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  #21  
Old 05-28-2018, 12:13 PM
Charles Charles is offline
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Jim, congratulations on you decision to go with McIntosh. As you know it is an old company. Mac doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. Improvements are incremental and as a consequence you get decades of improvements built into every McIntosh. For example I think Mac switching and the Mac volume control are among the very best. Both were developed decades ago. Mac preamps used to use FET switching. You can pay tens of thousands of dollars more and not have better switches or volume control. Recently Mac has upgraded all their SS power amps so that all SS amps now have the improved output transistors and stronger power supplies. Mac is far from perfect but having said that I think Mac equipment is a tremendous value. I wouldn't trade in my 1.2 KW's for any comparably sized amp on the market with exception of the new 1.25.
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  #22  
Old 05-28-2018, 01:23 PM
Mikado463 Mikado463 is offline
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Originally Posted by knecht View Post
My next upgrade will be speaker cables. Any suggestions? Not looking to break the bank.
Jim, welcome to the fold. As a non-believe in expensive 'wire' I understand your desire. For the $$ I like 'signal cable' , I also know there is a pretty strong following for 'Blue Jeans' cables.
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  #23  
Old 05-28-2018, 03:30 PM
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ejr1953 ejr1953 is offline
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Default I've Been Really Happy with Wireworld Cabling

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My next upgrade will be speaker cables. Any suggestions? Not looking to break the bank. It seems WireWorld is a favorite around here.
Back in the day I didn't believe that investing tons in wiring made much of a difference, but as I've made my journey to the setup I have now, I do believe that investing in good-quality cabling DOES make a noticeable difference.

My dealer started me out on Wireworld Silver Startlight (their next to the top-of-the-line series) and I've been really satisfied with each and every cable purchase I've made.
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  #24  
Old 06-08-2018, 02:31 PM
knecht knecht is offline
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Well the journey continues. I bought a MEN220 yesterday and it definitely made an overall improvement in my room. I debated between the MEN220 and the MiniDSP DDRC-22A with Dirac Live as I'm more familiar with Dirac, but after reading the 220 reviews I was swayed.
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  #25  
Old 06-08-2018, 02:38 PM
cdobson cdobson is offline
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The MEN220 is a nice addition- enjoy!!
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  #26  
Old 06-08-2018, 04:13 PM
damacman damacman is offline
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One has to look only at Ivan's signature to see how McIntosh pulls on us ...

With McIntosh, I find myself enjoying music and not thinking about gear.
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  #27  
Old 06-09-2018, 06:15 AM
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I forgot to mention one other company, and that is Transparent. I am using their interconnects and power cords and am pleased with the sound. Based on that experience, I'm willing to suggest their speaker cables. If you don't want to spend tons of money, look at their MusicWave speaker cables to start. An 8ft pair goes for $440 retail, but they do custom lengths also.
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  #28  
Old 06-09-2018, 08:31 AM
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Welcome and congrats, Jim. I can see you being at a point of say 2 Mac monoblocks around this time next year! AA is a dangerous, dangerous thing for audio lovers and their financial stability.
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  #29  
Old 06-09-2018, 08:57 AM
knecht knecht is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by prepress View Post
I forgot to mention one other company, and that is Transparent. I am using their interconnects and power cords and am pleased with the sound. Based on that experience, I'm willing to suggest their speaker cables. If you don't want to spend tons of money, look at their MusicWave speaker cables to start. An 8ft pair goes for $440 retail, but they do custom lengths also.


You are the second person to recommend Transparent to me. A friend of mine in the music/recording industry recommended them as well; that’s what he uses in his personal system and loves them. I’ll check them out. Not looking to break the bank on cables, I’m not one to notice big differences in cables.
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  #30  
Old 06-09-2018, 09:01 AM
knecht knecht is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EfeTe View Post
Welcome and congrats, Jim. I can see you being at a point of say 2 Mac monoblocks around this time next year! AA is a dangerous, dangerous thing for audio lovers and their financial stability.


You are probably right. I’m looking at the Mc music streamers next. I bought a Lumin D2 after talking with the Lumin folks at Axpona this year and really like it. But now that I have the green glow in the room I’m thinking of switching.
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