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A "best amp for Ohm Walsh Tall 1000's" question with a twist...

Hey all -

I'm a long time reader, mostly lurker.  I've dipped my toe in the audio hobby over the last couple of years, and Audiogon has been my education.  Many thanks to all for contributing your thoughts here!

I am considering a power amp upgrade.  My current rig is digital source -> microRendu -> Metrum Musette -> Quicksilver line stage -> Rotel RB-980BX -> Ohm Walsh Tall 1000's.  At some point I plan to upgrade the Musette to an Amethyst - the Musette seems thin, to me.

My wife and I listen to all kinds of stuff, mostly acoustic and choral.  We (er, I) listen to some stuff loud-ish, but we don't really "rawk out".  What we value in sound are naturalness, realism, presence, and musicality.  I like to hear everything that's going on - I don't need acid-etched definition, but I also don't want a big warm cloud of sound.  And I like sound with a bit of weight - not loud, but present.

I'm pretty happy with most of my gear.  The Rotel is getting it done as far as getting a baseline of power to the OW's, but I suspect I could do better.

The twist in all of is that it would be really, really, really good if the amp could fit in our existing stereo cabinet.  Like, "v7b9b13 isn't banished to the couch" good.  Which means it has to fit into a space about 18" wide, 13.5" deep, and about 7 or 8 inches high.  I have some flexibility in the vertical dimension, but not in width or depth.  The 13.5" depth has to account for connectors and wires, so we're really talking about more like 12".

For reference, the Rotel fits, just.

I've been considering vintage Mac for this - MC 754 or MC 2100 - because my understanding is that the Macs have the beef - the current - to drive the Ohms nicely, and because both of those amps will fit in my little shoebox of a space.  I'm looking for all y'alls input on a couple of things:

* any other contenders worth looking at?
* any reason to run away from either (or both) of the Macs as fast as I can?

I generally understand the whole autoformer / no autoformer thing - generally - but any thoughts about the appropriateness of that aspect of the two amps in the context of my rig will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance for your thoughts!!

All the best 
v7b9b13
v7b9b13 OP
11 posts
 
I should add that I have also tried a Schiit Vidar as the power amp.  A very nice, very capable amp, fits in the required space, but it didn't seem to really wake the OW's up, if that makes sense.

It seemed cleaner than the Rotel, but the Rotel seems to engage the speaker more.  The result is not necessarily louder, but is fuller and rounder, more present.  To my ear.

In case that's helpful.
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,656 posts
 
If you can find one in good repair for a reasonable price, the Mac 2100 will have all of the sound attributes that you want, but you do need to be concerned about the cable connectors because back when it was made everyone was using lamp wire. There are adaptors that work well on ebay.
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
Changing to the Mac 2100 from the Rotel is a step backward IMO! The Rotel is a far better and advanced amplifier! 
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