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McIntosh MC501 or Audio Research DS450M for Magnepan 1.7

Dear all - Which amp should I choose for Magnepan 1.7: McIntosh MC501 or Audio Research DS450M?

Planning to use the McIntosh D150 if I go with The MC501 or Audio Research LS27 if I go with DS450M.

Thank you in advance!
Livio
benagli1
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,384 posts
 

I believe those ARC amps have been listed here 2 or 3 times now. If I remember the Stereophile review, they insinuated they were more on the detail oriented analytical side. I went from Classe to Odyssey to Conrad-Johnson, Rogue, Parasound and now to Mac. There is nothing like a Mac, they are extremely musical, forgiving of lesser equipment, high resale value and they are very dependable. And those big blue meters are gorgeous.

The ARC preamp will mate very well with the ARC, Heard it in a buddys system and at a show.

audioconnection
1,271 posts
 
Bryston 7 Mono blocks
ask wendel at Magnepan this exact question 

pops
2,273 posts
 
Do you guys see a problem if I use an ARC LS27 with a Mcintosh amp?

I know of several who have used ARC with Mcintosh 501's.  The only question is the impedance match, Mac 501's are a low 10K and most tube preamp designers recommend 20K or higher, including ARC.

That's not to say it won't work, I have used CJ tubes with my 501's  and the sound has been excellent.  Just something to be aware of.....
mattmiller's avatar
mattmiller
1,497 posts
 
There willl be no problem with regard to input as the ARC owners manual states:

OUTPUT IMPEDANCE:700 ohms Balanced, 350 ohms SE Main (2), 20K ohms minimum load and 2000pF maximum capacitance. Outputs (3): 2 Main, 1 Record (XLR and RCA connectors).

You can use the 10K input on the MAC (rca) or the 20K (XLR) the ARC will output well within range for great synergy...14X for the XLR input and 28X for the RCA. (10,000 amps input (se) divided by 350 (output of pre) is 28, as long as it’s 10 times or greater your good :-) The OP may want to consider RCA’s between the amps but XLR’s will work great as well.

ARC tube pre amp with a SS MAC amp is incredible sounding.

Matt M
benagli1 OP
4 posts
 
Thank you so much fo your kind responses!
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