Mcintosh Amp to drive MBL speaker?

[Chericelise]

Hi, has anybody tried matching or experienced a Mcintosh amp driving MBL mid size speaker typically the 116 models?
I have the MC 501 and considering the MBL 116F speakers.
Any constructive advices are much appreciated.

[Charles]

Stereo Times has a review of the 116 using the Mac 501 mono block as the reference amp. Speaker got superb review.

[djwhog]

I bet that would be a great combo, the 501s have great headroom too and a nice sound to boot

[Chericelise]

Thank you.

[bart]

Should work.
I've heard these speakers with a Burmester 082, and it seemed to be a good match also. And the McIntosh is much more powerful.

[Still-One]

From experience I would not suggest mixing McIntosh and MBL. Then again you may have to pay a lot more to get better sound.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Still-One

From experience I would not suggest mixing McIntosh and MBL. Then again you may have to pay a lot more to get better sound.

Why? it got a very positive review with the 501.

[Still-One]

I powered my 111f's with 1.2k's for a few years. The day I brought home the Momentum's to audition. I disconnected the 1.2k's and connected the demo amps. The Momentum's had so much more grip on the 111f's that I thought must have had the Mac amps wired out of phase. I reconnected the 1.2ks to double check that nothing was amiss. I never knew what I had been missing with the 1.2ks powering the MBL's. I then knew what the dealer meant when I purchased the 111f's, he said that Accuphase A-65's would be a better pairing than my 1.2ks'. Didn't believe him at the time.

I did indicate you might have to pay more and you would with either Accuphase or D'Agostino or Soulution. It may not be worth it for everyone and I fully understand that.

A photo from they day I knew the 1.2ks were going.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Still-One

I powered my 111f's with 1.2k's for a few years. The day I brought home the Momentum's to audition. I disconnected the 1.2k's and connected the demo amps. The Momentum's had so much more grip on the 111f's that I thought must have had the Mac amps wired out of phase. I reconnected the 1.2ks to double check that nothing was amiss. I never knew what I had been missing with the 1.2ks powering the MBL's. I then knew what the dealer meant when I purchased the 111f's, he said that Accuphase A-65's would be a better pairing than my 1.2ks'. Didn't believe him at the time.

I did indicate you might have to pay more and you would with either Accuphase or D'Agostino or Soulution. It may not be worth it for everyone and I fully understand that.

A photo from they day I knew the 1.2ks were going.

Jim, your comments are surprising considering the positive review with the 501 which is a much less powerful amp than the 1.2. However the 111 appears to be an extremely inefficient loudspeaker (80 db) possibly the most inefficient I can ever remember reading about. A 1.2 can output 35 amps continuously and 200 amps peak, probably significantly more than a Momentum. Possibly there is some basic incompatibility between MBL and Mac that specifications cannot discover. Therefore, based on your experience I would not buy a Mac amp for an MBL without a careful audition. I looked at the impedance of the 111 in the Stereophile review and notwithstanding its very low sensitivity, there is little to suggest that it is anything other than a routine 4 ohm load and in fact the impedance never dips below 4 ohm.