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Is it Stupid to use the Power outlet on Mcintosh Mx113

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DenverJW

New Member
Hi Everyone, Is it a bad idea to use the power outlet on the MX113 Pre/Tuner to feed the MC2100 AMP? I really want to try it and it says in the manual to hook the amps to them, but I'm scared it may be a bad match and risky? What do you think? Thanks, John
 
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It should be fine. Most equipment with rear power receptacles have screen printing which shows what their max load can handle. I am currently using 3 different amplifiers connected to one preamp with switched power outlets.

Somewhere near the outlets it should say something like 600 watts max or some such thing. Just don't go over the rated max wattage.
 
Most vintage gear with switched outlets was designed to switch accompanying power amplifiers. Much modern gear uses a relay specifically to do that.

Unless the power amplifier or associated switched gear consumes a vast amount of power, I would not be worried at all.
 
The combined volume pot/power switch for MX113 is a hundred dollar part(IF you can find one) plus installation.

I don't have a hundred bux to be careless with, therefore i'd not put any more load on those switch contacts than necessary.

YMMV.
 
Many amps require a 15 amp on switch to handle the inrush current from the amp's turn on sequence. It certainly doesn't need that high of a value during its operation. A preamp doesn't normally have that robust of a power on switch. (Frank uses 16 amp switches on his power amps.)

Marantz had a habbit of making power amps without turn on switches, so people plugged their amps into the preamp's "switched" outlets. As cycle times of on and off increased, the damage to the contacts (also from breaking contact) soon rendered many preamp power switches inoperative.

There are relay driven switch boxes available for just such a purpose. The box has an outlet that the amp plugs into, the box also has a 3 prong plug to plug into a wall outlet and it also has another plug to insert into the preamp's switched outlet. The interior of the box has a 120 volt relay. The relay contacts handle the power amp's inrush current. No damage to the switch as the relay requires very little current to operate. Wall outlet runs the amp, preamp's switched outlet runs the relay.

A sequentially turn on/off power center would be ideal (they have two power cords, one for power, one for on signal.
 
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The total wattage of the MX113 outlets is 450 watts. The MC2100 max consumption is 450 watts. While you probably wouldn't operate your Mac amp "dimed", that's a little too close for comfort for me. If you DO decide to do it, then don't plug anything into the amps aux AC jacks. It's load will add to the total.
 
Thank you everyone, It's a split decision. So if I use a switchbox will the amp will turn on when I power up the Pre? It may sound lazy, but I've been using multiple power buttons and power strips for years and I'm liking the idea of one "
power up" for everything. And I love vintage gear.
 
I’ve got a power strip with one outlet marked Master and 5 others marked Switched. You’d plug your pre into the Master, and the unit switches on the other outlets when it senses the current draw from the pre. I’ve seen some strips with wifi control from a phone, which could also be handy for equipment without a remote.
 
I played it safe and used a power strip on my 2100's rather than the switched outlet on my 113. It would've been nice if Mac could've put a power switch on the 2100:dunno:
 
I use a switched power strip. Plug the heavy duty plug into the wall and the light weight one that draws 10 watts into the back of the mX 113. Turn on the MX 113 and it activates the 15+ amp rated AC strip turning on an Amplifier and what ever else you need. My C-29 had a power switching relay inside and the power of the amps caused the contacts to pit and stick to gather. So I had to polish the relay contacts. Sounds simple enough, until you figure in the time to disconnect disassemble perform the repair and put everything back together. Thats why I bought the AC strip 40 years ago and it is still working flawlessly today. Of course new ones today designed for audio use will have line filters and other features to help protect your equipment.
 
I see a CR7 in your future...

It will solve all your problems and then some - including never having to use the on/off volume control of the MX113 sparing wear on the power switch altogether.
 
I use an Adcom surge suppressor/power sequencer. It's a one button affair and goes through the proper amp on last, off first with a good 45 seconds between switching. It also uses common parts inside to ease repair when the relays eventually get torched taking surges from power amps.
 
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