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Where do I stick the electrical cord?

F

FrankieV1972

New Member
OK, if I had a brain I would probably know the answer to this but after that pesky little alien abduction things are a little fuzzy. My mc7300 amp has a female electrical outlet on it. My mx130 pre has a few female electrical outlets on it. Which scenario is correct:

  • The amp is plugged into the wall and the pre is plugged into the amp
  • The pre is plugged into the wall and the amp is plugged into the pre
Or should both be plugged into the wall?



Thanks

Frank
 
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Best case scenario is that both are plugged into the wall. Otherwise usually the preamp has a the power management duties and it should be plugged into the wall, then the amp into it. This is how some vintage McIntosh gear work as there are no power switches on the amps and the preamps acts as the switch. Hope this helps.
 
The MC730s outlet is an unfused tap off the input power cord, there's no switching done on it internally. The MX130 outlets are also unfused, but they are all switched through a relay. If you just want to save a wall outlet for something else, plug the preamp into the power amp. If you want preamp control over the power amp AND save a wall outlet, you can plug the amp into the pre.
 
I never plug anything into my amp outlet except for a fan (small fan, not a box fan). I use the wall for both amp and pre.
 
Half of the remote functionality is lost if you have to turn on the amp separately. The three outlets are controlled by relays. I believe outlets two and three are for controlling remote amps.
 
Just my 2c's but having had a 7300 and now a 302 I've always gone with the tried and true advice, provided by the tech at McIntosh whose name I can't recall right now, of plugging the amp directly into the wall outlet. My C2200 preamp is plugged into a TrippLite IsoBar12 Ultra which is the same type I use for my guitar and recording gear.
 
I have my 2125 power amp plugged into my c32 preamp, only because the power switch on the 2125 was starting to act up and I want to avoid any unnecessary wear on it.
 
Thou shalt not plug the 7300 into any convenience outlet on the rear of a preamp. The in-rush current the 7300 requires when being turned ON will most certainly damage it. You could use a power sequencer to manage the power of the amplifier via the preamp's power state, it just need be rated to about 15A.

From your choices, the first is acceptable.
 
trainbuftony said:
Personally I'd plug the preamp into the wall and the amp into the switched outlet.
Then one switch can turn on the whole setup.
Click to expand...

IF you can confirm that the switched receptacle on the back of the pre is fed through a relay. I don't like doing that with 40+ year old original switches.

there are workarounds, e.g. my Monster Power conditioner can switch an amp using the pre switched receptacle as a trigger, or you can use a "green" power strip with the pre plugged into the "master" receptacle.
 
damacman said:
Thou shalt not plug the 7300 into any convenience outlet on the rear of a preamp. The in-rush current the 7300 requires when being turned ON will most certainly damage it. You could use a power sequencer to manage the power of the amplifier via the preamp's power state, it just need be rated to about 15A.

From your choices, the first is acceptable.
Click to expand...
The SCR3 used to handle that for me.
 
Is the 7300 unique in the inrush current at power on?

Reason I ask (not to hijack) is because I have my 2125 powered from a switched outlet on a CR7 and haven’t had any trouble with it. The outlet power rating seems similar based on the labeling?
 
OK, despite portests of my knees and back I crawled around on the floor and put a surge supressor under the stereo rack and plugged each item into a seperate outlet on it. The surge suppresor is turned on or off by a smartswitch.

Frank
 
frodaddi said:
Is the 7300 unique in the inrush current at power on?

Reason I ask (not to hijack) is because I have my 2125 powered from a switched outlet on a CR7 and haven’t had any trouble with it. The outlet power rating seems similar based on the labeling?
Click to expand...
Yes and no. The PS in the 7300 is a completely different animal from an MC2105, MC2125, etc. I have a few 25A SSR switched outlets that I've made - 12V trigger in, 25A (100A peak) Solid State Relay > Duplex outlet. These manage power up of various power amplifiers which lack 12V triggers. The 7300 couldn't be fired up from one.

The CR7 has a high current outlet designed for power amplifiers. Even yet, I don't know that it would be suitable for a 7300. Once the amp is on, the current requirements go way down.
 
Well a MX-130 power switch isn't really strong enough for the AC current the power amp requires if you continually require more than 30 watts per channel. But if its only 30 watts peak power per channel plug it into the MX-130. Other wise plug both units into the wall AC receptacle and turn them on and off separately.

Remember Pre-amp on first and off last. If their is an EQ in between the two, then plug it into the MX 130.
 
The MX-130 rear panel outlets are definitely relay switched. The AC for these does NOT run through the MX-130's power switch. AC runs directly to the BUPS, which has the relays for the rear panel outlets, and the AC runs directly back to the outlets from there. These are hefty relays and can probably tolerate the MC7300 inrush with no issues, although it makes sense to check the owners manual and stay within limits.
 
frodaddi said:
Is the 7300 unique in the inrush current at power on?

Reason I ask (not to hijack) is because I have my 2125 powered from a switched outlet on a CR7 and haven’t had any trouble with it. The outlet power rating seems similar based on the labeling?
Click to expand...

1750W (total outlets combined) rating of the CR7 is plenty generous for the needs of an MC2125 whose maximum draw is only a fraction of that. In fact, it can power three MC2125s without exceeding maximum outlet capacity.
 
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