Ma252

[Sean]

Pulled down this little guy recently. Breaking it in with some new Shunyata Venom IC and speaker cables (thanks Mike!). So far, I’m really impressed with McIntosh’s tiniest offering.

Out of the box, I’m enjoying a great level of clarity, a surprising amount of oomph, low noise level, and separation of instruments that I haven’t had in my home before. It betters my old Supernait 2 and Dynaudio Focus setup in that regard, I think.

I’ll post more as time progresses and here’s a cell phone pic to tease those interested.




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[Mike]

Very nice Sean. Gorgeous.

[joeinid]

Congratulations Sean, looks awesome!

[UltraFast69]

Your on your way, fasten your seatbelt!


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[aKnyght]

wow - beautiful! looking forward to updates as you run it in.

[Sean]

Thanks guys. I’m really happy with it so far. Spent a few hours last night after work listening to some CD’s and blu-ray concerts.


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[rrwmd]

Congratulations Sean!

[M2wason]

Congrats, it will just get better from here on.

[Sean]

Just another frontal pic after dusting the integrated off today. Sooner or later, I’ll upgrade our tv in the living room (which will be wall-mounted higher than the current tv) and I’ll be able to organize my system better, especially the cords behind.


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[Dizzie]

Sean,

Two weeks later. What do you think of its performance now after some break in?

[Sean]

Hi Dizzie,

The 252 is just what I was looking for. It won’t compete with the far larger integrateds, or separates and mono’s but it certainly hits harder than you would expect, given its size.

The amp doesn’t seem to be pushed around with complex music passages; separation of instruments is strong and doesn’t smear as more instruments enter the frame. Airy highs with just the right amount of sparkle. By that I mean no brightness that many try to stay away from but good extension so I don’t feel cheated up high.

Bass hits harder than I had expected it would (again, given the amp’s size). Some of the lowest LFE notes seem slightly less defined but I’ll bet once I bring in speakers that are a better performance match, that will tighten right up. Also, my room is far from perfect so I might have to add some canvas art on the walls and some traps in the corners or something - but that is for a different day.

Mids seem to have a decent hint of warmth with the right recordings but, overall, I’d say a pretty flat frequency response.

I’m running Shunyata Venom cabling throughout (Venom HC (high current) power cord; XLR’s from the Lumin D2; RCA’s from the Oppo 203; and Venom speaker cables) so take that for what it’s worth. The preamp tubes are the stock private label ones from Mac.

I haven’t been able to push the amp more than a moderate amount as we are now in a condo building with a shared wall on one side. When I hung my tv, I noticed the dry wall is pretty thick (1.5”) but I don’t want my neighbor to come a knocking cause my music is too loud.

The only features of the 252 I haven’t tried out yet (that I want to) are the headphone and sub outputs. I’ll get to those eventually, though.

Hope this helps; more to come as it continues to break in and as I contemplate speaker options.

Sean,

Two weeks later. What do you think of its performance now after some break in?

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[Sean]

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[Sean]

Also, I forgot to mention that, as with most other amps, the sound quality matures as it warms up after 30-45 minutes of use.


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[aKnyght]

nice to hear - sounds like the ma252 is a real winner.

looking forward to updates as you get more time on the amp -- especially what you think of its hybrid tube/SS design.

[Sean]

Really liking the tube pre. I imagine its the leading contributor to the lifelike vocals (especially females), splashy cymbals, and overall just the natural timbre. I wonder what improvement/changes I would realize from rolling tubes. Time will tell.

nice to hear - sounds like the ma252 is a real winner.

looking forward to updates as you get more time on the amp -- especially what you think of its hybrid tube/SS design.

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[Jack]

Sean

Call Andy Bowman at Vintage Tube Service and talk to him about it. I suspect changing one of the pair will make the most difference.

[Sean]

Jack, I will definitely give Andy a call when it’s time. Looking at their site, they definitely seem to have substantial experience and knowledge.

For now, though, I will stick with the boring stock tubes until both the amp and LUMIN D2 are broken in and maybe even until I bring in better speakers. That way I can pick a set that complements my system best. I’d imagine the tubes that provide the sweetest sound are what I would appreciate regardless but it’s fun to try and go slow so I can appreciate the differences/improvements.

Sean

Call Andy Bowman at Vintage Tube Service and talk to him about it. I suspect changing one of the pair will make the most difference.

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[Jack]

Sean

Understand completely. If you tend to like the warm sweet Mullard sound but not the Mullard NOS pricing ask him about the Matsushita tubes. All made in a factory in Japan set up and tooled by Mullard. I've got pairs of Matsushita's is both 12 volt and 6/7 volt tubes and they all have a house sound very close to Mullard. I just picked up a pair of the 12AX7's about six weeks ago.

[Sean]

Jack, I didn’t thank you before but wanted to - your advice is much appreciated.

Great to hear which tubes you are enjoying. If I recall correctly, preamp tubes have a much longer half life compared to output tubes; do I have that right? About how long can one expect to get out of set, on average?


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[Jack]

I have gotten as long as seven years out of a pair of 6922's before in a preamp that didn't run them hard at about 25 hours a week. When I took them out they were still good just decided to change. As long as the Mc is not running them hot like an AI preamp or some of the CJ's you should be good at 3-5 years at least. You could NOS tubes in the pair used as the input tubes and just swap the other pair for Gold Lions if you decide to swap both. Another good source for European tubes though you need to know what you want is tubemonger.com in California.

[Sean]

Oh, good to hear. Amortizing the cost over several years means when it comes time, I can throw out a few bucks for better tubes.

The tubes don’t ever seem to get very warm, much less hot so I presume that means the pre isn’t pushing them all that hard.

Looking at vintage site, I see different microphonics; I presume I need the “line” ones? What is “super line”? Thanks so much again.


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[Jack]

Sean with Andy's tubes as you go from line up to MC phono preamp tubes they are tested to tighter tolerances and noise levels. I would expect that in that unit whichever pair is the main preamp input tubes would need super line level tubes.

[Sean]

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks so much again for learnin’ me, Jack.


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[Sean]

Temporary setup isn’t the worst.


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[Sean]

Currently listening through the headphone output. I’m no can expert, but it sounds good enough to me. Drives my Senn’s with success.

I’ve read it doesn’t match the MHA150 but it shouldn’t given the units’ purposes and price tags. I’m just happy the MA252 headphone output doesn’t seem to have been an afterthought.