JustinS
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Congratulations to you both Icey and Steve.
MCINTOSH LABS INTRODUCES NEW HEADPHONE AMP MODEL MHA 100
- Thread starter Scottsmrnyc
- Start date
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- mcintosh-mha100
lockjaw
100+ Head-Fier
MHA100 arrives this week!
I'm frantically selling off my extra gear to justify the cost and perhaps find a way into a d100
the stuff:
Ray Samuels Raptor - sold today at a fair price of 750 (I was second owner, excellent condition)
Alpha Prime Cans, brand spanking new, only used to AB vs a used pair HD 800s. To my surprise I'm keeping the 800s. I have the primes listed on AG for 875, can't believe they haven't sold yet. oh well. Excellent headphones but just not as excellent ad the HD800s. I really get into sound stage and imaging.
My 10 year old MC275 with full tube upgrade. (prior sale fell through). As much as I love this amp, and I really do, not sure it's needed if the MA100 can do the job for my office speakers. Perhaps not with the same finesse, but I suspect I'll be plenty happy. MC275 upgraded tubes is listed at 3400 with only marginal interest from the buying community. Is that price so badly off??
on deck
Lehmann Black Cube - not on the chopping block.... yet, just love this little amp, makes a super pre-amp as well. stole it for 400!
Clearaudio concept MM turntable. you know, I just don't listen to vinyl anymore. Does that make be a bad person? Does killing and eating the neighbor's dog? (that was a joke) well the dam thing barked all the time....
thanks all
Steve
I'm frantically selling off my extra gear to justify the cost and perhaps find a way into a d100
the stuff:
Ray Samuels Raptor - sold today at a fair price of 750 (I was second owner, excellent condition)
Alpha Prime Cans, brand spanking new, only used to AB vs a used pair HD 800s. To my surprise I'm keeping the 800s. I have the primes listed on AG for 875, can't believe they haven't sold yet. oh well. Excellent headphones but just not as excellent ad the HD800s. I really get into sound stage and imaging.
My 10 year old MC275 with full tube upgrade. (prior sale fell through). As much as I love this amp, and I really do, not sure it's needed if the MA100 can do the job for my office speakers. Perhaps not with the same finesse, but I suspect I'll be plenty happy. MC275 upgraded tubes is listed at 3400 with only marginal interest from the buying community. Is that price so badly off??
on deck
Lehmann Black Cube - not on the chopping block.... yet, just love this little amp, makes a super pre-amp as well. stole it for 400!
Clearaudio concept MM turntable. you know, I just don't listen to vinyl anymore. Does that make be a bad person? Does killing and eating the neighbor's dog? (that was a joke) well the dam thing barked all the time....
thanks all
Steve
perplekks45
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I tried the Mac combo last Friday: MHA100 with MHP1000. Stunning. Now if only I didn't love my LCD-X so much and the MHP were not 2300 Euros....
IceClass
Headphoneus Supremus
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MHA100 arrives this week!
I'm frantically selling off my extra gear to justify the cost and perhaps find a way into a d100
MC275 upgraded tubes is listed at 3400 with only marginal interest from the buying community. Is that price so badly off??
No but there does seem to be rather a lot of MC275 amplifiers for sale at the moment.
I've searched this thread, but can't find a comparison of the MHA100 with the headphone amp on a larger Mac integrated such as the MA6600 or MA6700 (only a comparison with the headphone output on a Mac pre). Does anyone with the MHA100 own a full-size Mac integrated?
I really like the headphone output on my MA6000, but I don't drive very challenging headphones (Senn HP380 pro). I'm in the market for a higher-end pair of phones but wonder if I really need a dedicated amp when I already have the MA6600, which has a headphone output that, according to the manual, is "optimized for impedances ranging from 16 to 250 ohms."
I really like the headphone output on my MA6000, but I don't drive very challenging headphones (Senn HP380 pro). I'm in the market for a higher-end pair of phones but wonder if I really need a dedicated amp when I already have the MA6600, which has a headphone output that, according to the manual, is "optimized for impedances ranging from 16 to 250 ohms."
I've been loving the MHA/XR50 combo. Oh man when those green logos light up on the speakers, it's gimmicky but cool. They present sound so much larger than they portray themselves to be. I contemplated running an external sub at first as the MHA has a built in crossover to limit the speakers to 80Hz and up, but still haven't found the need yet.
To people thinking the DAC in the MHA100 isn't good enough, it's an excellent DAC. To think you need a D100 added in the signal path, honestly it's just a redundant pieice of gear you gain very little benefit over the standalone MHA. The DAC in the MHA100 again is excellent. The incremental increase in sound from D100 to MHA100 would not be as significant an increase in sound quality as say jumping to a pair of summit-fi headphones at the same cost. That all being said the D100 is a great piece of gear on its own.
I could see people adding the D150 to run DSD files but that's it. If the D100 or D150 came with Phono inputs that would be a different story.
The MHA is a great piece of kit that does everything it's supposed to do in spades. I'm selling off my Audeze cans and keeping the HD800's and MHP1000's they compliment each other perfectly with the MHA. The audeze cans sound awesome as well, nothing against them in that department. They are just nowhere near as comfortable for me on longer listening sessions. The MHP's like the HD800's disappear (comfort wise) when wearing them.
