Mcintosh 6900/Klipsh Cornwall III - a good match?

mcintosh harsh? no way. most people complain that they are too warm or lack highs. krell is harsh.

Of the 8 McIntosh amps I have owned, none have been harsh no matter what.

Anyway, I have actually heard an MA6900 on Cornwall III. I have also heard the new MA6300 on Cornwall III. Both used Pioneer Elite source in the same large room and were fantastic with a slight improvement going to the 6900 because of its more laid back and round nature. The 6300 is a fantastic amp with better dynamics than the 6900 but slightly "harder" too - something the Cornwalls made fairly obvious. The 6300 was a better match with B&W 805S (wonderful combination BTW).

As for the room, I agree with the others that it might be a bit small for Cornwalls. They don't have very deep bass despite their size but they will produce enough energy at 40Hz to cause you problems in 13x13 room.

Unless of course you don't really care about neutrality and love lots of bass. In that case, go for it and see what you think.

The other exception would be if your room has permanent openings into adjoining rooms. If that is the case, you might be able to get away with it just fine. My room is 14x13 (17 meter square) but with two open doorways in the back corner; my speakers have the same bass extention specification as the Cornwall III, and my bass measures and sounds incredibly even, all things considered.

The Cornwall III are amazing speakers for the money. I was very highly impressed. I wanted to hear them on the MA2275 but wasn't able to. My feeling is they would be best with tubes but the 6900 is probably close enough. That integrated (and MC202 amp) is the most "classic tube" sounding SS amp I have ever heard. It makes the MC275 sound like modern hifi by comparison.

Arthur

i think the klipsh are very efficient so the 6300 or 6500 would probably work fine. i used the ma-6500 with some 4-ways and then the totem model 1's and i didn't think there was enough power. i even tried the mc202 with a classe 47.5 preamp and that wasn't much better. if the 6900 was out, i would have gone that way. it wasn't so i did something else.

Generally it's not the power people buy the 6900 for but the autotransformer. Evidently that component reduces the graniness somewhat heard with the 6300/6500. It's still there, just less so. If you must go with the Mc integrated line, it's clearly the best sounding of the three in my listening tests. You'd do yourself a favor by listening to all three and more importantly other brands.

I'm a Klispch fan since the 70s and owned a half dozen models of their various lines. Every new model produced after 1990 was unlistenable not mention the drop in quality of construction (peeling veneer). I've got a pair of Forte's sitting in another room I can't bear to part with. I'm thinking about mating a Cary SLI-80 with them. I used to use them with pure analog in the mid-80s.

In any case I tried many different SS setups with the many models of Klipsh I owned with mostly poor results. They sound great with a turntable or a tube CD but otherwise the horns are pretty painful sounding. The Forte's sounded tolerable at times with Marantz gear oddly enough. Still be careful before you shell out. I speak from my own experiences.

I gave up on using Klipsch with modern digital and have gone with Aerials which do a pretty good job.

regards, David

Totally disagree that the 6900 is harsh. With my speaks....Dalis....that is the last word i'd used to describe it. With horns YMMV.

I agree 100% with the Mac 6300/B&W....in my test the 804S....good match.

Also agree with the 6900 being tubey sounding. Lived with a Stingray for a long time prior to the Mac.

That's my useless input, havent heard the 6900 with Klipsch...yet.