My new to me 1201 monoblocks

[motorstereo]

The time had come and actually had past for me to upgrade my bridged MC2500's and I did just that in a big way yesterday. I know most everyone in the Mac forum can relate to how hard it is to save and buy Mac gear and I'm certainly no exception. So far the 1201's have actually exceeded my expectations. I bought them without hearing them first so I was taking a very expensive gamble.

My impressions so far is the bass is much much better than the 2500's. I'm hearing bass in familiar recordings that I never knew was there before. The 29db better s/n ratio is also impossible to overlook on quiet passages. Woke up Dreaming by Joe Bonnamassa is incredible with the crowd seeming coming out of the right amp at times. Soundstage width has increased to the point that is seems like I have my speakers pointing outwards even though they're not. Imaging is still spot but I haven't noticed any increased soundstage depth; which the 2500's did remarkably well.

Power is seemingly unlimited. I've gotten the meters to move a little past the 12 wpc and it's loud; there's a lot of volume or should I say gain left. Now I've got to figure out which input I like better; balanced or unbalanced. To my ears surprisingly the unbalanced input with MIT shotgun rca cables sounds better I think than the balanced input with Kimber Hero's.

Also I'm wondering if people remove the handles on the back of the amps for easier access to the inputs and speaker jacks? I'm thinking Mac's other non monoblock series have the same handles? A couple pics.....

 

[gmc]

Wow! Congratulations. I would have been afraid to sell the MC2500s before hearing the 1201s, but I'm happy that it paid off for you. Good job!

 

[TEA FOR ONE]

What a beautiful system. Congratulations!

 

[motorstereo]

Wow! Congratulations. I would have been afraid to sell the MC2500s before hearing the 1201s, but I'm happy that it paid off for you. Good job!

Thanks; Oh boy did that thought cross my mind. I really wanted to a+b them together but moving all 4 of those beasts just made it impossible.

Congratulations! I wish I had an upgrade like that... KUDOS!!

Thanks; This is huge upgrade for me and it's taken away all my upgrade funds for several months.

What a beautiful system. Congratulations!

Thanks; I appreciate the nice comments. I was just thinking all this insanity started with a GE Wildcat suitcase stereo with Bachman Turner Overdrive records lol. My first upgrade was getting something with separate bass and treble controls.

 

[Mike Gibson]

Congratulations on your new amps. I'm sure you will really like them more and more as time passes.

 

[gtech]

Nice score you have destination amps.
Aaron

 

[damacman]

I still can't believe you bought them without hearing them! Nonetheless, I'm glad that you like them. Congrats! They look to be in very nice condition.

Surprising that you prefer the singled ended RCA inputs to the balanced XLR inputs. Given that your C100 is fully balanced and the 1201s are quad balanced, the XLR preserves a balanced connection all the way to the loudspeaker. I definitely prefer the XLR connections to my MC2600s.

 

[motorstereo]

Thanks damacman; Yes I keep going back and forth with the 2 inputs. The balanced input is 4db quieter but it also has lower gain so it's tough to make a fair comparison. I can run both inputs simultaneously and that sounds good to. I don't want to overload the inputs doing that and possibly ruin something so I don't run it like that. My thoughts like yours is the balanced inputs have to sound better.

 

[leftside]

Congrats! Nice shelves and preamp

When I did my first "big" upgrade I then had the urge to upgrade the components around it. Became expensive... Watch out

 

[damacman]

It’s expensive hanging around here, that is certain!

 

[motorstereo]

Congrats! Nice shelves and preamp

When I did my first "big" upgrade I then had the urge to upgrade the components around it. Became expensive... Watch out

Thanks Piers and yes I'm still loving your old C100. It's a perfect match for the 1201's and it worked very well with the old 2500's to. Yes things sure can get expensive quickly. Thankfully I have no desire to spend any money upgrading shelving or amps stands..........yet

 

[Velocityboat]

Congratulations. I never found my MC2500s lacking bass. One MC2500 will move stuff off shelves and furniture with my XRT20s at less than 50 watts. Two 2500s and XR290s is extreme. Those 1201s must be exponentially better

Those 1201s look beautiful. Be careful of the itch to bring home McIntosh Line Arrays capable of harnessing all 1200 watts and saying that all you got. How much will those polks take continuous and peak?

When you get the Line Arrays first the big amps is an irresistible pull. Hopefully the pull the other way is manageable. XR290, XRT30, XRT1K, XRT2K. Planting subliminal Mc Forum seeds here.

Tell us the story how you fanagled the amp swap for cash. I’ll be taking notes. ,,,,,

 

[Velocityboat]

Does your SRS Polks require a special hook up of the SDA cable with the Quad Balanced?

 

[jtee1340]

The balanced input is 4db quieter but it also has lower gain so it's tough to make a fair comparison

Moto,
Fantastic looking and I'm sure sounding amps congrats!
I am not sure why you would say the balanced inputs have less gain? Is it something to do with the quad balanced setup?
I just went to balanced setup on my Classe amp and pre and I noticed a significant gain in output. Didn't have to turn volume up near as high as with RCA inputs.
The canceling of the noise on balanced connections does make for a significant reduction in noise.
Enjoy those monsters. Can't get over the size of those baby blues! lol
J.T.

