Expierence with my new MC 152

[barsur]

Hifi&Records one of the best Audio magazine (in my humble opinion) reviewed the MC152, D150 and MCT 450. They were overhelmed of the performance of these three products. But they said also, that the "secret" star in this package is the MC152. The performance of the the MC 152 is absolut top.

Measurement results for the MC 152 was:

Power 8 Ohm on the 8 Ohm tap (1% THD): 258 Watt
Power 4 Ohm on the 4 Ohm tap (1% THD): 240 Watt
S/N: 97dB
IM-Distortion 5Watt/4Ohm: 0,0012%

I think this is an impressive result, which confirm the result of our blind test.
My congratulation to Mcintosh.

Best regards

Martin

 

[damacman]

Martin - you may be the lone wolf flying the flag of the MC152 on the forums. This amp has gotten zero respect. Personally, I commend McIntosh for bringing it to market. At the end of the day, 150 wpc is a LOT of power (far more than most people comprehend) and given that it offers 100 wpc of headroom that bodes well of its design. McIntosh very easily could have rated it at 200 wpc and still had headroom to spare. The other measured results are equally impressive.

It has looked to me from the word go that the MC152 is a great amplifier to recommend to someone that would like to purchase a new McIntosh component system on a budget.

 

[62caddy]

I think lack of forum presence has more to do with the MC152 being a relatively new product more than anything else and secondly the fact that it isn't one of the larger series of McIntosh amplifiers that tend to grab the lion's share of attention.

Personally I felt a more modest power SS amplifier in McIntosh lineup had been long overdue and the move a good one on the company's part. (Who'd have thought 150 wpc would one day be considered modest power! )

To the OP - I would not interpret any apparent lack of forum prominence as any slur upon the amplifier in any way.

Cheers and enjoy.

 

[oregonalex]

Martin - you may be the lone wolf flying the flag of the MC152 on the forums. This amp has gotten zero respect.

He may be the lone wolf flying the flag, but there are other lone wolves quietly enjoying the stellar performance of this unit, i.e. me.

I bought it a couple of months ago with the intent for it to be my "summer" amp - I don't have airconditioning and with 90°F/32°C in the house for weeks on end I felt that a solid state amp would be better under those conditions than the MC275.
It being a secondary amp, I wanted something I could lift single handed, so the MC152 was the obvious choice. I got a used one in mint condition from AC and, after two months, it is still the amp I use even though the summer heats are long gone. I know people grumble about the pushbuttons and I do like the big Mac knobs myself, but this unit looks impeccable, pushbuttons and all. Perfectly complementing the other knobby McIntoshes in the rack. It is surprisingly large and hefty. Just as substantial and oozing quality and overbuild as any other Mac I have ever seen.

The biggest surprise, however, are the sonics. As soon as I plugged it in, I knew I lucked out and stumbled onto something really special. I listened to a MC452 shortly before with similar speakers to mine and the sound of the MC152 is very very similar. Exceptionally smooth and easy to listen to while providing all the drama and weight that I would want. It does not pretty up good recordings, but makes somehow even the mediocre ones enjoyable. It does not have the super-real holographic midrange of the MC275, but it surpasses it in bass slam and tightness. With the 90dB/W/m PSBs and as much volume as I can realistically use, the peak meter goes to the 15W mark at most, edging beyond that just a smidget maybe twice during a record. It has never reached even half way through the 15W-150W segment and of course the Power Guard light has never come on. Never sounded congested or struggling. The power is more than sufficient for my needs.

So the plan now is to keep it in the system, get another pair of speakers for the MC275 and use both amps year round depending on source material.

 

[ron-c]

MC152 and MC301 always perform great when I have used them. We have the MC301s + MC75s bi-amping a set of XR100s through the MEN220 at the Rocky Mountain Audio show this weekend. Probably overkill but that is what these shows are about sometimes.
Martin, keep doing your listening tests as this is a proven scientific way of evaluating equipment. That is probably the way it is done at a laboratory...

Thanks,
Ron-C

 

[vahe]

MC-150 & MC-152, what is the difference between these two models?

Vahe

 

[ron-c]

The short answer is about 20 some years. MC150 was made back with the MC300, MC500 etc.
All of the amp families share basic circuit designs an specs but the bigger models have a bigger power supply and more transistors.

Thanks,
Ron-C

 

[joeinid]

http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/us/Brand/Pages/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsID=180&Block=1

HI-FI WORLD: McINTOSH MC152 STEREO AMPLIFIER IS SUBLIME WITH A BIG, SPACIOUS SOUND

 

[damacman]

So why haven't more Mc enthusiasts snapped these up?

