother(?) with humor. :) If being the brunt of your derision helps you to feel better about yours You have already forgotten my original observation. I was trying to reassure you that your fear: Ever worried about over-driving my speakers (Paradigm Signature S8 v2) I like being able to refer to the meters to make sure that I'm well below the danger zone. was undeserved given the presence of the limiter circuitry. If you have any other systems where that remains a concern, you can address it rather inexpensively. I purchased and configured one for my last church. It seems the preacher's dynamic range exceeded the quality of the cassettes and MP3 recordings of his sermons. :) |
How then are Mac's TOTL preamps, posted on January 5, 2013 at 09:04:32 | |
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Joined: May 12, 2000 Contributor Since: April 5, 2002 |
different from any other "minimalist" design? which is like tone/treble controls w/ infinite gradations. That is certainly not the case. Bass and treble controls are simple shelving filters whose effect spans multiple octaves. Room correction systems, on the other hand, use very narrow banded (fractional octave) equalization for specific *surgical" corrections. You don't fix room modes with bass and treble controls for obvious reasons. Conversely, room correction systems don't have bass and treble controls. The most important distinction is that once a room correction system has been calibrated and set, you leave it alone just like any other room treatments. Apparently, you haven't read the feature set for the MEN220. While it offers six preset EQ curves in addition to room correction, bass and treble functionality is absent. It certainly is incapable of just attenuating either end. By all means, don't aspire to own Mac's best gear as it appears you would be disappointed. |
Thanks for the reply -nt, posted on January 6, 2013 at 10:39:50 | |
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Joined: May 12, 2000 Contributor Since: April 5, 2002 |
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