While that may not sound like a big deal, and it probably isn't, I am surprised that their QC is not better on something costing nearly five figures. I will say, that my McIntosh amp arrived with one of the big blue meters malfunctioning. I am still in the honeymoon stage with my McIntosh amp, so I will reserve final judgement until I have had a few months to let the new romance settle in. The McIntosh does have a bit of noise and if I did not have the Benchmarks to compare it to, I would probably never notice. I do not need to do that with the McIntosh because it sounds satisfying at any level. With the Benchmark amps, I found myself turning up the volume to get better sound. I can listen longer, without fatigue, and music sounds good at any listening level. The McIntosh amp, on the other hand, sounds effortless, smooth and presents a much deeper and layered soundstage. I never realized how flat that plane was until I started listening through the McIntosh. The soundstage is wide and the vocals and instruments are easily picked out in various locations across a single plane. The background on the Benchmark amps disappears into infinity and they are much more dynamic. They are easily the cleaner and more transparent sounding of the two brands. I have been listening to a pair of AHB2s for several years and am very familiar and comfortable with how they sound. It is mated to a McIntosh C2700 preamp and feeding a pair of GoldenEar Triton One speakers matched with a pair of SVS SB 16 Ultras. I have had the MC462 in my system for a few weeks now and am very much enjoying it. And thinking about ordering a pair of W371. I ordered the 8361s and now waiting for them for the past 2 months. Not sure what I was thinking, but looking at the resale value of the Sabrina + MC462 + AHB2, I thought I could replace them by a pair of Genelec 8361 AND a pair of W371. The footprint and look is better in my opinion, but there is less I/O compared to the C52. I am also selling my very nice C52 that I replaced by the HPA4 and DAC3. Despite I loved the big blue meters, I think I prefer the austerity and the form factor of the AHB2. For over a month, I juggled with this first world problem and decided to sell the MC462. I ended looking at my amps, not knowing what to do, to choose between the McIntosh or the Benchmark. Listening to Nine Inch Nails - We're in this together at this level was incredible. The MC462 power needles were oscillating past the 450W mark. But believe me, it was at VERY high volume, absolutely not regular playing volume. We switch to the MC462 and I could raise the volume higher. At some point, the AHB2 were clipping (leds turning red), but the sound was still good. The only difference was when we turned up the volume to ridiculous volume. I believe that the McIntosh sound signature comes from the valve amps and preamps, not modern power amps. My conclusion is that, on 8 ohms binding post, we couldn't hear a difference between the two brands, no differences in any frequencies ( Sound). I googled about this observation and found some people who were experiencing the same behaviour : better control on 8 ohm posts.Īfter some track tests, on which we preferred the AHB2's, I switched to the 8 ohms connectors and suddenly, the basses were as tight as the AHB2's. I read, in a Stereophile article about the Wilson's Sasha DAW, that the MC462 8 ohm posts were twice the DF of the 4's and that the reviewer preferred the 8 ohms, even if the Sasha's are rated at 4 ohms (same as my Sabrina's). Some weeks after my initial post, I re-tested the dual AHB2 and the MC462 with some friends, after a read something about McIntosh binding posts. Other differences : 462 is freaking heavy compared to the Benchmark and the big VU meters are nice, but a bit ostentatious.Īll the tests have been made using the same preamp (Benchmark HPA4).Īs mentioned by someone today in another thread, we should not hear a difference, but I believe there’s some. To my ears, the 462 seems to show more low frequencies, but is it because it lacks higher frequencies or because it doesn’t control well the woofer? With a friend, we tried to understand why and the only thing that come in mind was the damping factor difference. We also had the feeling that the low frequencies are not well controlled with the 462, maybe a bit sloppy. The sound stage seems also a bit more defined. The high frequencies seems crispier and the voices, mainly woman voices, are more in your face (or more natural) with the AHB2. My conclusion (also heard by some friends and family) is that the AHB2s are more revealing. I felt I needed to challenge the 462, and I like to screw around… Last month, I got a pair of AHB2, and couldn’t resist to match them with the HPA4. I own a MC462 for about 3 years, matched with it’s C52.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |