Hitachi or Hafler for My Ml 10c's?

EvanF

AK Member
My Mcintosh Ml-10c's have been surprising me with great bass and treble. Since I sold my old amp, the Sansui A-909, I have been forced to use an old Onkyo AVR. Does NOT sound as good. I found a good pair of amps on Craigslist - The Hitachi HCA/HMA 6500 series for $250. Should I pull the trigger on that or buy a DH 200 from ebay and also a good preamp? Is 100 watts necessary or can I make do with 50 watts from the Hitachi and still get great sound?:scratch2:
 
So you've got a good set of Mac ML-10's, eh? Go for the power. While you're at it, pick up one of the MQ series equalizers to go along with it.

A DH-200 will be ok in a smaller room. I'd suggest you be on the watch for a DH-500, or the XL-600 instead. There are lots of mods for them, too, if you want to experiment with improving them.

As for 'decent' preamps, keep an eye out for a HK Citation 11 or, even better a Citation 17.

Depending on the size of the room and how loud you typically play the system, plan on a minimum of 100 wpc - especially with the MQ-101 to augment the bass.

See Roger Russell's site for more details on why the Mac speakers do best with the equalizers from one of the designers himself!

I'm lazy tonight so google, "Roger Russell McIntosh".

Cheers,

David
 
My room is 15 feet by 11 feet.

I only have a $300 budget so the equalizer will have to wait. I like to listen at moderate levels, 7 feet from toed in speakers 7 feet apart. Less than 90 db SPL is
what I will listen to so there is less hearing damage. That HItachi hma is SO pretty, Hafler is not so much.
 
Needs the equalizer from McIntosh to function as intended. Without it, you will not get the frequency response you could have gotten.
 
If you decide to go with a Hafler, I'd opt for the newer Hafler DH-220 over the DH-200. They are approximately the same price on Ebay and the DH-220 has a few improvements over the DH-200.
 
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