MHA100 as a preamp?

[1adam12]

Hey guys,

Does anyone have experience with the MHA100 as a preamp? If so, how does it perform?

I thought about picking up the MHA for a desktop system but may want to add an external amp at some point. Maybe a MC275, MC152, or MC302. The latter being overkill, I'm sure.

I need some blue meters in my life!

[nalthien]

I think it all comes down to your priorities.

If your priority is headphones, go with the MHA100 and use it as a preamp. I can't speak to its performance in that duty; but, I expect it would do well (but not as well as a dedicated preamp).

If you expect your priority to shift to driving a power amp, then I'd say go with a dedicated preamp and use the headphone stage. The C2300, C2500, C48, and C50 all have headphone stages and will do quite well for headphone listening (but not as well as a dedicated headphone amp).

I don't do any critical listening on headphones; I use headphones purely for "background music" while working. So, I don't even have a proper headphone amp--I just drive an upgraded pair of IEMs straight from my Macbook Pro.

[1adam12]

nalthien,

Thanks for the reply. You're right, of course, and I probably need to think about my use case.

Right now I listen to speakers roughly 80% of the time. The rest of the time is spent with Sennheiser HD800s.

I am a little concerned that any benefit of going with the separates would be negated by the suboptimal listening environment. Maybe I'll go track down my closest dealer and do some auditioning.

[nalthien]

If 20% of your listening is with the headphones, I don't personally see that as enough to justify going with a dedicated headphone amp--especially not one at the price point of the MHA100.

Check out any of the C-line preamps--I think you'll be happier.

[1adam12]

The MHA is also a 50 watt integrated, but I really don't know how well it performs as a speaker amp compared to the separates. But considering my setup is near-field at relatively low spl, that may be enough power for me to get by. I'm going to try to hit up a dealer within the next week.

Exciting times ahead!

[David]

Originally Posted by 1adam12

The MHA is also a 50 watt integrated, but I really don't know how well it performs as a speaker amp compared to the separates. But considering my setup is near-field at relatively low spl, that may be enough power for me to get by. I'm going to try to hit up a dealer within the next week.

Exciting times ahead!

I look forward to your report back. There are no specs on the preamp section in the manual. There is a remote. I was curious if the signal to noise ratio was as good as the other Mac preamps. I asked Chuck Hinton and he did not have the s/n ratio but he did say the output voltage would be lower so it would not play as loud as a stand-alone preamp. I am thinking about this for a second system to be used with both speakers and headphones.

[Alfred143]

I know that McIntosh shares similar components with their other models and also share the same sound signature too. Which of the McIntosh preamps would your say havs similar sound/component specs as the MHA100? Considering using it is also as a preamp. Currently have a c45 in my main system an want to see how 'close' musically it is as a preamp.