AudioAficionado.org  

Go Back   AudioAficionado.org > Manufacturers Forums > McIntosh Audio

McIntosh Audio A Tradition of Excellence

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11-11-2018, 01:19 AM
70sMac's Avatar
70sMac 70sMac is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: The Berkshires
Posts: 557
Default Please set me straight

Hello AA members! ~ As a Mac-owner-wannabe going back to the mid- to late-70s, we began searching for good used Mac equipment in about late-2004. The problem is that we were living in New Orleans (NOLA) at the time and, yes, we were blown out of town shortly thereafter. After more than 13 years of "get close to your neighbor" rentals, we finally purchased a new (to us) home at the end of September. Although all of our Mac equipment safely made it through Katrina, we are just now pulling it out of storage and FINALLY getting a chance to set it up again. This is great news, of course, but the problem is that audio and video have seemingly merged over the years and, quite sadly, I find myself feeling like an old cowboy who lost his ranch to a golf course designer ... and, to tell you the truth, I don't even remember exactly how to use some of our old Mac equipment properly. At this point, we're plugging our old Denon CD player into our old MX130, which is plugged into our older MAC4200, which is acting as a pre-amp for our MC300 amp. Now I distinctly remember using a pair of B&W N805s as rears and our B&W N802s as fronts in a makeshift 5.1 surround setup because I can still hear the Bell helicopters [virtually] flying over our heads as we watched our copy of Apocalypse Now, which was obviously routed through our system...somehow? My understanding, such as it is, is that the MC300 is strictly a 2-channel amp ... So here's obtuse question number 1: Does anyone have any idea how the setup I described herein could possibly be wired for four speakers? Perhaps I need a primer on older audio equipment? If so, perhaps someone might set me straight by pointing me to a good Mac reference of some kind? Although we love our old Mac equipment, we no longer have any operational or service literature of any kind for any of our equipment; hence, the need for some help from some kind Mac owners. By the way, we also own an old MAC4100 receiver that stills functions very well, but I don't believe that we ever involved it in our attempt at a Mac surround system. Thanks very much for your time and consideration ~ Bill
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-11-2018, 02:33 AM
jdandy's Avatar
jdandy jdandy is offline
Merry Christmas to all



 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: North Central Florida
Posts: 53,224
Default

Bill.......One options would be to use the MX130 as your preamp and processor. Use the MC300 as your front channel amps, and the MAC4200 to feed the back channel speakers. The MAC4200's preamp and power amplifier sections can be used independently. Feed the rear channel outputs from the MX130 to the Power Amp Inputs on the MAC4200, then connect your rear channel speakers to MAC4200. That will provide you with four separate channels of audio.
__________________
Dan



STUDIO - McIntosh C1000C/P, MC2301 (2), MR88, Aurender N10, Esoteric K-01X, Shunyata Sigma spdif digital cable, Sonos Connect, PurePower 2000, Stillpoints, Furutech Flux 50, Michell Gyro SE, Michell HR Power Supply, SME 309, Ortofon Cadenza Black, Wireworld, Sonus faber Amati Anniversario
LIVING ROOM - McIntosh C2300, MC75 (2), MR85, Magnum Dynalab 205, Simaudio MOON Neo 260D-T, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil, Aurender N100H, Shunyata Sigma USB cable, Micro Seiki DD40, Ortofon Cadenza Blue, Nakamichi BX-300, Sony 60ES DAT, PS Audio P10, Furutech Flux 50, Sonos Connect, Stillpoints, Wireworld, Kimber, PMC EB1i, JL Audio f113
VINTAGE - McIntosh MA230, Tandberg 3011A tuner, Olive 04HD, Sony DTC-59ES DAT, McIntosh 4300V, JBL 4312A
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-11-2018, 10:34 AM
70sMac's Avatar
70sMac 70sMac is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: The Berkshires
Posts: 557
Smile Nice