Congrats to the new MHA owners!
To people thinking the DAC in the MHA100 isn't good enough, it's an excellent DAC. To think you need a D100 added in the signal path, honestly it's just a redundant pieice of gear you gain very little benefit over the standalone MHA. The DAC in the MHA100 again is excellent. The incremental increase in sound from D100 to MHA100 would not be as significant an increase in sound quality as say jumping to a pair of summit-fi headphones at the same cost. That all being said the D100 is a great piece of gear on its own.
I could see people adding the D150 to run DSD files but that's it. If the D100 or D150 came with Phono inputs that would be a different story.
The MHA is a great piece of kit that does everything it's supposed to do in spades. I'm selling off my Audeze cans and keeping the HD800's and MHP1000's they compliment each other perfectly with the MHA. The audeze cans sound awesome as well, nothing against them in that department. They are just nowhere near as comfortable for me on longer listening sessions. The MHP's like the HD800's disappear (comfort wise) when wearing them.
Congrats to the new MHA owners!
ImmaLizard
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What kind of DAC is used in the MHA-100? McIntosh site does not specify.
21qz
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What cables are you guys using with your MHA100?
groovyd
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Just pulled the trigger on a pair of the new Maggie .7's (smaller version of the 1.7) to pair with the MC252 should be here in a couple weeks. Audition a the shop was quite impressive. Have the beautiful planar sound I enjoy from my LCD's.
Current home setup:
MBP + JRiver MC20
-> USB 3.0 port
-> 1T external HD full of 25,000 high bitrate remastered ALACs
-> D100
-> balanced preamp out
-> MC252 (remote power control by D100)
-> Maggie .7's
-> rca preamp out
-> Paradigm Millenia One CT x 2 (4 sats 2 subs) on/under work desk
-> rca line level out
-> WA7 + tp (gold + mullards)
-> LCD-X / XC + Norne Audio Cable
-> headphone out
-> Beyer T1 + Norne Audio Cable (thinking to replace with MHP1000)
Besides the potential T1 -> MHP upgrade plan to swap out the WA7 + LCD-X/XC for Audeze next flagship, the LCD-Z + matched Audeze High-Z amp ideally connected to the balanced line level out on the D100 however McIntosh could sway me from that amp if they came out with a tube based headphone pre-amp/amp without a dac that takes balanced line level in.
Current home setup:
MBP + JRiver MC20
-> USB 3.0 port
-> 1T external HD full of 25,000 high bitrate remastered ALACs
-> D100
-> balanced preamp out
-> MC252 (remote power control by D100)
-> Maggie .7's
-> rca preamp out
-> Paradigm Millenia One CT x 2 (4 sats 2 subs) on/under work desk
-> rca line level out
-> WA7 + tp (gold + mullards)
-> LCD-X / XC + Norne Audio Cable
-> headphone out
-> Beyer T1 + Norne Audio Cable (thinking to replace with MHP1000)
Besides the potential T1 -> MHP upgrade plan to swap out the WA7 + LCD-X/XC for Audeze next flagship, the LCD-Z + matched Audeze High-Z amp ideally connected to the balanced line level out on the D100 however McIntosh could sway me from that amp if they came out with a tube based headphone pre-amp/amp without a dac that takes balanced line level in.
4N6
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fario
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Hi
MHA100 arrives this week!!!
Il will be great with my HD800 ...
Review soon
fred
MHA100 arrives this week!!!
Il will be great with my HD800 ...
Review soon
fred
Congrats! You are going to love it. If you want a pair of closed headphones with the level of detail of the HD800 and a big soundstage fora closed design check out the McIntosh headphones. IMO they are great. I love them!
I went from the Naim DAC V1 / WA6 and HD800 to the MHA100 - man is this thing going to blow your mind! Enjoy!!
Quote:
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lockjaw
100+ Head-Fier
Need some advice regarding a good set of small bookshelf or desktop speakers to pair with my soon to arrive MHA100. Need to be near the back wall.
Right now I'm using Amphion 3's, which are superb but just a little too large for my office and probably a little too difficult to drive for a 50 watt amp, even if it's McIntosh. The other issue is the need to place the speakers fairly close to the wall.
I am open to any suggestions.
A few I was looking at, but have never heard:
- KEF LS50
- Totem mite
- LSA .5
- PSB imagine or imagine mini
open to all thoughts. -steve
Right now I'm using Amphion 3's, which are superb but just a little too large for my office and probably a little too difficult to drive for a 50 watt amp, even if it's McIntosh. The other issue is the need to place the speakers fairly close to the wall.
I am open to any suggestions.
A few I was looking at, but have never heard:
- KEF LS50
- Totem mite
- LSA .5
- PSB imagine or imagine mini
open to all thoughts. -steve
groovyd
Headphoneus Supremus
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absolutely love my Paradigm MilleniaOne CT's but they are self-powered so you won't get to feel good about using the MHA100 amp. When I was down at the local audio shop putting an order in on some Magnepan .7's I heard the mini maggies, was extremely impressed. I bet the MHA100 would make them sound incredible and give you that bigger then life planar sound. Vocals were astonishing, thought the person was singing right in front of me.
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