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Hot Mc207

Roc Rinaldi

Roc Rinaldi

Member
I recently purchased a new MC207 amp. Is this amp. supposed to run hot? Mine runs hot even when using only 1-2 watts of power. It really runs hot whenever I use around 20 watts of power. Is this normal? Isn't it kind of bad for equipment to run so hot continuously? Won't it begin to prematurely age the electronic components? Input would be appreciated, especially from anyone who owns an MC207.
 
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Roc Rinaldi said:
I recently purchased a new MC207 amp. Is this amp. supposed to run hot? Mine runs hot even when using only 1-2 watts of power. It really runs hot whenever I use around 20 watts of power. Is this normal? Isn't it kind of bad for equipment to run so hot continuously? Won't it begin to prematurely age the electronic components? Input would be appreciated, especially from anyone who owns an MC207.
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Is it properly ventilated? It should not run hot.
 
Roc Rinaldi said:
I recently purchased a new MC207 amp. Is this amp. supposed to run hot? Mine runs hot even when using only 1-2 watts of power. It really runs hot whenever I use around 20 watts of power. Is this normal? Isn't it kind of bad for equipment to run so hot continuously? Won't it begin to prematurely age the electronic components? Input would be appreciated, especially from anyone who owns an MC207.
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McIntosh amps SHOULD never run hot at all! Only the tube amps does (MA2275, MC275, MC2102, MC2000)!

Please check to see if ANY connections (speaker spades, etc, ...) are shorting to the chassis somehow. I once had the same problem with the then MC501 where the spades touched the chassis. Upon re-tightening and the spade facing upwarss, no more heat. It runs cool all the time, after many hours, still cool!
 
If I have my MC207 on for a while and listening at 75db's or so my 207 runs very warm to the touch mainly just on top of the heat sinks.
 
I bet that something is shorting out in the back. I had a MC-207 and pushed it hard. It was always just about room temp and never got hot.

Double check everything...
 
Thanks for the quick responses.
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The MC207 is properly ventilated. It is in a room in my basement which is quite cool. The 207 sits on the top shelf completely open to the air. There are no heat sources nearby.
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I will check my connections but I was very very careful when I made my bare wire connections and I beleive they are tight and not touching anything but their respective binding posts. I traded in an MA6900 stereo amp. for the 207. The 6900 also ran hot but only when I pushed it to 100-200 watts. Normally it ran pretty cool or slightly warm, so McIntosh amps. do produce some amount of heat.
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I play my music at 95-105db so I do push my amps. pretty hard. I'm just not comfortable with a lot of heat generation as a normal condition.
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I discussed this with Chuck Hinton from McIntosh, and his response was "..a bit warm is normal, it’s a big amp." So I was just trying to verify how hot the 207 runs normally from those who own it.
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More input is welcome.
 
mike175gr said:
I bet that something is shorting out in the back. I had a MC-207 and pushed it hard. It was always just about room temp and never got hot.

Double check everything...
Click to expand...
Mike, I will recheck every connection but I will be surprised if that is the problem.
 
Are all sections of the heat sinks hot or just one area? Or, does one of the transformers get hot? Do the heat sinks get hot after the amp is on for 30 minutes but with no signal?

Murray
 
skippy_ps said:
Are all sections of the heat sinks hot or just one area? Or, does one of the transformers get hot? Do the heat sinks get hot after the amp is on for 30 minutes but with no signal?

Murray
Click to expand...
All sections get hot.
The transformer does not get hot.
Tonight I will see if the heat sinks get hot after the amp. is on for 30 min. but with no signal. Never tried this before.

Thank you for your help.
 
Ron is with McIntosh and his question regarding what speakers you're using would be some good info.

Murray
 
ron-c said:
What speakers and speaker cables please?

Thanks,
Ron-C
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4 Klipsch Forte II's & 2 Klipsch KG-4s. The seventh channel does not have a speaker yet.
Belden 12ga. speaker wire everywhere.

BTW Ron, I have some other questions that my dealer has been unable to answer for me. I very recently purchased both an MC207 & MX120.

