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McIntosh MC252 with Totem Mani2 / Sig's

Need some advice...

how well will the McIntosh MC252 drive my Totem Mani2 Sigs? i use 22' long runs of kimber 4tc, and wonder if the mc252 has enough juice. Would consider stepping up to the MC 402, but that is a lot of $, and I'm not sure i need 400 watts. let me know what you think!

also, can i bi-wire my mani2's buy hooking up two sets of speaker cable to one pair of speaker terminals on these mcintosh products? would that put too much stress on the amp?

thanks!
skuras
rontube
44 posts
 
Yes you can use banana and spades at the same time on the MC252 speaker binding posts.

Ron
skuras OP
55 posts
 
aball...
the 803's are an 8ohm / 90 db speaker, which means they are fairly easy for an amp to drive. the totem mani2 is a 4 ohm / 85 db speaker, which means that it is going to be MUCH more difficult to drive. i'm not much of a techie, but i believe that my speaker would be about 3x more difficult for an amp to drive than the 803's.

if i'm way off base, someone please correct me!
irish65
170 posts
 
What size is your room? Once you determine your sq. footage WxLxH it will help you better decide. The larger the listening area the more it should influence you to a bigger amp. A large open entrance into your listening area will also influence your decision. Also what listening levels do you usually listen at? I can tell you from my experience that the extra headroom from a larger amp is well worth it. Hope this helps.
skuras OP
55 posts
 
my room is about 12' x 14' - not very big at all. there are not any large doorways or openings in the room. i normally do not listen at very loud levels.

the more research i do, and the more a talk to people with experience, it is becoming clear that i should go with the 402. i just have to scare up another $1000 or so, which i should be able to do.
aball
2,016 posts
 
Your room is small. The room I auditioned the 252 in was 30' x 35'. This room size will have more impact on the power requirement than the speaker impedance difference, I believe. I don't think that the 803 is really considered that easy a load.

But, if you can get the 402, by all means do so! No question about it.
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