 

[MORTIS]

This thread along with the full review is making me more drawn to this amp, despite the lack of knobs and no back-lighting behind the button nomenclature; trivial shortcoming I know, but hey, we love Mc for the looks as well.

Based on the tested power output, this MC152 may be similar in power to my MC202, but that's uncertain since there's no info out there on the max output of the 202. The interesting part however is the weight; the 152 and 202 are essentially the same chassis dimensions and similar chassis design, both autoformer coupled, and yet the 152 weighs 10lbs more that the higher power rated 202. Where is that extra 10lbs??

 

[Robd2]

This morning I was listing three hours to the MC152/MCD 301 combo. And I have to say, that is as an amazing amp. One of the best I ever had (and I have really a lot of amps...)

Hi Martin, I love your blind testing process and results. Any experience with the MA5200 vs the MC152? The reason I ask, I'm thinking of an upgrade from the MA5200 to the C47 + MC152 seperates in order to get the MC phono stage and a little more power.

My speakers are B&W 804N which I think you are also familiar with! I'd love to go with a bigger amp but trying to keep the cost under control. Maybe this isn't a big enough step up worth the upgrade? My dealer has a great trade in policy so I can get 100% of what I paid for the 5200.

Thanks again,
Rob

 

[damacman]

Personally, I can't think of a single reason not to encourage you to upgrade to the C47 + MC152. That would make for a sweet set up for sure.

 

[Robd2]

Personally, I can't think of a single reason not to encourage you to upgrade to the C47 + MC152. That would make for a sweet set up for sure.

Thank you MacMan, just the info I was looking for. Another reason I'm hesitating, I'm pretty happy with the MA5200, it really is a great component, but I'm looking for a MC phone stage which the 5200 does not have.

 

[kevzep]

Why stop at the MC152, I actually doubt you'd notice the extra power, might as well go boots and all into a MC302 or MC452.......

 

[Robd2]

Why stop at the MC152, I actually doubt you'd notice the extra power

I'm wondering this also and trying to determine if the upgrade is worth it. It's the added MC phono option I'm using as the excuse to upgrade to the seperates from the MA5200. But on paper it appears I would get some more performance and of course having fun looking for upgrades.

My dealer has a good upgrade policy where you basically get full price paid on trade in towards the new gear if you double down so it matches well with the upgrade paths.

 

[barsur]

Hi Martin, I love your blind testing process and results. Any experience with the MA5200 vs the MC152? The reason I ask, I'm thinking of an upgrade from the MA5200 to the C47 + MC152 seperates in order to get the MC phono stage and a little more power.

My speakers are B&W 804N which I think you are also familiar with! I'd love to go with a bigger amp but trying to keep the cost under control. Maybe this isn't a big enough step up worth the upgrade? My dealer has a great trade in policy so I can get 100% of what I paid for the 5200.

Thanks again,
Rob

Hello Rob,

sorry for my late answer. I never compared MC 152 vs the MA 5200. I only can tell you that my dealer is delighted by the MA 5200 and that the MA 5200 had great reviews here in Germany by two german magazines.

On the other hand I can tell you that now after ca. one year with the MC 152, that this unit is absolut fabulous, not only sound wise, also if you use it on a daily base this unit is absolut flawless, no issue, no hum etc at all. And this is almost more important than the sound.
Because, with sound the differences are very, very subtle, but how flawless an amp works over years, there are some big differences. Especally I am dissapointed by some amps which I have from some "boutique" brands, which receive great reviews in magazines, but daily use is not their strengths...
For daily use by far the best brands are Mcintosh and Accuphase.

Best regards from the lone wolf (as damacman called me )

Martin

 

[twiiii]

I like the fact that a listener realizes that 15 watts with a 90 db speaker is reaching toward concert level at 1 meter with possibly a bit more for the very short term. I realize depending on the acoustics of the room and the dispersion of the speaker he could be loosing as little as 4or5 db in a very reverberant room up to 10 db in soft larger room at the listening position. That's still pretty strong average listening levels. I enjoy having head-room as much as as anyone, and I love the 1.2K amp at any level for auditioning any type of speaker, but most the time it never has to put out more than 120 watts, and that level is easily with in the reach of the MC152. The 152 is the SS answer to two 275's running in mono, and a lot more cost conscious. I'm happy with my 207's . With my system thats 119 db at 4 ft. That's more than enough. It would be fun to have 14 meters.

 

[leftside]

Can you mono block the 152?

 

[damacman]

I don't believe so, but the MC301 is the mono block of this family of amps.

 

[leftside]

I don't believe so, but the MC301 is the mono block of this family of amps.

Yes I know. It's just that I've got used to 4 meters moving in sync