MEN220 conversation with local dealer

[jdandy]

I had an interesting conversation today with my local McIntosh dealer. I asked the owner if he had heard about the MEN220 problem. He said, "You mean the MEN220 making the MC501's run hot?" I said yes. He went on to explain that a local customer purchased a MEN220 from him, and then reported that his 501 amps would no longer play loud without overheating and shutting down. This dealer returned the MEN220 to McIntosh over a month ago, and he told me he just got it back late last week. I asked if he knew if it was working properly in balanced mode, and the dealer said the MEN220 was still in the back of his store waiting for the customer to return from a business trip. He said that McIntosh told him the MEN220 would now work properly using the balanced outputs to the MC501 amps.

I found this information extremely interesting, and hope this means we are close to having our MEN220 balanced output problems solved. I would like to believe this means a solution has been achieved and implemented in a working MEN220, maybe even the MEN220 used by McIntosh at RMAF. Since the new MC452 is also a quad balanced amplifier, one would suspect that if it were connected to the MEN220 with balanced cables, then the MEN220 at RMAF was also one of the redesigned units. I sure hope we are coming to the end of this MEN220 balance output issue, and that we are closer than we realize to having our MEN220's fixed once and for all.

[JFR0317]

Very interesting, Dan. Please update us if you get any more info on this.

Thanks.

[hkval]

Hope Spring Eternal. This sounds good, bordering on possible GREAT. Maybe McIntosh could just let us know here on AA, since Dan found the problem, that they will be releasing some information in the next few weeks. Waiting is much easier with knowledge.

[jdandy]

I wish I could have gotten the McIntosh store owner to open the MEN220 box so we could have done a couple of quick voltage checks on the balanced output pins. I would love to be able to confirm that this is truly a corrected MEN220.

I found this comment in Jim's RMAF post interesting: Note, I asked Ron C why the 452 was connected to the MEN-220 with balanced cables. He informed me that this amp like several other of Mac's amps is not affected by the 220's wiring issue. Hmmm. Is this evasion or the truth. Ron-C is a master at protecting McIntosh secrets, as we all know. I would have had to ask Ron-C what makes the quad balanced MC452 any different than the quad balance MC402? Is there some special unbalanced inverter circuit built into the MC452 balanced inputs that is not in the other quad balanced amps that are plagued with the heat issue when connected with balanced cables to the MEN220? Definitely food for thought.

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by jdandy

I found this comment in Jim's RMAF post interesting: Note, I asked Ron C why the 452 was connected to the MEN-220 with balanced cables. He informed me that this amp like several other of Mac's amps is not affected by the 220's wiring issue. Hmmm. Is the evasion or the truth. Ron-C is a master at protecting McIntosh secrets. I would have had to ask Ron-C what makes the quad balanced MC452 any different than the quad balance MC402? Is there some special unbalanced inverter circuit built into the MC452 balanced inputs that is not in the other quad balanced amps that are plagued with the heat issue when connected with balanced cables to the MEN220? Definitely food for thought.

I'd be inclined to wonder the same thing, Dan. Why would this issue plague some quad balanced amps and not others? What is different about the MC452? Something apparently is...I'm also still thinking about the fact that apparently, the MC452 is not bridgeable, while the MC402 is. (though I still have to say over the fact that an 800 watt into 8 ohm scenario is not achievable with the MC402 in bridged mode.)

Pete

[hkval]

Dan:.... If you run unbalanced cables from the MEN220 to the 501's, 1.2KW's etc., then there is no overheating issue???? If so, it seems their only focus should be to have balanced outputs in the MEN220 that were truly balanced.
I would guess there are a lot more 501's and 1.2KW's out there than 220's.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by hkval

Dan:.........it seems their only focus should be to have balanced outputs in the MEN220 that were truly balanced.

Howard.......This has been the issue from the start. Hopefully this tree will bear fruit soon.

[Jerome W]

Very interesting Dan.
Yes we might be close to a solution. And the dollar is not very high now.
Hurry up McIntosh, hurry up ! I have an order for a correct MEN220 to make !

[Jean-Marc jmajma]

Originally Posted by C220MC275

Very interesting Dan.
Yes we might be close to a solution. And the dollar is not very high now.
Hurry up McIntosh, hurry up ! I have an order for a correct MEN220 to make !

+1

[Poobah]

Do you think it's possible that instead of actually fixing the gentlemen's Men220 they made alterations to the men220 that remove the heat issue's while not actually correcting the unbalanced/balanced issue? Hoping no-one would be the wiser?

Nah...