[u2u2]

Interestingly the C8 has a headphone out of its own.
I wonder how that competes with the MHA200

I will be able to offer an opinion in two weeks or so if things roll out from McIntosh to plan.
This feature is one I hoped to downplay, cover up, ignore etc lest the other half discovers it. We are getting dangerously close to rational thought and logic with any line of enquiry like this. Runs contrary to the hobby... Gaming that the headphone section is no better than the one on the 100 150 series. OK but room to improve. Never anticipated moving in this direction but it will be a foundation for future efforts. Well played by McIntosh. The slope is steep and slippery.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I will be able to offer an opinion in two weeks or so if things roll out from McIntosh to plan.
This feature is one I hoped to downplay, cover up, ignore etc lest the other half discovers it. We are getting dangerously close to rational thought and logic with any line of enquiry like this. Runs contrary to the hobby... Gaming that the headphone section is no better than the one on the 100 150 series. OK but room to improve. Never anticipated moving in this direction but it will be a foundation for future efforts. Well played by McIntosh. The slope is steep and slippery.

Looking forward to your impressions.

 

[doggiemom]

McIntosh beat Cavalli with the MHA200?

I have the Cavalli Liquid Gold, and have been comparing.... I like and plan to keep them both. The D1100 pairs very, very well with the MHA200 (and no volume knob concerns!) though I do run the MHA200 at 100 Ohms to get the desired volume level. (I don't listen super loud). My turntable with the MHA200 sounds a little too big (if that makes sense) and the vocals are a bit too forward. But the TT with the Cavalli is an excellent pairing. To me neither is better as they are very different, and for a given source one might be better or worse. That comment was probably completely unhelpful.

 

[POOBA]

I have the Cavalli Liquid Gold, and have been comparing.... I like and plan to keep them both. The D1100 pairs very, very well with the MHA200 (and no volume knob concerns!) though I do run the MHA200 at 100 Ohms to get the desired volume level. (I don't listen super loud). My turntable with the MHA200 sounds a little too big (if that makes sense) and the vocals are a bit too forward. But the TT with the Cavalli is an excellent pairing. To me neither is better as they are very different, and for a given source one might be better or worse. That comment was probably completely unhelpful.

CAVALLI AND WOO WA -22 I AM WORKING ON GETTING WA 5TH GEN2 (

I have the Cavalli Liquid Gold, and have been comparing.... I like and plan to keep them both. The D1100 pairs very, very well with the MHA200 (and no volume knob concerns!) though I do run the MHA200 at 100 Ohms to get the desired volume level. (I don't listen super loud). My turntable with the MHA200 sounds a little too big (if that makes sense) and the vocals are a bit too forward. But the TT with the Cavalli is an excellent pairing. To me neither is better as they are very different, and for a given source one might be better or worse. That comment was probably completely unhelpful.

CAVALLI N MHA200- - I AM WORKING ON GETTING WOO 5 -GEN 2 - BUT GETTING PC MOD !!!#!

 

[POOBA]

CAVALLI AND WOO WA -22 I AM WORKING ON GETTING WA 5TH GEN2 (

CAVALLI N MHA200- - I AM WORKING ON GETTING WOO 5 -GEN 2 - BUT GETTING PC MOD !!!#!

RECEIVED CALL BETWEEN WRITING !

 

[POOBA]

RECEIVED CALL BETWEEN WRITING !

 

[Lépine]

After looking at a few C8 YouTubes, I think it is too big to be a great "visual match" for the MHA200.
I have to say, I hope McIntosh is considering a similar size and style preamp for the MHA200. That would go high on the wish list.

 

[u2u2]

After looking at a few C8 YouTubes, I think it is too big to be a great match for the MHA200.
I have to say, I hope McIntosh is considering a matching size and MHA200 styled preamp specifically for the MHA200. That would go high on the wish list.

It is large relative to the MHA200 but that really speaks to the great job they did with the MHA. Probably zero chance of a smaller tube based preamp as the market is so small.
Playing around with the MHA dawn to dusk for a few days now and getting to really appreciate most of what McIntosh accomplished.
The C8 is going to be tough in my environment as I am space challenged and have too much gear that I want to actively use. As I go through my machinations I have marked up my desk with possible gear positions and hit constraints every which way...
From that a solid game plan is shaping up with the McIntosh kit being the central pieces. As an aside I expect to squeeze even more from both my Woo amps as a bonus.The MHA200 will be the catalyst to my ultimate setup and the C8 will then be the core hub so to speak.

A question remains though... Has anyone got experience with (or thoughts about) the McIntosh DA2 Digital Audio Module? Wondering how it sounds with the MHA200 or compares to Chord Qutest or MOJO.

 

[Lépine]

Just as an experiment, I tried for less than 15 minutes using the pre-amp in the HeadAmp GS-X Mini to see if there was any potential there for the MHA200. I enjoy the GS-X Mini as is and the MHA200 as is. I don't think I will further experiment with using the pre-amp in the GS-X Mini to drive the MHA200. (Balanced XLR Silver Streak from TT2 to GS-X Mini. GS-X Mini balanced XLR Hero Cu to MHA200. Balanced XLR GS-X Mini to Wagnus Holy Sheep 2.5 TRRS to 64 Audio U18t.)

 

[bajs1988]

After such a long wait it's finally arrived and I am absolutely blown away by the sound I'm getting out of my utopias.

This is coming from using them on the Wooaudio wa11 and the sennheiser HDV820 and this is definitely in a different league.

 

[gonzalo05]

After such a long wait it's finally arrived and I am absolutely blown away by the sound I'm getting out of my utopias.

This is coming from using them on the Wooaudio wa11 and the sennheiser HDV820 and this is definitely in a different league.

Congratulations and happy listening.

 

[Lépine]

I discovered that when I put my Surface Pro 7 into airplane mode, the MHA200 will pickup high pitch howling tone from my Microsoft Surface bluetooth mouse if it is couple of inches near the McIntosh logo on the right side of the amp. If I now turn off the mouse or move it away more than 3 inches and no problem. If the computer is not in airplane mode, the connected mouse causes no problems even touching the amp or tube cage. If the mouse is in bluetooth pairing mode, it interferes with the tubes and you hear buzzing if the mouse is too close.

You may want to reconsider where you locate bluetooth transmitters. And this might be true of many other brands of Tube Amps. I don't have anything else to compare to so I will not jump to any false conclusion that this is unique to the MHA200. It maybe a design optimization choice of the engineer to get the wonderful sound from the amp by reducing shielding. Either way, it is easy enough to keep transmitters a few inches away from the amp.

 

[pescatore]

I was wondering if its feasible to run the 3 pin XLR outs from the MHA200 directly into a set of powered speakers? In other words can a headphone out work as a line out. Im assuming this wouldn’t work well, but thought I’d check.

 

[michaelsk]

Where can you purchase the mha200?

 

[TSAVJason]

Where can you purchase the mha200?

From any “Authorized” McIntosh dealer.