McIntosh MC252 vs. MC352

If your room isnt too large I wouldnt bother with either, Ive tried the 390s direct and it sounded lean with the Mcintosh. The new silk tweeters on the Duette would sing with tubes and I think the Mcintosh MA2275 integrated would be a better choice. Others may disagree but for my taste tubes just cant be beat. If you have the budget swap out the stock kt88's for gold lions, and the 2 12at7 with a pair of telefunken ecc801s. Good luck!

the quality of sound would be the same, but the power of the 352 pretty much will 'control' the bass of ANY conventional loudspeaker. both products are exceptional.

Correction-the 252 is not quad balanced. The 352 and 402 are. S/N ratio is higher on the 352 than the 252. Check out the McIntosh site. I have owned the 352 and it is a great amp.

The 352 is a fully balanced circuit ("quad balanced"), like Mac's current higher end amps - the 252 has a more conventional (but still very good) circuit. The 252 is a current model, while the 352 was replaced by the 402 (basically the same circuit but 50 more watts) a couple of years ago.

I bought the 352 and am very happy with it, even though I don't think I've ever used more than 50 watts into my Martin Logans.

As Klipschfan and Bob point out the major difference it the quad balancing on the 352 actually Mcintosh called it double balanced at that time but the same circuitry. I have had a 352 for about 3 or 4 years now and love mine.
Sometimes I think about buying an Ayre or BAT to get a little quicker bass response but I think that I would miss that McIntosh warmth. And I would have withdrawels from the blue meters. I would say if you can find the 352 and like the price you'll love the amp.