ODS123

Love it! Nice to see there are American products that are so well liked by our friends in France. Enjoy them in good health!

A mistake? Heck no, you'll be happy w/ any of those mentioned. ..It's just that by going w/ a Mac Integrated (like the MA5300, not the tube one above as it does not have home theater pass through) you can use just the Mac when you're listening to 2-channel audio. ..By getting the amp only, you'll have to use your AVR. As for wattage, I'd be very surprised if you ever get near 20-30 watts, let alone 100. ..And I love cranking my music and movies. ..Your speakers are incredibly efficient. Maybe a dealer would allow you to bring a demo unit home to try in your system?

Hi OP, ..what did you decide?

My hunch is that if the veneer is offered on another Heritage speaker, then why not?? Of course, it may cost extra and will probably have to wait until their next production run of CW's

I have excellent hearing, and a keen sense of musical nuance that has been honed by a lifetime obsession w/ music. ..Still, I can not hear one iota of difference b/w my Mac MA6600 and my NAD 375Bee. ..One has autoformers, the other doesn't. ..I'm all for buying Mac gear, but I don't believe that it sounds any better (or worse) than any other modern day gear. In fact, I don't think their tube gear sounds audibly different either! ..Once THD and S/N ratios approach a certain threshold, our ability to discern differences disappears. I was at a Audio dealer some time ago and even the salesperson confided that he could not reliably distinguish Mac S/S gear from their tube gear, which is engineered to low distortion and linear. So I wouldn't get hung up on autoformers, etc.. just go and listen, and bring a healthy amount of skepticism.

I see that your speakers are a bit less efficient than mine so perhaps they will need a bit more power. Still, I can't image you'll ever need all of the 100 watts. ..But, as you said, let's see what others say. As for the amp section of the 5300 being identical to the mc152, I couldn't really say.

As you see in my signature I use a McIntosh MA6600 w/ Klipsch Cornwalls. From a "needs" point of view, ANY mac piece is overkill when paired w/ high-sensitivity speakers. ..My 200 w/ch. MA6600 rarely crests 4-5 watt peaks on my 102db efficient Cornwall III's and the music is loud enough to cause hearing damage. So you definitely don't need it. As for the wine-taster audiophiles who ascribe all sorts of sonic attributes to various brands, you'll have to wait for them to chime in. IMHO, all modern gear playing w/ in design limits sound pretty much the same. All that said, there are still other good reasons to buy a Mac piece. The stuff is beautifully built, will last years, is hand-made (for the most part) in a small upstate NY town, and their preamps and integrated amps almost always have tone, balance, and mode (mono/stereo) controls - something which I personally deem essential. When I bought my Mac I had far less efficient speakers, if I were to buy today I'd probably get the MA-5300 b/c 100 w/ch is still WAYYYYY more than you'd ever need and it's a good bit less expensive. I also like that it has a home-theater pass-through, something my MA-6600 doesn't have. I personally would not chose the MC152 b/c it does not have a Mode selector (mono/stereo) nor does it have home-theater pass-through which is really important if you want your 2-ch setup to share the front speakers of your home-theater. Edit: Oops, sorry, I thought you were considering the MA252, which is an integrated.

Why? What damage do well designed and implemented tone, balance, and mode (stereo/mono) controls do?

Ah yes, I stand corrected! That Yamaha int. amp looks awesome.

(edited b/c I missed part of your op) given their high efficiency it should be easy to find something that drives these cleanly to the ear-blistering levels you want. ..My Mac integrated can drive my Cornwalls to visit-from-the-cops loud without ever exceeding 10 watts. Do you have a pre-amp?

Wow, that is beautiful! ..That said, I'm not in favor of turning the clock back entirely. While I do love that pre-amps and integrateds of yesteryear featured many adjustments to make listening to music more enjoyable, they also tended to have lots of hiss, hum, and scratchy controls. ..That part, I could do without. Wouldn't it be nice if a company would make gear that looks as nice as the above, but has modern day refinement?? Mac gear comes close, but still not quite as attractive.