1. I am having some difficulty adjusting the surround mode with my MX120. In the manual it describes adjustments that can be made for Dimension, Center Width, and Panorama when the MUSIC 1 surround mode is selected. Do you know how to make these adjustments? I select MUSIC 1 but then I cannot find how to make the three adjustments. Using Trim Select I see where I can adjust for Center Speaker but I believe that is for volume.

2. Does the MX120 automatically determine which type of surround mode it is receiving? I know that there are the choices of CINEMA 1 & CINEMA 2, MUSIC 1, 2, 3, 4, PURE STEREO, and 2 CHANNEL. If my setting is CINEMA 1 but the signal is DTS NEO:6, will the unit automatically switch to DTS NEO:6?

Sometimes I may not know which type of surround is being broadcast so I would not know which setting to use in order for the surround sound to play properly.

3. I can get my audio cassette tape player to play OK but I cannot get it to record. I have the tape player connected to the audio tape input and to the "rec" output on the MX120. The "rec" output on the MX120 is connected to the "rec" in on the tape player but I get no signal for recording while playing other sources. Is there perhaps a setting on the MX120 that takes care of this problem?

Ron, I would really appreciate your assistance since I don't know where else to go for help.

Sincerely,
Roc Rinaldi
 
Roc,

With the MX120 in the Music 1 mode press the home key on your remote control. You now have five seconds to adjust the Pro-Logic IIX parameters using the navigation keys. You want center width set to 3 through 5, the left right nav. keys work this. Try it all the way up at 7- no center and all the way down at 7- all center. The center nav. key turns panorama on and off which will create a side phantom image from the front left and right.
The up and down nav. keys adjust the sound stage forward and back in the room.
The MC207 will produce large amounts of heat if you play it loudly for extended periods. As one of the most powerful McIntosh amps this is normal.
The 'B' zone selector determines what you can record and the 'A' zone selector determines what you listen to.
Movie sound tracks are decoded automatically but you must set the playback mode in the individual movies' set up menu. Use Cinema 1 for 5.1 and cinema 2 for 7.1. If you only have 5.1 speakers and have set up the menu this way both 1 and 2 work the same.
Music one is Dolby DPLIIx and Music 2 is DTS Neo:6. Adjust the DTS Neo:6 center width in the trim section using effect.

Thanks,
Ron-C
 
ron-c said:
Roc,

With the MX120 in the Music 1 mode press the home key on your remote control. You now have five seconds to adjust the Pro-Logic IIX parameters using the navigation keys. You want center width set to 3 through 5, the left right nav. keys work this. Try it all the way up at 7- no center and all the way down at 7- all center. The center nav. key turns panorama on and off which will create a side phantom image from the front left and right.
The up and down nav. keys adjust the sound stage forward and back in the room.
The MC207 will produce large amounts of heat if you play it loudly for extended periods. As one of the most powerful McIntosh amps this is normal.
The 'B' zone selector determines what you can record and the 'A' zone selector determines what you listen to.
Movie sound tracks are decoded automatically but you must set the playback mode in the individual movies' set up menu. Use Cinema 1 for 5.1 and cinema 2 for 7.1. If you only have 5.1 speakers and have set up the menu this way both 1 and 2 work the same.
Music one is Dolby DPLIIx and Music 2 is DTS Neo:6. Adjust the DTS Neo:6 center width in the trim section using effect.

Thanks,
Ron-C
Click to expand...

Ron, nice post. I learn something new everyday and this post confirms it with the music 1 settings. I was wondering how this works. I am going to give it a shot now.

Is this the same for the MX119? If so where is the home key on the remote?

Thanks
 
Thanks Ron. I also was wondering where the "home key" was on the remote.

I had already set up the zone "B" selector for taping from a CD but I still can not get a signal to the tape machine for recording. I'm pretty sure that I have it wired correctly. Is there any other setting I need to know about in order to tape record?

Also, I beleive I read that the MX120 will up convert a composite VCR connection to component connection quality. If this is true, what settings do I need to place in order for the MX120 to do the upconvert?

I truly appreciate your help as I am quite frustrated trying to figure it all out. 7.1 is a whole different arena than stereo. Many more adjustments and tweaks are required with surround sound.

Thank you so much Ron.
 
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