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  #11  
Old 03-12-2022, 06:18 PM
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miatadan miatadan is offline
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Originally Posted by prepress View Post
I am wondering about the MC830 as well. Not because of dissatisfaction with my 501s, but as a purely practical matter. I am getting older and the 501s are 92 pounds each. Managing the 501s physically will be more difficult. The 830s are compact and half the weight. That makes them appealing. I will be keeping an eye on the 830s, but not dumping my 501s yet. I will plan to watch this thread.
I had the same issue with the weight of the MC312. Now that I will be 61 this month, I find things heavier than when young.

I did own the MC501's in the past and do miss them.

Only concern is whether build quality is the same of the rest of McIntosh power amps ?

jrsub stated " My dealer said the MC830 was an entry level product, not in same league as MC312/462 " so this does worry me to order sight unseen and no way of knowing if these monoblock's outperform the MC312 or not.

Dan
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  #12  
Old 04-23-2022, 05:58 AM
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prepress prepress is offline
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Originally Posted by miatadan View Post
I had the same issue with the weight of the MC312. Now that I will be 61 this month, I find things heavier than when young.

I did own the MC501's in the past and do miss them.

Only concern is whether build quality is the same of the rest of McIntosh power amps ?

jrsub stated " My dealer said the MC830 was an entry level product, not in same league as MC312/462 " so this does worry me to order sight unseen and no way of knowing if these monoblock's outperform the MC312 or not.

Dan
Best route then would be an audition, if possible. In-home, ideally.
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  #13  
Old 05-06-2022, 05:51 PM
TWInsall TWInsall is offline
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The 501 easily puts out close to 800 watts driving a lower impedance than rated while keep spec. Plus it is quad balanced for those using pre-amps with balanced out puts. A 830 is a typical SS amp with out being Quad balanced. So if your speakers woofers have been really optimized for the enclosure the 501's are a better choice. I use mine to drive XRT 28's so with the low efficiency I don't have to worry about having less signal to noise and as I use seldom more than 120 watts indicated and never flash the power guard lights. I am therefore perfectly happy. I agree like my 207's for the HT they are getting very heavy to move around.
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Old 05-07-2022, 05:53 AM
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Hi miatadan,

Also consider that this is, ultimately, a personal decision. Different dealers may well have different opinions; different owners may have different experiences. McIntosh has been around a while and has a strong track record. I'm sure the 830s sound good; whether they sound good to you is what counts.

If an in-home audition isn't possible and an in-store one isn't either, you're left to rely on anecdotal experiences, reviews and your own research. It may take a while for the reviews to appear. I'm an inveterate, methodical researcher, and auditions are only part of my process; some of my gear was bought without benefit of audition, and I don't regret those purchases (sound-wise, that is; I'm sure my wallet would object). If you can get any kind of audition with familiar gear, go for it. I took my own speaker cable and interconnect to an audition once. A patient pursuit of your process, whatever that entails, should get you where you need to go on the 830s.
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