 

[motorstereo]

Congratulations. I never found my MC2500s lacking bass. One MC2500 will move stuff off shelves and furniture with my XRT20s at less than 50 watts. Two 2500s and XR290s is extreme. Those 1201s must be exponentially better

Those 1201s look beautiful. Be careful of the itch to bring home McIntosh Line Arrays capable of harnessing all 1200 watts and saying that all you got. How much will those polks take continuous and peak?

When you get the Line Arrays first the big amps is an irresistible pull. Hopefully the pull the other way is manageable. XR290, XRT30, XRT1K, XRT2K. Planting subliminal Mc Forum seeds here.

Tell us the story how you fanagled the amp swap for cash. I’ll be taking notes. ,,,,,

Thanks VB. I wouldn't say the 2500's are lacking bass either but the 1201's do have more low end no doubt about it. I was pushing them a little bit today and I was thinking things were going to start falling off the shelves.
The Polks are rated for 1000wpc and they could take every last drop the bridged 2500's could offer up without a complaint and I've lit up their pg lites many times. I don't think I'll be seeing the pg lites on the 1201's though.
As far as landing the 1201's there's really not much of a story to tell. I saw them listed on Craig's for a fair price and called about them. The fellow is a dealer in NH and he offered to take my 2500's in as a partial payment for the 1201's if I couldn't find a local buyer. Knowing the penny pinching market here I didn't want to sit on the 2500's for a couple of years so I took him up on his offer. As far as the line arrays go that's more than likely never going to happen here. I'm very happy with the big Polks.

Does your SRS Polks require a special hook up of the SDA cable with the Quad Balanced?

Yes I have a ground isolation transformer that was part of a group purchase from the Polk forum. This is necessary if someone wants to use non common ground amps or mono blocks with the sda circuit. The transformer also has the added benefits of noticeably reducing the ground noise. I didn't realize my ground was noisy until the noise was gone

 

[motorstereo]

Moto,
Fantastic looking and I'm sure sounding amps congrats!
I am not sure why you would say the balanced inputs have less gain? Is it something to do with the quad balanced setup?
I just went to balanced setup on my Classe amp and pre and I noticed a significant gain in output. Didn't have to turn volume up near as high as with RCA inputs.
The canceling of the noise on balanced connections does make for a significant reduction in noise.
Enjoy those monsters. Can't get over the size of those baby blues! lol
J.T.

Thanks J. T. Right now I have both balanced and rca's running to the 1201's and I can quickly switch back and forth. The rca input does have more gain which surprised me as well. I have been listening to the balanced input all afternoon though and I think it might be quieter. But I also think I'm losing a bit of low end using the balanced input. Hopefully @Bill Ferris chimes in with his thoughts on which input to use.

 

[jlovda]

I'd be a little nervous with those amps sitting on single spindle tables. Do they rock back and forth when touched?

That is a BEAUTIFUL setup you have there. Congratulations.

 

[motorstereo]

I'd be a little nervous with those amps sitting on single spindle tables. Do they rock back and forth when touched?

That is a BEAUTIFUL setup you have there. Congratulations.

Thanks; My 2500's sat on those stands for a few years with no problems and my 200+lb frame can bounce around on them so they are rugged. No there's no rocking as I also have them secured to the back wall to. Not taking any chances. Someday I'll look into getting better looking stands.

 

[Kevin D]

Those are some beautiful amps congratulations!!! Enjoy.

 

[Bill Ferris]

Thanks J. T. Right now I have both balanced and rca's running to the 1201's and I can quickly switch back and forth. The rca input does have more gain which surprised me as well. I have been listening to the balanced input all afternoon though and I think it might be quieter. But I also think I'm losing a bit of low end using the balanced input. Hopefully @Bill Ferris chimes in with his thoughts on which input to use.

motorstereo, my living room`s 1201`s wired for 240 volt, first use was unbalanced..
Ground loop noise !!
Bought new pro crossover which is totally balanced in /out..
Bought a pair of 40 foot balanced interconnects for the hookup of the 1201`s.
Haven`t looked back since..
While I took a amp sensitivity hit like you, my Pro crossover easily compensated with no increase in my overall system`s noise floor..

And when I decided to upgrade myMac XRT 30`s mids/highs with the later on purchase of (4) MC 275VI`s I was a no brainer as to the balanced connections for them as well..
Source noise, is all I can perceive now..
You Sir, have to decide what works best for your system`s layout.

However, my other (2)1201`s in my bedroom system, are fed unbalanced of the (2) 400watt Velodyne active subwoofer`s unbalanced line level crossover, and since all stereo equipment in that room are fed by one 10 ga. 20 amp120 v circuit, the background noise is almost undetectable, so again your call..

Hope this helps, but always trust your ears, after all it`s your system..

Kind regards, OKB