Thanks so much for taking the time to help us out, Dan. As soon as we can get the [extremely heavy] N802s upstairs, I will certainly give your advice a try. You see, it's the MX130 that confuses me the most. As I'm sure you know, it has a virtual Matrix of connectors on the rear panel and only a few of them seem to be labeled as outputs. In fact, I tried testing out the MX130 as a preamp by connecting the left (L) and right (R) plugs -- labeled as "AREA A - FRONT" to one the MAC4200 rear inputs. The one thing I did know to do was connect the MAC4200's rear PREAMP OUT plugs to the unbalanced inputs on the rear of the MC300 (which is presently driving a pair of B&W N805s), but I digress. The point here is that I [thought I had] tried using the MX130 as preamp, but I haven't been able to get a variable signal out of the AREA A - FRONT connectors I mentioned earlier. In other words, I have yet to verify that the MX130 will function as a preamp ... because I have yet to hear anything change when I adjust the MX130's volume control. I'm also scratching my head about the two connectors on the rear of the MAC4200 that are labeled POWER AMP - IN. I'm sure that I'm misunderstanding something here, but why would one wish to connect a power amp -- especially a 2-channel MC300 like ours -- to anything other than speakers?
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-11-2018, 12:17 PM
naturephoto1's Avatar
naturephoto1 naturephoto1 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Breinigsville, PA
Posts: 33
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by 70sMac View Post
Thanks so much for taking the time to help us out, Dan. As soon as we can get the [extremely heavy] N802s upstairs, I will certainly give your advice a try. You see, it's the MX130 that confuses me the most. As I'm sure you know, it has a virtual Matrix of connectors on the rear panel and only a few of them seem to be labeled as outputs. In fact, I tried testing out the MX130 as a preamp by connecting the left (L) and right (R) plugs -- labeled as "AREA A - FRONT" to one the MAC4200 rear inputs. The one thing I did know to do was connect the MAC4200's rear PREAMP OUT plugs to the unbalanced inputs on the rear of the MC300 (which is presently driving a pair of B&W N805s), but I digress. The point here is that I [thought I had] tried using the MX130 as preamp, but I haven't been able to get a variable signal out of the AREA A - FRONT connectors I mentioned earlier. In other words, I have yet to verify that the MX130 will function as a preamp ... because I have yet to hear anything change when I adjust the MX130's volume control. I'm also scratching my head about the two connectors on the rear of the MAC4200 that are labeled POWER AMP - IN. I'm sure that I'm misunderstanding something here, but why would one wish to connect a power amp -- especially a 2-channel MC300 like ours -- to anything other than speakers?
Hi Bill,

I am not familiar with the equipment that you have listed. However, upon review, I have found that the MAC4200 is a 2 channel receiver with 100 watts per channel output, the MC300 is a 2 channel 300 watt per channel amp, and the MX130 is a an AV Tuner Preamp Processor. From what I was able to gather, the MX130 is capable of 5.1 hometheater operation. So, I believe what Dan has suggested that you could consider using the MX130 as your Preamp, tuner, and Processor.

Like many stereo receivers, the MAC4200 can be used such that the preamp and the amplifier sections can be used separately. Since the most powerful amp that you have is the MC300 which outputs 300 watts per channel and I would presume to be a better amp than the 100 watt per channel amp in the MAC4200, the 300 watt amp would be used to drive your front or main speakers. The 100 watt amp from the receiver would be used to drive the rear speakers. At this point, you only have 4 channels and are lacking a center channel and a subwoofer.

But, and what Dan has suggested is that you run the output for front or main speakers coming from the MX130 to the MC300 which are in turn connected to your front/main speakers. Additionally, Dan is suggesting that you run the surround outputs of the MX130 to the Power Amp Inputs on the MAC4200. The speaker outputs from the MAC4200 would then be used to drive the rear speakers in your 4.0 system.

However, either check the manual for the MAC4200 or others can chime in on this, I am not sure if the machine has to somehow be set so that only the amp section of the receiver is being used. With the configuration as Dan has suggested, the Preamp and Tuner sections of the receiver would no longer be used.

Using this configuration, when you only wished to listen to 2 channel audio, you would use and turn on the MX130 and the MC300. When and if you wished to use mulitchannel sound you need to also turn on the MAC4200 as well.

I hope this may better and simply explain the set-up.

