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Speakers to mate with Mac MC402 under $5k

I am in the process of wrapping up a renovation of space for dedicated HT/2 ch listenning. The room is 13.5' x 25'. We will be sitting facing the 13.5' wall.

Pieces of the 2 channel system I own and want to keep are a Naim CDX cd player and the MC402 amp. I have an order in for a Supratek Chardonnay to try out, but am open to other preamps also. Need to be tubed with HT bypass and a remote.

My current speakers are Dynaudio Audience 80's and home made Wilson CUB clones (Proteus) that I am looking to upgrade. I've had B&W 801s3's and 802N's in the past, but am not a big fan of the B&W sound.

Local dealers seem to only have B&W, Aerial, Dynaudio, Avalon, limited Revel, Dali, and Harbeth. Preference is for used to get the best value for my $$. The dealer who sells Mac has them paired with the Aerial 8b's and 9's, but I was not overly impressed.

Any help on what mates well with this amp is appreciated.

THX.
Frank
fpv

Showing 1 response by aball

aball
2,016 posts
 
Great choice of amp. My suggestion would be to get an active preamp for it - Mc amps don't do well with passive pres in my experience (input sensitivity is a high 2.5V). McIntosh amps are magical when mated to a McIntosh preamp. The C2200 and C46 are both excellent.

For speakers, I find McIntosh to have special synergy with JM Lab speakers. For $5000 (I assume used), the Mezzo Utopia, 937 Be, or the Diva Utopia Be (provided your room is large) would all be excellent choices. McIntoshes can handle analytical and detail-oriented speakers very well - but do poorly with "soft" speakers, IMHO.

I have auditioned McIntosh with Naim sources before and really like the combo. I have thought about getting a Naim cdp for my Mcs in the past. Arthur
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