Planning to buy new MC275 for Dynaudio Audience 72


I currently own a predominantly Naim system.

Naim 150x, Naim 122x, Flatcap 2x, CDX2.2, Naim Phono Stage, Naim DAC. My speaker is Dynaudio Audience 72. I have Rega P5 with TT PSU. Also own Sonos ZP90 as streamer to DAC.

So far very satisfied with the sound. However lately thinking of upgrading the amp/pre-amp section. And wondering why not to try Vacuum Tube Amps

In vacuum tubes got audition of McIntosh MC 275 with 2300 preamp. Also heard Conrad Johnson PL70 and Cary Audio 120MkII. I liked MC275 a lot. It has warmth of Tube as well as good mid range bass. Also thinking of buying 2 to run in parallel monoblock mode

But thinking whether going for MC275+ 2300 (around USD 10K) would be worth. Instead should I spend the similar amount in upgrading my Naim to NAP250-2 + NAC282. The problem is my Naim dealer does not have this combo for demo.

I typically listen to vocals, jazz, indian classical (predominantly vocal and string oriented), rock (not much of heavy metal) - Pink Floyd, Scorpion and kind of stuffs. My room size is 12x12x12. Listening position to speaker distance around 10 ft.

Any experience/opinion around following points would be highly appreciated
1. How Dynaudio Audience matches MC275. Lowest impedance of Audience 72 is 4.3, sensitivity 86DB. Also I understand MC275 even in stereo mode can go till around 0.33 ohm impedance
2. Does use of 2 MC275 in parallel Monoblock will give necessary high current to drive the impedance drop of the speakers

Regards,
Sourav
128x128souravhifi

Showing 1 response by lapierre

Sourav the MC275 should do fine with Audience 72. My current speakers- Helicon 300s -are rated 4 ohm and a single MC275 delivered great bass and midrange with lush sound. For me it was a good match with the right cables in a small listening room. And cables do make a huge difference as I learned during my evaluation of power amps. One cable may do nothing with another will provide better midrange or refined bass.

My music tends to be instrumental like jazz fusion or more recently electronic with percussion layered. I do listen to vocals but not as frequently as the spouse unit does.

As a bridged mono the MC275 delivers 150 watts into 2 or 4 ohm loads. If you want a bit more power research new production Genalex Gold LIon KT88s. I'm very satisfied with two MC275s run in mono. With two MC275s bridged you get increased bass and midrange with dynamic punch. The midrange and details really come alive. Notes are crisp and tend to decay a bit longer.