re: Audiophile/Vinyl Thread - Post Pics, Advice, Questions, Setups, etc.

MCA/Sounds of the South- First Press 1973

Now is a great time to look at a Mc integrated as within the last 8 months, they have updated/refreshed the entire integrated line. You may be able to get a good deal on an outgoing model. The MA5200 is the entry--now the MA5300. They also just introduced a pretty cool tube/solid state hybrid integrated amp, called the MA252.

You don't need much power, as your speakers are very efficient. Their entry amps start at 100 wpc--more than enough for you.

The MA 252 has a solid state amplifier and a tube pre amplifier.

Here is the McIntosh integrated page

The ones at the top are all newly released. The ones at the bottom are recently discontinued. The MAC model is a receiver--meaning it has a built in tuner (as opposed to the MA models).

The price of the new hybrid MA252 is $3500

That looks cool as hell

This is on Audiogon, 8 days left, but it's in Buffalo. $2950

LINK

Most high end gear doesn't have tone controls, however, Mac is usually the exception. They have for year included bass and treble controls on most pre amps an integrated amps...BUT, they are moving away from that on some gear.

For example...my c500t reference pre amp has bass and treble controls, but my new reference c1100 preamp doesn't.

You may be able to work a deal with a local dealer for 10% off, but that is about all you will get on Mac, unless you are a repeat customer buying multiple pieces of gear.

Get to know your local dealer--it will save you thousands over the long haul in discounts on gear. They will usually take care of their regulars if you ask them to.

And to answer your question regarding the DAC, no, the MA 252 doesn't have an onboard DAC. It is a straight forward analog pre amp.

If you search AudioGon for a few weeks, a few Mac integrateds will pop up as they just revamped the entire line and many people will be selling their old ones to get the new ones.

I don't believe the MA5200 has a DAC either, but I haven't looked at it closely to see.

Solid info and advice as always. Thanks for the time.

That’s awesome. Definitely didn’t notice that.

There you go...the 5200 has a DAC capable of 32/192. If you can get one for 65% of MSRP--around $2950 or so--that is good.

It has 9 inputs...1 analog balanced, 4 analog RCA, 1 MM phono, and 3 digital (coax, USB, Toslink (optical)).

It also has a variable output for adding a sub, a home theater passthru, and a headphone amp.


Since this is an entry piece for Mac, they don't use Autoformers (their patented transformers) on this model....but still, a very versatile integrated which should provide years of service.

You could get a MyTek Digital Brooklyn preamp and an Odyssey Khartago power amp for $3k. The MyTek pre is $2000 and the Odyssey amp is $1000.

The MyTek is loaded with features and also has a phono stage and DAC.

MyTek Digital

They also make an amp, but it is $2000

Hey Marco,

so I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the MA5200 posted above by r3lay3r, and I’m now wondering if you have any recs on decent speaker wire, and what kind of connectors do you recommend...spades, plugs, bare? I’m definitely not looking to break the bank, but wouldn’t mind having something decent. I think I’m running 9’ in each direction. Basically wire just good enough to not get in the way.

Also wondering about turntable interconnects. Same requirements as above, something better than bare minimum, which is pretty much what I currently have.

And finally, the dac. What’s the best method to connect an iPod to it?

Just wanted to say thanks in advance for all the help and advice you provide to those of us on this board.