McIntosh MA12000 is it worth upgrading to.

I don't understand why you would spent that much cash on a machine you only use as an power amp. My 452 is an amazing power amp would only upgrade to the 462  or a new 12000 for the tone controls and the Dac. And the added connections Is the Dac not that good,  can't believe Mc. wouldn't be using weak chips. And my phono stage is fine, I don't get it. My system sounds amazing, I only want to upgrade not to spend crazy dollars on Dac's and to use less space.  

@eoj4952 

I have a C2700 feeding a pair of MC611s. As far as the DAC in the C2700 goes, it will compete with anything up to $5K. It is crazy good for an almost "add-on" piece of equipment. I do run an additional DAC, and it is clearly better than the DA2 module; however, the DAC retails for $19K! The fun is when switching back and forth; the MAC puts a smile on my face!

You absolutely don’t want a built in dac  ,a Quality dedicated dac is so much better.

withut question , why do you want to change your current electronics ?what is your budget for a dedicated dac ? Please remember your Ethernet cables ,as well as usb cables make a huge difference , in your case I would recommend the Denafrips Pontus2 12 th anniversary dac ,with the Iris DDC upsampler which clears the signal then has a better master clock for $2500 a no brainer ,

it has a I2S input which is the best Wireworld HDMI has the exact pin out for the I2S cable -HDMI , the Mac dac not even close in musicality . I have heard most everything from McIntosh , this applies to all ,a good external dac is much better 

for you just have much area for isolation ,power supplies and better parts quality .

To the OP I have the same situation as Jeffrey W in the above post. My C8 preamp has the DA2  DAC and I have a DCS bartok. Switching back-and-forth between the two you can barely tell a difference. You could argue that there’s no difference because it’s so close. It comes down to which one do you prefer. My friend while we were switching back-and-forth like everybody else, it turned out that he’d like the Macintosh better. It’s so close that I decided to sell the DCS while it’s still has a decent resale value. There is no difference between the module that’s in the MA 12,000 for the C8. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t get the same enjoyment out of the M a 12,000 versus a separate DAC. Save the space and the money.

I'm new to mac moving from a hegel h590 to a c49 and pair of mc611's. How does the headroom compare on the model you have and the ma12000? What impressed me the most about my separates is how much better everything is at low volume, bass, soundstage, dynamics, layering, all the things I previously had to turn up to 90+ db to get now comes in at late night, 'everyone else in the house is asleep' levels. IDK if it's a mac thing or having so much power? Either way you already identified that as your concern so maybe you can get one on loan?