MC402 owners...

[kevzep]

Hi Rick, thank you so much, what you said is so true, " there will always be something better" and if we always want the best, we end up broke:scratch2:

There is always something better!! you just have to make the decision you are happy with for your budget.....
I get the feeling you are working to a particular budget, so with that, I would forget the MC501's and go for the MC402.....the 402 is great buying....

Remember, McIntosh has great resale, so don't be afraid of making the "wrong" decision because you can always get your money back.....


Good luck man, let us know how you get on.....:thmbsp:

 

[arien]

There is always something better!! you just have to make the decision you are happy with for your budget.....
I get the feeling you are working to a particular budget, so with that, I would forget the MC501's and go for the MC402.....the 402 is great buying....

Remember, McIntosh has great resale, so don't be afraid of making the "wrong" decision because you can always get your money back.....


Good luck man, let us know how you get on.....:thmbsp:

Thank you Kevin, I'm really trying to squeeze a budget to get the newer mc452 but we will see.....cheers mate

 

[twiiii]

I liked 501's, they can meet specs driving a 4 ohm load from the 8 ohm tap. That's current capability and they have the highest damping factor of the autoformer units. But for you guys who can still hear above 10 khz the newer amps should be a better choice. I was listening to my Stax head phones the other day and wonder how the new Mac amps would compare driving some XRT 28.. as they seem to come the closest to matching my headphones spectrally.

 

[kevzep]

I liked 501's, they can meet specs driving a 4 ohm load from the 8 ohm tap. That's current capability and they have the highest damping factor of the autoformer units. But for you guys who can still hear above 10 khz the newer amps should be a better choice. I was listening to my Stax head phones the other day and wonder how the new Mac amps would compare driving some XRT 28.. as they seem to come the closest to matching my headphones spectrally.

Yes, but the 501's are prone to overheating and shutting down when pushed hard like that, that is one of the reasons I didn't go for them when I was on my quest.....
In fact one of the conditions for them shutting down according to the literature I was reading was driving a 4Ω load off the 8Ω tap....
They're fine if they arent working that hard, but i have read testimonies from 501 owners about the thermal shutdown.......I've read owners often put fans on them to help cool them.....

The MC500 as I understand it has the highest damping factor of the Autoformer amps at 200, rather the the 100 of the 501......
The 602 would be a beast of an amp, but then for some reason the damping factor is back down to 100 on them....

 

[Chubba]

I found a cure for the 252 and expect it would work for the 501's. I call it four 2 1/4 in fans.Two under each heat sink inside the chasis.The 252 and 501 should have came that way it would have saved me a couple of years of not likeing my 252.Now it can run full power all day /night and be WARM.

 

[kevzep]

I found a cure for the 252 and expect it would work for the 501's. I call it four 2 1/4 in fans.Two under each heat sink inside the chasis.The 252 and 501 should have came that way it would have saved me a couple of years of not likeing my 252.Now it can run full power all day /night and be WARM.

You do have to wonder why they didn't realize this would be the case, surely they test them in a real world situation before they put them into production.....
I mean at some point someone will drive the amp to the point where if its convection cooled it needs to actually get the job done....

Yeah, interesting one for sure......well at least subsequent models don't seem to have that problem.....

 

[Chubba]

I agree Kevin.That is a lot of amps and $.If I would have seen this coming I would not have bought the 252.I do not run the 252 at full power (little to no power guard) all the time at all.Lots of low volume listening as I do repect neibours,wife,my ears.We do not all listen to chamer music? at 2.5 watts some of us like to rock and now my 252 is finally capable of doing so.