McIntosh MA12000 phono stage

[imthetxman]

Hi all -

I've been going back and forth between investing in Mc separates (MC275 tube amp & C2700 tube pre) and the MA12000 integrated. I'm starting to warm up to the idea of the MA12000 based on the quad balanced circuit and individual tone controls - would I really need/use them??? Not sure but damn they look cool. But I've heard so much about the awesome phono stage in the C2700. Would I be giving that up?? I play a lot of vinyl yet (as well as digital).

Anyone have any input??

Still deciding on speakers as well. Klipsch Cornwall vs. Sonus Faber Sonetto VIII. Appreciate any thoughts there as well.

 

[DVDdoug]

I'm a LOT more economical and "practical"...

McIntosh is famous for "good sound" and I'm sure you'll be happy if you don't mind spending the money. But these days it's not expensive or difficult to get sound that's better than human hearing (from electronics).

IMO - 1950's technology (tubes) is silly... You can get good sound, and McIntosh was getting good sound in the tube days when most audio equipment was lacking. But now it's just more expensive, especially for a power amp. But I assume the tubes are in the preamp stage where you don't need audio transformers. And tubes age and deteriorate (although they'll probably be good for 10 years or more).

A separate equalizer is also economical and usually more flexible than an ""8-band tone control". And modern AVRs have "room correction".

I also wouldn't obsess over the phono preamp. You can have a perfect phono preamp and you are still limited by the analog record. (The cartridge will make a difference too but that's mostly frequency response and that can be tweaked with EQ or tone controls, and a decent cartridge will also be better than the record itself so you'd mostly be correcting/adjusting the EQ of the record.


I don't know about the speakers but I assume you've heard them I'd say that mostly comes-down to personal preference.



...I had a McIntosh power amplifier (tubes) in the 1970s that somebody gave me. It sounded good but it was mono so I didn't use it that much and I eventually gave it away.

 

[imthetxman]

Thanks DVDdoug.... Without a doubt McIntosh is overpriced.

I understand and agree with everything you're saying. I'm not looking at McIntosh because I think they provide the best sound at the best price (best value). I'm interested in Mc simply because I want that brand name in my rack. I know it sounds strange, but there's a psychological aspect of listening to music for me. It's gotta look good as well as sound good. There are other brands that I've researched that also "look good" and cost much less and probably sound just as good but I grew up in the '60s and '70s (like you??) when Mc was the gold standard always dreaming of owning their equipment. Now that I'm near retirement and have the $$$, I'm thinking it's time.

I'm also not hung up on tubes. SS is just fine with me.

All that said and getting back to the phono stage question - what I hear you saying is "don't get too hung up on the phono stage."