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B&W 805N\Mac ma 6900 good match or mistake

I currently own a pair of B&W 805N and am driving them with a 50 WPC KT88 based vacuum tube amp. The highs and midrange are okay but the bass is lacking. I understand this is somewhat the nature of the beast for vacuum tubes.

This being said I am considering going to higher power solid state equipment. Limited selection of high quality equipment where I live has me looking at McIntosh Integrated Amps. Has anyone used or listened to any of the current production Mac gear with these speakers (805N)?

Is this a good marriage or is this folly? If a good match would you go with the Mac ma 6500 or the higher power ma 6900 (200 WPC).

Source would be Sony CDP X33EX

Many thanks.

sdz
seadzz

Showing 1 response by jeffjarvis

jeffjarvis
257 posts
 
Some excellent deals on second hand Mcintosh I see lately. Around $2800 for the MA6900 annd about $1600 on the MA6500.
I recently took my 805s around to various hi fi shops.
Listened to the MA6900, MA6500. I thought they both sounded excellent but the sound seemed veiled compared to the Accuphase or Sugden integrated.
Was impressed by the detail of the Accuphase E407 and the Accuphase E530 Class A.
The Accuphase had a livlier sound, more like a live performance.
The dealer would not budge on the price, not one penny, even after offering to buy 2 units!
I went with a Sugden Masterclass Integrated.
33 watts of Class A power seems to work out.
Sometimes I wish I had went with the Mcintosh or Accuphase to have tone controls and loudness for low volume listening.
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