Rich
__________________
Teres/Soundsmith/1stWatt/ARC/Aragon/Ampex/Marantz/OMA/Nola/Dahlquist/XTZ/Emotiva/Sansui
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-11-2018, 12:54 PM
jdandy's Avatar
jdandy jdandy is offline
Merry Christmas to all



 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: North Central Florida
Posts: 53,224
Default

Rich.......Appreciate the additional explanation. When someone is unfamiliar with a multi-channel setup, especially using components not necessarily designed for a particular setup, it can become confusing.
__________________
Dan



STUDIO - McIntosh C1000C/P, MC2301 (2), MR88, Aurender N10, Esoteric K-01X, Shunyata Sigma spdif digital cable, Sonos Connect, PurePower 2000, Stillpoints, Furutech Flux 50, Michell Gyro SE, Michell HR Power Supply, SME 309, Ortofon Cadenza Black, Wireworld, Sonus faber Amati Anniversario
LIVING ROOM - McIntosh C2300, MC75 (2), MR85, Magnum Dynalab 205, Simaudio MOON Neo 260D-T, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil, Aurender N100H, Shunyata Sigma USB cable, Micro Seiki DD40, Ortofon Cadenza Blue, Nakamichi BX-300, Sony 60ES DAT, PS Audio P10, Furutech Flux 50, Sonos Connect, Stillpoints, Wireworld, Kimber, PMC EB1i, JL Audio f113
VINTAGE - McIntosh MA230, Tandberg 3011A tuner, Olive 04HD, Sony DTC-59ES DAT, McIntosh 4300V, JBL 4312A
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-11-2018, 01:03 PM
jdandy's Avatar
jdandy jdandy is offline
Merry Christmas to all



 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: North Central Florida
Posts: 53,224
Default

Bill.......Just to clarify, the MAC4200 power amp connectors are Inputs, not Outputs. You feed a line level signal into the Power Amp inputs that then get amplified to a pair of speakers connected to the MAC4200 speaker terminals.

Here is the MX130 Owner's Manual: http://www.berners.ch/McIntosh/Downloads/MX130_own.pdf

Here is the MAC4200 Owner's Manual: http://sportsbil.com/mcintosh/Receiv...AC4200_own.pdf
__________________
Dan



STUDIO - McIntosh C1000C/P, MC2301 (2), MR88, Aurender N10, Esoteric K-01X, Shunyata Sigma spdif digital cable, Sonos Connect, PurePower 2000, Stillpoints, Furutech Flux 50, Michell Gyro SE, Michell HR Power Supply, SME 309, Ortofon Cadenza Black, Wireworld, Sonus faber Amati Anniversario
LIVING ROOM - McIntosh C2300, MC75 (2), MR85, Magnum Dynalab 205, Simaudio MOON Neo 260D-T, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil, Aurender N100H, Shunyata Sigma USB cable, Micro Seiki DD40, Ortofon Cadenza Blue, Nakamichi BX-300, Sony 60ES DAT, PS Audio P10, Furutech Flux 50, Sonos Connect, Stillpoints, Wireworld, Kimber, PMC EB1i, JL Audio f113
VINTAGE - McIntosh MA230, Tandberg 3011A tuner, Olive 04HD, Sony DTC-59ES DAT, McIntosh 4300V, JBL 4312A
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-11-2018, 01:10 PM
70sMac's Avatar
70sMac 70sMac is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: The Berkshires
Posts: 557
Default

Rich.......I think that I'm slowly getting there. As I understand both replies, the AREA A - FRONT outputs from the MX130 will be connected to the unbalanced inputs on our MC300, which will drive our B&W N802s (aka, front speakers). Next, the AREA A - SUR outputs from the MX130 will be plugged into the POWER AMP - IN inputs on the rear of the MAC4200, which will drive our B&W N805s (aka, rear speakers), which, as you so clearly explained, will leave us with a 4.0 system. You also picked up on the fact that we have no center channel speaker or subwoofer; hence, not achieving a 5.1 setup.
__________________
Bill in the Hills

OUR VINTAGE MAC: MAC4100, MAC4200 | AMPS: MC452, MC300 | MAC PRE/PROS: MX151, MX130, MX121 | B&W SPEAKERS: (2) N802s, (2) N805s, (1) HTM3S | NEWER EQUIPMENT: Oppo 203 & 105D, Sony X800M2, Denon CDR-W1500 | VIDEO DISPLAY: 65" LG OLED | IMPORTANT NOTE: Zero High-speed internet connections
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11-11-2018, 01:18 PM
70sMac's Avatar
70sMac 70sMac is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: The Berkshires
Posts: 557
Default

