New McIntosh MA352 cant drive Dynaudio Heritage Special loud - why not?

[JFlem]

Hi Folks -

I recently bought a McIntosh MA352 to use with some used Mofi Sourcepoint 10's (91db sensitivity). I heard them together at my dealership and they sound great IMO. Some used Dynaudio Heritage Special's just came up which I purchased and just today connected to the new MA352 (its first run). I was surprised to find that I had to crank the volume onthe MA352 all the way to 90%+ to get a reasonable volume from the speakers. I'm using a HiFi Rose RS250 to provide DAC and streamer to the MA352. I'm using Audioquest GO-4 cables and some very inexpensive component cables from the Rose to the MA352. Does anyone have any ideas why the volume/headroom would be so low? Am I likely doing something wrong? I know the Heritage Specials are hungry, but the MA352 delivers 320W into 4Ohms. Any thoughts or suggestions for troubleshooting? I'm relatively inexperienced, so any suggestions are welcomed. Thank you!

 

[dridel]

My MA352 drives my power hungry B&W 702 Signatures with ease, most of the time at 25-35%. 50% is really loud. Something is wrong with your chain. Try replacing one component at a time?

 

[JFlem]

That is a huge relief! Thank you for that. I'm going to try fixed volume control tomorrow to see what happens then - will make sure the volume on the MA352 is way down to avoid blowing anything. I had the variable volume on the Rose, but had it up to 99, so I'm not sure if fixed at 100 will make a difference. But maybe there is some technical reason that this will make all the difference. Thanks for your perspective on this. Its good to know that I have lots of juice in the amplifier to drive these speakers.

 

[sailor2005]

Hi Folks -

I recently bought a McIntosh MA352 to use with some used Mofi Sourcepoint 10's (91db sensitivity). I heard them together at my dealership and they sound great IMO. Some used Dynaudio Heritage Special's just came up which I purchased and just today connected to the new MA352 (its first run). I was surprised to find that I had to crank the volume onthe MA352 all the way to 90%+ to get a reasonable volume from the speakers. I'm using a HiFi Rose RS250 to provide DAC and streamer to the MA352. I'm using Audioquest GO-4 cables and some very inexpensive component cables from the Rose to the MA352. Does anyone have any ideas why the volume/headroom would be so low? Am I likely doing something wrong? I know the Heritage Specials are hungry, but the MA352 delivers 320W into 4Ohms. Any thoughts or suggestions for troubleshooting? I'm relatively inexperienced, so any suggestions are welcomed. Thank you!

Check volume/level/gain settings on the HiFi Rose. It might be too low or variable volume enabled.

 

[JFlem]

Check volume/level/gain settings on the HiFi Rose. It might be too low or variable volume enabled.

Thank you for this. I will try this tomorrow. I think I had variable volume enabled, but set to 99 (max). But maybe fixed volume will make a difference. Thanks for your suggestion!

 

[dridel]

Sure and congrats on the new amp! I'm sure it will make a killer combo with the Sourcepoints.

 

[JFlem]

Hey, thanks for that. I'm pretty excited about it! Appreciated.

 

[JeffGB]

I had a quick look at the manual for the MA352 and it has "Trim" controls to adjust the sensitivity for incoming signals. I would check those settings because it sounds like you have your DAC at max output already. Good luck!

 

[JFlem]

I had a quick look at the manual for the MA352 and it has "Trim" controls to adjust the sensitivity for incoming signals. I would check those settings because it sounds like you have your DAC at max output already. Good luck!

OK. Thanks very much for this possible solution. I have to dig into this in the manual as you suggest. I think my order of operation is:
1. Re-check all the connections and make sure its set up correctly.
2. Turn the MA352 volume way down and set the Rose volume to fixed; then turn-up the MA352 volume to see if this solves the problem.
3. Check the trim controls to see if I can adjust the sensitivity of Input 1 (the Rose).

Thanks again to everyone for their helpful suggestions. I'll get back at it tomorrow after work if possible.

 

[radix]

If you have another amp, try driving the Dynaudio on it just to make sure the used pair you got is OK. It's hard when you have an unknown amp and unknown speakers.

You might also make sure that the speaker wires are all done correctly and nothing is shorting (a stray wire strand).

I assume your tubes all turned green

There is also a trim function per input, maybe the input trim level it was not set to 0dB? I assume the input you're using is assigned to Output 1, or you wouldn't get anything.

 

[JFlem]

Thank you for your suggestions. I don’t have another amp unfortunately, but I can say the speakers sounded great - just tok 90% volume to get to 80-85db. If I can’t figure it out though, I’ll take them to my local dealer for a try. The trim is something I’ll definitely take a look at. I also had variable volume on as a setting in the Rose. But I had it at 98 so I don’t know if fixed will make a difference. But I’ll try. Thanks again!

 

[radix]

The trim is only a +/- 4dB adjustment, I think. It would make a difference, but not that much.

Assuming the speakers are OK, I'd assume it's a setting on the Rose. All the default settings on the Mac should basically just work, AFAIK.

There are a couple pages of initial setup in the manual, which I assume you followed correctly. Tube do take a lot more work than SS....

 

[JFlem]

I also think it must be a setting in the Rose. I’ve reviewed the rise manual but it’s a bit limited. I’ll see what I can discover tomorrow about the output settings. I’ll take another look at the MA353 Manual too - just to double check I didn’t miss anything. Thanks again for your thoughts and suggestions!

 

[Blumlein 88]

You might try measuring output level of the DAC with a multimeter. Use a test tone of maybe 200 to 400 hz. If that looks good, connect the amp and measure the same tone at the speaker posts. However, switch the test tone from one at max level to one at -20 db to prevent damage to the speaker. You'll be able to determine if the amplifier is putting out correct gain.

 

[Koeitje]

Have you tried a different source?

 

[dman777]

I recently had the Dynaudio Heritage Limited edition speakers. They sounded great. However, I wanted something a bit more forward so I returned them. I plan on buying Focal Kanta 2s.

I used my Yamaha AS-3200 on them and it sounded plenty loud for me. I never detected the Heritage speakers being underpowered or the amp struggling. In fact, I played them loud enough to where my tinnitus started giving me real issues so I had to ease off the volume after a couple of days. If I remember correctly, with streaming as the source (cd player doesn't need as much wattage), music would average in uppers 70s db, would peak in the low 80s, and the volume was about 65% up. At that volume level, the music still sounded 100% full without thinning out or losing sound quality.

 

[ivanj]

Make sure you turn up the variable output of the 'Rose to full or use the fixed output, into the MA352. Otherwise you maybe losing resolution from the ESS DAC chip. Caveat - I am assuming the output voltage/volume of this component is controlled in the digital domain as it is in many others, eg., OPPO 205.

You might find this Stereophile review somewhat helpful.