New to McIntosh... Advice is much appreciated...
 

About 6 weeks ago, I went to a McIntosh dealer with a friend to look around. I had no intentions of buying anything but I ended up leaving with a MAC6700. This is by far the best piece of audio equipment I've ever purchased. After 5-6 weeks of steady listening, as much as I love the 6700 it got me thinking what would a little more money get me. I spoke to my dealer and they would be more then fair about a couple upgrade options I inquired about. I was considering going up to the MA8000 integrated or a C47 and MC302 combo. With either upgrade would I notice any major difference? Is the pre section in the 6700 inferior to the C47 stand alone pre??? Any help or advice on the is much appreciated! Thank you in advance...

Separates. Yes better detail separation clarity etc. I would go c47 if you can. Enjoy and congrats.

Any major difference? I personally doubt it, but you might hear some subtle differences depending on your source and speakers.
I went the opposite route, from a C48 and MC202 over to an MA7000. I prefer the sound of the big integrated; to my ears it has a more refined and smoother sound and a little more defined bass, while the separation and stage seem about the same.

Vince.......The McIntosh MAC6700 Receiver is a great place to begin your McIntosh journey. With the AM/FM tuner, internal DAC, great preamp with moving magnet and moving coil phono stages, and 200 watts per channel power amplifier all on a single chassis, it provides the most sought after features for a sound system in a single component. I would not get swept into an upgrade fever before spending at least a year or two with this fine audio component. Perhaps the money you have available can be better spent upgrading speakers, or a music server, or a turntable and moving coil cartridge. There is a lot of performance on tap with the MAC6700. Give yourself the opportunity to fully exploit its potential before grasping at other straws.


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I have also the MA6700 and I tested them against the C47 and MC320.

Do not expect big difference in sound. I would try to enjoy this one for a while or maybe buy the new MA8900 that will have better DAC.

Stay put and enjoy your new gear for awhile. If you feel the need to explore newer digital products just buy them separately and integrate them into the system instead of the internal DAC. Newer and more expensive is not always better.

Hello Vince11281 and congratulations on your new acquisition. You have received some great advice, and I agree with the consensus to enjoy your system for some time to come. Get some tunes of your choice and let the music play. Perhaps some money could be spent to treat your room with acoustical panels or dampening materials. May I ask what speakers you presently are using?

Regards

I'd like to thank everyone for the responses so far! I'm currently running a pair of Paradigm Prestige 95Fs and my source is primarily a Lumin D1 streamer ran balanced XLR to the 6700

I could not agree more.

The MAC's conservative rating of 200 wpc should suffice for all but the most demanding of loudspeakers.

Skip the MA8000, save your money up grade to MC601's when the time is right and a C2600. The choices you mentioned are not enough of a upgrade performance wise to make a noticeable difference i.e. going to 300 watts is not that much of a change in reserve power for much improvement in bass. You can probably find a mint pair of MC501 amps. that will cost less than a MA8000 and give you 500 watt mono amps, that will be a nice upgrade for you.