Sorry, but I would regard the "allow 72 hours for precessing before contacting the vendor" to be more of a suggestion than a rule. ..And I would ignore the suggestion. If it were me, after giving them over $5K, I'd reach out to them the very next day to make sure all seems kosher. ..Just my $.02

I'm jealous!! ..Again, just a beautiful piece of industrial design. ..The C22 III would probably be my preference, but that's splitting hairs. Viva la knobs!!!!

A HUGE hats off to McIntosh for still offering it. ..Some of their older pre-amps had an amp section that could deliver 20 watts or so to "monitor" speakers. ..This one doesn't, which is a shame b/c 20 watts to my cornwalls is about 3x the wattage I'd ever need While I love my MA6600 for it's functionality and build quality, it's nowhere near a beautiful looking as a c22. ..To me, present day Mac gear is kinda joyless looking. ..but still far better than the myriad single or double knob pre-amps and integrated amps from nearly every other mfg. today.

Not to be too PC here, but I'm not a fan. Hifi needs to be inclusive; ads like this serve only to alienate women, IMHO. Sorry....

Ok, so I now understand you're not interested in a turntable or cd player, which i can totally understand. But you will still have speakers that are tethered to something. The master speaker will be tethered to a wall outlet via a power cord, then it will have a 2nd cord that extends to the other speaker. So both speaker have wires, which is where you are now. In fact, one will have two, and the cable joining them is of a set length. How about this? Check out this link. https://www.crutchfield.com/shopsearch/wireless_amplifier.html?&pg=1 Consider buying one of these wireless/ streaming amplifiers (one is a Klipsch product!) which will allow you to buy any klipsch speaker you want. A couple of them are so small they could even be hid behind the speaker so you wouldn't even need something to set it on. Here's the advantages over a powered speaker: You can use with any speaker you want You can use any speaker cable you want (cheap wire is just fine - don't believe the nonesense about exotic speaker cable) You're not having to send in a whole speaker if you ever need servicing. Most people have had amps that needed servicing at some point, imagine the hassle of having to box up a whole floor standing speaker. Plus, I don't believe Klipsch actually builds the plate-amps used in their powered speakers, who knows if they will be able to service it 4 or 5 years down the road. Some of these amps probably support a greater number of streaming conventions than the Klipsch models you're considering. Again, I'm sure these models you're considering sound great, but I have a hard time understanding the advantages of building an amp built into a speaker. The fact that no one has weighed in with a first-account opinion of either speaker perhaps tells you that very few people see the utility of a powered floor-stander.

I guess I don't quite understand how going with powered floor-standers reduces your "wired mess"? ..Now, instead of one simple speaker cable running to each speaker, you now will have a thick proprietary cable that runs from one to the other. So no net gain there - you'll still have a cable at each. Plus, whereas a regular speaker cable can be 20-25 feet and therefore long enough to tuck under a carpet, this joiner cable probably won't be. Then there's the other wires from your sources (eg., cd player, turntable, streaming device, etc..). ..Now, instead of all of your source wires running discretely to your Amp which in most cases is on the same shelf, they will now have to stretch from whatever they are sitting on to connect to the master speaker. ..And those wires won't be long enough to run along the ground, they'll probably be visible from your seating position. ..They plug into the speaker about 1/2 the way up. And do you have a power outlet right next to the master speaker? If not, you'll now have an extension cord running to the master speaker. I have no data to back this up but I bet this category of loudspeaker (powered floor-stander) has not been selling very well. This isn't to suggest they don't sound great - I'm sure they do - I'm just not sure how they make for tidier installation?

I think they made the right choice. A powered speaker this large presents a real servicing headache. ..It's one thing to send a 40lb Active stand monitor in for servicing but quite another to send something this large back if the amplifier needs servicing. ..Yes, you could remove the amp section and send it separately but then the technician can't investigate the speaker itself as a contributing factor. Personally, I don't see how active speakers are any more convenient. ..Instead of speaker wires, you now have both a signal AND a power cord running to each speaker. And what if you don't have an outlet proximal to the speaker? You'll end up with even more cabling gathering round the base of each speaker and possibly more limited placement unless you don't mind running extension cords to your speakers (or paying to have new outlets installed). Plus, with both speakers plugging into outlets (and probably using grounded three-prong plugs) you'll have more opportunity for buzz and hum from ground loops. I say it was the right decision.