Dan......Thanks ever so much for linking me to those manuals. Do you happen to know where I might find an owner's manual and/or a service manual for the MC300 Amp? Although all of our stereo hardware was spared by Katrina, the paperwork wasn't. On another subject, I see that you own a vintage MAC4300V. Would you kindly explain the difference(s) between your receiver and the two receivers we started our Mac collection with (the MAC4100 and the MAC4200). Thanks again.
__________________
Bill in the Hills

OUR VINTAGE MAC: MAC4100, MAC4200 | AMPS: MC452, MC300 | MAC PRE/PROS: MX151, MX130, MX121 | B&W SPEAKERS: (2) N802s, (2) N805s, (1) HTM3S | NEWER EQUIPMENT: Oppo 203 & 105D, Sony X800M2, Denon CDR-W1500 | VIDEO DISPLAY: 65" LG OLED | IMPORTANT NOTE: Zero High-speed internet connections
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 11-11-2018, 01:26 PM
miner's Avatar
miner miner is online now
Senior Member


 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: The Woodlands, TX
Posts: 4,539
Default

Reach out to Chuck Hinton at McIntosh - he can set you up with some manuals.

CHinton@mcintoshlabs.com
__________________
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 11-11-2018, 01:39 PM
jdandy's Avatar
jdandy jdandy is offline
Merry Christmas to all



 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: North Central Florida
Posts: 53,224
Default

Bill.......I'll look into comparing the MAC4100, MAC4200, and MAC4300V when I have more time.

Here is the McIntosh MC300 Owner's Manual: http://sportsbil.com/mcintosh/Amps/MC-300/MC300_own.pdf

Here is the McIntosh MC300 Service Manual: http://www.berners.ch/McIntosh/Downloads/MC300_ser.pdf
__________________
Dan



STUDIO - McIntosh C1000C/P, MC2301 (2), MR88, Aurender N10, Esoteric K-01X, Shunyata Sigma spdif digital cable, Sonos Connect, PurePower 2000, Stillpoints, Furutech Flux 50, Michell Gyro SE, Michell HR Power Supply, SME 309, Ortofon Cadenza Black, Wireworld, Sonus faber Amati Anniversario
LIVING ROOM - McIntosh C2300, MC75 (2), MR85, Magnum Dynalab 205, Simaudio MOON Neo 260D-T, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil, Aurender N100H, Shunyata Sigma USB cable, Micro Seiki DD40, Ortofon Cadenza Blue, Nakamichi BX-300, Sony 60ES DAT, PS Audio P10, Furutech Flux 50, Sonos Connect, Stillpoints, Wireworld, Kimber, PMC EB1i, JL Audio f113
VINTAGE - McIntosh MA230, Tandberg 3011A tuner, Olive 04HD, Sony DTC-59ES DAT, McIntosh 4300V, JBL 4312A
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Audioaficionado.org tested by Norton Internet Security

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:56 PM.



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.10
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
©Copyright 2009-2023 AudioAficionado.org.Privately owned, All Rights Reserved.
Audio Aficionado Sponsors
AudioAficionado Subscriber
AudioAficionado Subscriber
Inspire By Dennis Had
Inspire By Dennis Had
Harmonic Resolution Systems
Harmonic Resolution Systems
Wyred4Sound
Wyred4Sound
Dragonfire Acoustics
Dragonfire Acoustics
GIK Acoustics
GIK Acoustics
Esoteric
Esoteric
AC Infinity
AC Infinity
JL Audio
JL Audio
Add Powr
Add Powr
Accuphase - Soulution
Accuphase - Soulution
Audio by E
Audio by E
Canton
Canton
Bryston
Bryston
WireWorld Cables
WireWorld Cables
Stillpoints
Stillpoints
Bricasti Design
Bricasti Design
Furutech
Furutech
Shunyata Research
Shunyata Research
Legend Audio & Video
Legend Audio & Video