Big Mcintosh MC1000 pwr amp s?

Are there any owners here of MC1000s? I'm about to buy a pair of these or (if I can find it) a pair of 1201s. Parting with a pair of Pass X600's.
My question is> what (other than power) differences could anyone expect? Are there any specific issues with these amps? I'll be using it with a pair of JMLab Utopias (as stereophile's reviewer did with the 1201s) and I'm hoping to get at least the same clean power as with the Passes.
Would it be a dissapointment or would it be a step on the right direction? I can't blame the Passes for anything, just that I've heard the 501's and liked it very much combined with a pair of N802 B&W.
Any feedback will be appreciated.
Thanks !

Marcelo

Yes, MC1201s are better sounding than MC1000s in every respect you can imagine.

There was a time when McIntosh power amps sounded flat and uninvolving but that time has been gone for over 10 years now. The full range of McIntosh autoformer amplifiers are dynamic, musical, expressive and have a ton of tone. But the MC501s and MC1201s completely demolish the idea that too many devices in the signal path spoil an amp. The 1201s will shove aside the constriction and discontinuities imposed by most passive crossovers in loudspeakers, sound uniformly lovely up and down the frequency range of music, and impart an effortlessness to your system that very few other amp/speaker combinations at any price can muster.

I'm still a tube amp listener, but the MC1201s have strongly tempted me.

Phil

Thank you Phil.
Do I read you correctly if I sort of conclude from your words that it'd be better to get a pair of 501s than a pair of mc1000's?

Or would you just reduce the choice to the 1201's against the 1000's in wich case the 1201 wins hands down, yet the 501's wouldn't be a contest for the 1000's?

Sorry if I'm being dense.

Brgds,
Marcelo

The question I wonder about, is yes,I understand how many large high wattage Amplifiers will have plenty of reserve power on tap, and this can be a good thing for transients-dynamics, but to what point will one go?No doubt there's probably not a speaker made on the planet that requires 1KW, or 1.2KW of power to drive, and I wonder just how much better a MC-1201 would power, and sound per any given speaker versus the MC-501?I'm sure one could perhaps apply in jest, the age old saying, that "if the first watt doesn't sound good, what good will another 1199 watts do"? Unless there are design differences between these models, I cannot see how there would be much radical difference in sound? I suppose there is though, otherwise, why would McIntosh make them in the first place? Mark

I wonder just how much better a MC-1201 would power, and sound per any given speaker versus the MC-501

To my ear, the MC1201 is MUCH more dynamic, while maintaining the sweet, liquid sound of the MC501.