I agree thebes.... I enjoy the tactile experience plus I love being able to make small adjustments to the music. Claims that such controls/knobs unavoidably degrade the signal through some black-magic process are nonsense IMHO. Take one look at a mixing board and you'll see that well engineered controls will not necessarily alter the signal when left at "0". Of course, some equipment manufacturers participate in this myth b/c minimalist gear (think integrated amp w/ just source selector and volume knob) is easier and cheaper to design and manufacture. I didn't really get into hifi until the late 80's, which was after this minimalist nonsense took hold. ..I'll bet hifi was more fun in the days before. More choices, more knobs, more knobby choices As an owner of one of their Integrateds, I love that McIntosh still includes tone and stereo mode controls on virtually EVERY one of their integrateds and Pre-amps. But I strongly dislike that all of their beautiful knobs and rocker switches have been replaced by one or two multi-function push-and-scroll knobs. Ugh. I find these to be nowhere near as satisfying to use. See the C22 below - have you ever seen a piece of hifi gear more beautiful than this...? Now look at the C47 - kinda boring by comparison. And these multi-function knobs are nowhere near as snug or snappy feeling to use; in fact, every one I've tried felt kinda wobbly. Here's what I'm referring too (and yes, I know the pic of the c22 is of their recent re-issue)

So explain how we can reliably (ie., to satistically significant degree) distinguish b/w speakers using AB/X testing? ..And I don't see where in the website you reference this is specifically addressed.

Actually, it's not so hard at all to explain. In choosing an amp I look at feature set, build quality, industrial design, a good warranty and reputation for reliability. I bought a McIntosh MA6600 integrated b/c I love it's features, it's build-quality, the way it looks and feels when I operate it. And I like that the meters can help prevent over-driving my speakers. .But do I believe it sounds any better than the NAD 375BEE that had before it - that is, when not pushed beyond it's power limits? ..Nope. And I have excellent hearing and a keen sense for musical nuance honed from a lifelong devotion to music. Just because I know all modern-day amps that are engineered to be linear will sound the same doesn't mean I don't have an appreciation for other aspects of their design.

It's simply not true that our brains can't compare sounds that are separated by 30 secs. As Don Richard noted, this is exactly what conductors and band leaders do. Musicians do this all the time when choosing which guitar or strings to use for a given song. ..Or what recording engineers and producers do when mixing a song. And does anyone dispute our ability to distinguish b/w speakers when using a ABX comparator. Of course not. As to your second point, I think the opposite is true. ..If amplifiers indeed sounded so different there would be no need to expend so much effort on their appearance. 1/2" faceplates, over-engineered casework, etc... If they sounded different, they wouldn't need to look so different. As I've said before, this hobby is badly damaged by it's general disregard for validity testing.

It’s not your age, not your failing ears…. It’s just healthy skepticism that leads you wonder whether the huge difference some people claim to hear are real or imagined. Rather than spend an hour laying out the rationale for my opinion, I’ll direct you to this website: http://tom-morrow-land.com/tests/ampchall/index.htm Here’s a simple way of looking at this: The mere fact that the audibility of differences b/w amplifiers is actually debated is hugely informative. ..Just how important can the differences be if such a debate exists ?? We NEVER have such arguments about differences b/w speakers or room acoustics, etc.. My .02$: The realism of your hifi system is 50% speakers; 49% room acoustics: 1% audible differences b/w modern amplifiers, cd players, DACs, etc….

Sale Pending!

NOTE: I found a home for both the NAD pre-amp and the KAB fluid damper. ..I've reduced price to $900. Still includes the excellent Ortofon 2M Red cartridge (also excellent condition) https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis8h6i9-technics-sl-1200-mkii-mint-cond-no-mods-no-dj-ing-inc-nad-pre-and-ortofon-cart-turntables