New McIntosh MA252

I have a McIntosh C2500/MC452 driving a pair of Focal Sopra No2 speakers.  In my search for those speakers I found that many of the amplifiers didn't pair well with the Sopra's, especially with their tweeters, but the smoothness of the "McIntosh house sound" paired really well with those speakers.

One of my audio buddies, a guy whose opinions I respect, recently auditioned one of the new Focal Kanta's with the MA252 and was very positive on how those two paired.

I suspect that McIntosh will sell tons of those MA252's, nice unit, great looks and (for McIntosh) a more affordable price!

I had a MA252 in my bedroom system; and ultimately sold it off. I found it harsh on the top end and rather harsh sounding with my Focal Electra 1028s; my older MA7900 sounds fantastic with them .. may be the hours on it, or the output transformers etc., but its a very different sound. I also have a PrimaLuna EVO400 with KT150s.. saw PL mentioned above.. its a wholly different animal.. very 'tube' as its a real full tube amp. the MA252 is tube on input stage only and I for one, didn't really feel it made any difference; not mention the silly green LED lights. 

If I were going to be swayed by a McIntosh tube integrated it’d be the MA2275. But really it’s too big, heavy and expensive, not to mention I’ve foresworn valve amplification for the duration. I’ll stick with SS.

But that 2275 is a beaut.
http://www.hifi-review.com/images/archive/mcintosh-ma2275_550.jpg

The 2275 was beautiful, sound quality, not so much. It was not even close to the 275 and it should have been so much better.  It just wasnt....something got lost during the design phase.

I bought an MA252 last Saturday and I absolutely love it. Previously I was using a Bryston 4B and Mirage M1s. I got new GoldenEar Triton 1 speakers at the same time. The amp does have a somewhat more warm tone than the Bryston but I can't really make a comparison because I haven't use it with the M1s. I have read some comments dissing the Mc sound but for me it is perfect and combined with the Tritons I think the overall sound is very good. If you don't require gobs of power then I would seriously consider this Mc.