Article: McIntosh MC611 Amplifier Review

[romaz]

8 hours ago, Danny Kaey said:

I know that in "high-end" circles Mac has a split following; some dig it, some think it's mid-fi, though I never really understood why or how. If any "high-end" badge was on these other than Mac, they'd sell for 40k, I'm convinced. 

 

An excellent write up, Danny.  You also own my ultimate speaker, the Wilson Alexx, and so I read your review with great interest.

 

I happen to belong to the camp that finds the Macs to be "mid-fi."  Like speakers, amplifiers are a very personal thing and so take my comments with a grain of salt.  They are the opinion of one person.  If you love how the MC611s perform in your setup, that's what's important.

 

I've taken an exhaustive look (and listen) at a number of amps over the past 2 years.  I looked at Macs very seriously when I first got my Martin Logan Renaissance 15As because at various trade shows, I noticed they were often paired together.  I got to demo the MC611s when I traded my Martin Logans in for a pair of Wilson Alexia 2s and no question, they can drive the Alexias fine (the Alexias are not that difficult to drive) and they produce a lovely tone but what I found missing were speed and control.  Directly compared against a Burmester 911 Mk3, the unanimous consensus in our group of audiophiles was that the MC611s sounded slow, bass sounded bloated, and transients were too rounded and it's not something you realize until you do a direct A/B.

 

Another fantastic amp that pairs well with Wilsons that I have listened to are the VTL Siegfried monoblocks.  VTLs were the personal preference of Dave Wilson and VTL uses Wilsons when voicing their amps.  If you prefer the holographic qualities that only tubes can provide, I don't think you'll find a better match for your Alexxes.  For solid state, it's tough to beat D'Agostino, especially the Momentum line.  This amp has the smoothness and rich textural qualities of tubes but also the punch and immediacy of the very best SS.  Soulution, CH Precision, Constellation, Spectral, T+A, and Burmester -- I've heard them with my Wilsons and they're all in the conversation for what is truly SOTA but as far as synergy goes, it's tough to beat D'Agostino with a pair of Wilson speakers.  Request a demo from a D'Agostino dealer of a Momentum Integrated for your Alexx (yes, a lowly integrated amp that outputs only 200W into 8 ohms) and directly compare it against your MC611 and you'll understand what is meant by "resolution."  

 

Where McIntosh excels is with value.  No, I would absolutely never pay $40k for the MC611s even if they were rebadged with a Boulder or Nagra logo (since they don't perform at that level) but for $15k, they are a compelling option and at that price, they're almost impossible to beat (the only other amp that I would consider at that price range would be the Luxman M-900U).

 

Just to be clear, I do not (yet) own a D'Agostino or VTL amp for my Wilson Alexias and so I don't have the bias of someone who owns these brands but my journey thus far has led me to these 2 amps.  Also to be clear, when I had a pair of Magico M3s in house for audition, my preferred amp for these speakers by a large margin was a Soulution 711.  Synergy is incredibly important and while a good amp will always be a good amp, what works best for one speaker isn't always an ideal fit for another speaker.