McIntosh amp dilemna


Hello all. I am looking to move to a McIntosh amp to pair with my upgraded B&W N802’s. I’ve narrowed the list to an MC402, MC302 and MC7270(assume all are serviced and up to date). The wild card is a Coda #8 V1. Does anyone have experience with any of these pairings or have solid advice to give? I don’t want to get flamed but am currently running a restored Sansui CA 3000 preamp that will be moved to a secondary system in near future. Thanks community and have been following and learning for many years. 

RW

rwmiler

Not having any McIntosh products ever so I can't comment on those, I recently bought a CODA 0.7x preamp and after about 100-hours of break in, boy it sure is terrific !  Everything that was said above about CODA is true.  I replaced a Pass-Labs XP-22 with it and I was concerned that it wouldn't be as good but, in my opinion, and my listening, it definitely is better for me.  I have a CODA #16 being built/tested right now so I can't wait to hear the combination of the two in my system.  

Good luck with your amp search !

Mcintosh has it all. The house sound , high resale value  ,blue meters,service centers and parts forever. Pairs well with my b &w matrix. Enjoy the hunt

 

I’m a McIntosh guy since the 70’s. They sound great, look great, keep their value better than most, and are bulletproof. 
 

I currently have a MC402 in my system. It powers the surround speakers. I’ve owned it since 2009. Still sounds, and looks like new. Can’t comment on how it would pair with B&W’s though as I have never tried that. But the combination of gear that sounds great to you is all that really matters. 

@rwmiler 

The Coda is an awesome sounding amplifier but may be a bit too brightly voiced for the modern B&W diamonds which pair perfectly with the Mac amps. Mac and Diamonds are a certified dynamite match.  

If your vintage of the speakers are not as bright as the modern versions then you might be better off to go with the Coda. 

PS is your pre’s output impedance really 47K ohms?  That means that the power amp needs 470Kohms to sound balanced following the 10 to 1 rule, something may be off here with their spec because neither the Mac nor Coda would be good matches electrically. 

I would get that sorted and understood before buying any new amp.