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Want McIntosh, can't afford it - what do?

Greetings,

Currently I own a pair of Focal Aria 948s. Combined with a McIntosh C50 and MC452, it's the most satisfying sound I've heard in a home environment. Unfortunately, there's no way I can afford those 2 units in the next 25 years or so. Can anyone recommend something comparable? I know McIntosh makes the MC152, but I'm new to this so I have no idea how much the C50 colors the sound (I heard that combo 5 states away, and no one in my area has that gear on hand).

There's the MA5200 and MA6600, which are in my price range on the secondhand market, but reviews on both seem mixed.

Bottom line: is there another brand and/or model that comes close to the C50/MC452 combo for $3k or under? My source is an Oppo BDP-103, which has a somewhat weak DAC IMO (Peachtree Novas are 10-15% better, for example). I really only need 1 digital input and about 100 quality watts, hopefully that helps my situation?

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Topic - Want McIntosh, can't afford it - what do? - caustic386 18:48:46 09/30/15 (33)
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