Classe vs McIntosh

I have been very happy with the McIntosh / Thiel synergy I went from a Mc 300 to a Mc500 with my CS-6's and now finally the Mc 500 to the new Mc 602 with the 7.2's in all cases I was happy with the performance but also felt justified in the upgrades. Speaking of upgrades that is a real plus with Mc they seem to trade easily on the open market although heavy and akward to ship they seem to keep a good portion of their value in a very volatile market

I just bought the mC501's for my Thiel 3.6's, had a classe ca200 for several years. The classe is a nice amp...but the big macs really show what that speaker is capable of doing. Neither classe or thiel is noted for a full bodied midrange, the macs flesh out the thiels and smooth out the highs. Just took the 3.6's to a whole new level for me. The additional power also filled in the soundstage in a way the classe couldn't do.

Hi Pops,

I was just curious about your new amp- did you feel you lost any detail or resolution vs. the solid state classes?

The Macs will give you a sense of more power (filling the spkrs demands)and a little more bass punch and drive. The Classes are more transparent and a tad more of a resolution ability. It is a matter of sonic preferences (music, volume levels, room size, cosmetics, etc..) since both are excellent options.

Fernando

Hi Gnobber,

I actually picked up detail, but it seems to be more a function of the whole rather than noticably sticking out if that makes sense, I guess more natural and musical. I've only had these amps about a week and still getting to know them, they are astonishingly better than my classe. The background silence is dramatically improved, images emerge from a total black soundstage.