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Meters without McIntosh

MetalDaze

MetalDaze

Active Member
View media item 11159After failing to find a McIntosh MPM 4000 (Or Amp for that matter) that was for sale- let alone in my price range. I thought my quest for VU meters connected to my amplifier would come without resolution. Then I found the Realistic APM-200. NOS still in original packaging with documents from radio shack. I happily paired it with my Emotiva & all is well with the cosmos.
 
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Yes! I've always been drawn to them & this was a nice find. I was very happy get it & the GAF (girlfriend approval factor) is high :banana:
 
No I'm not. I live in an apartment & one neighbor already dislikes me lol I've maxed it at the 2W setting but not much in way of 200W. The Amp is an Emotiva XPA-4 Gen 3.

The rms values are fair and claim +/- 1 Db at the 2W setting I believe. More at 200W. I largely use them as an average since the peak LED is more accurate, plus it's just fun to watch!
 
Nice score. That's a slick looking amp.

Honestly, I actually prefer the non-metered Mac amps.
 
MetalDaze said:
Thanks! I like it a lot both sonically and looks but it takes up A lot of real-estate!
Are the non metered amps a personal preference?
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For me, that's a personal preference. I find them bright and distracting. I keep the meter lights switched of 95% of the time, or covered if the amp doesn't have an off option. They are, to me at least, just a tool to know approximately how many watts are required by the speakers I am using. There are a few model Macs that have metered and non-metered equivalents. On the mac turntables I find the presence of a meter to be pretty silly and unnecessary. The recent move to include meters on the preamps is only slightly more useful, allowing owners of non metered amps to get an idea of power utilization. I really wish there was an option for minimal lights (red standby LED only) on my MC152 and to disable the display and nomenclature back lights on my C47 preamp.
 
MY one of two 207, 206 and 2505 with MPI-4 are to my left as sit to watch TV or listen to music. So If I wish I can turn my head and watch the meters or by looking forward not be aware of them. MY MX 151 will remotely turn off the 200 series meters with a remote, probably could do the same thing to the 152 if I had one. As the 2505 and MPI-4 are part of the stereo system they are off most of the time. If I do listen to music the 2505 is used for headphones, and the HT part of the system and main amps can be turned off.

I always wanted to see a Mac amp with red meters! That way they wouldn't effect your eyes in a dark room while watching a movie.
 
These are my meters. I can have only the meters on, the meters and the leds, the leds only, and off like the right hand amp. I was trying out a new preamp I had just gotten sitting on top of the left amp.

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It is a good tool indeed. Useful real-time information about consumption and the outgoing power- which is in my experience, a lot less than expected. Just 1 watt will go pretty far with their sensitivity & room interaction. But meters on a turntable? haha now that's just silly. The only place I've seen them besides an amp or pre-amp was on my Dad's Technics tape deck.

& Bilbobaggins those amps look like they mean business!
 
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