New McIntosh MHA200 Headphone amp

[Lépine]

Big fan of Kimber

RFI chokes routinely sell for a couple bucks or less.

I guess I might be a core choke roller

 

[Nostoi]

Thank you for trying to school me, I appreciate your effort very much. I’m always trying to be sure I understand. There are preference differences but there is no “issues” with the VC.

Happy to help.

And thank you in return for clarifying that the VC is a matter of "preference differences" rather than any inherent "issue," a point that is evidently demonstrated in that users would prefer to spend $500 more for a better VC.

I wish you all the best for continued sales of the amp.

 

[Crowbar44]

Welp....I'm going so say flat out, that I absolutely love this amp...seriously, I screwing love it. I love the sound, best in class IMHO, seriously, end-game gear. I love the fact that I have my Clears on the balanced output and my LCD-2F's on the SE output and I can switch them on my head at a moments notice. I love the clarity, I love the musicality, I love the tubes, and I love the impedance matching. As much as a Schiit fanboy as I am, the MH200 blows my Asgard 3 away, and I demoed a lot of other great tube amps...at $2.5k the MHA200 better be superb, and to me, it is.

With that said, it is VERY clear that this amp is designed to be integrated into a system with a preamp. McIntosh is still learning about what the headphone (and Head-Fi) market expects...and they should have done a better job on the volume pot when used solo without a pre-amp. The narrow (12-2) volume band is an annoyance, but it's something I'm happy to deal with considering the other benefits this amp provides. With that also said, I am absolutely considering a pre-amp (probably a Freya+ or Saga+, but maybe a minimalist passive stepped attenuator, though try to find one that is cheaper than the Schiit offerings, which both have a passive mode with stepped attenuators) in order to fix the issue of the volume pot - plus it would be nice to have a remote for volume control, which both of the the Schiit products provide.

For those who say that they shouldn't have to spend $400-$1k (or more!) to get a pre-amp to make their $2.5k headphone amp work perfectly...well, I can't disagree. But...this is still one fantastic sounding amp...

 

[u2u2]

Welp....I'm going so say flat out, that I absolutely love this amp...seriously, I screwing love it. I love the sound, best in class IMHO, seriously, end-game gear. I love the fact that I have my Clears on the balanced output and my LCD-2F's on the SE output and I can switch them on my head at a moments notice. I love the clarity, I love the musicality, I love the tubes, and I love the impedance matching. As much as a Schiit fanboy as I am, the MH200 blows my Asgard 3 away, and I demoed a lot of other great tube amps...at $2.5k the MHA200 better be superb, and to me, it is.

With that said, it is VERY clear that this amp is designed to be integrated into a system with a preamp. McIntosh is still learning about what the headphone (and Head-Fi) market expects...and they should have done a better job on the volume pot when used solo without a pre-amp. The narrow (12-2) volume band is an annoyance, but it's something I'm happy to deal with considering the other benefits this amp provides. With that also said, I am absolutely considering a pre-amp (probably a Freya+ or Saga+, but maybe a minimalist passive stepped attenuator, though try to find one that is cheaper than the Schiit offerings, which both have a passive mode with stepped attenuators) in order to fix the issue of the volume pot - plus it would be nice to have a remote for volume control, which both of the the Schiit products provide.

For those who say that they shouldn't have to spend $400-$1k (or more!) to get a pre-amp to make their $2.5k headphone amp work perfectly...well, I can't disagree. But...this is still one fantastic sounding amp...

Crossing over from the other thread the Khozmo passive preamp had come up. I reached out to them some 12 days ago as to what they would pair the MHA200 with and they opted to remain silent… They are known for being responsive and I had opened the door to upselling me with all the possible upgrades. Easy sale and good money for them.
I am speculating their silence may be due to the MHA specs being out of the norm. Many headphone amps seem to have 100K ohm inputs and some run 50. McIntosh publishes the single end input on the MHA200 as 10K, balanced 20K.
The general online advice suggests the passive amps are not going to be a good fit with the MHA. 50K is ok, 100K better as I understand it. Appears to take passives out of the picture. I thought the rule of thumb in audio was to reduce the components in you chain, not add more, unless you are selling rather than using. My education continues. Maybe someone in this thread has some experience with the impedance matching at these levels?

 

[doggiemom]

My computer sits right next to my MHA200, as does my phone. I’ve never had ANY interference in the amp.

I live in the boonies so we don't have 5G, but I use a laptop computer as the source and often leave it on a side table less than a foot from the amp (and at the same height, as I have a giant stack of magazine back issues to read!) and have never had any interference.

 

[Lépine]

I am curious what kind of interconnects are really good with the MHA200? I am switching around between silver/copper hybrids and all copper. I am finding that I prefer all copper Kimber Kables with this amp. I am also finding that there is a surprising amount of bass that is well articulated with this amp using the 64 Audio U18t and the sound stage is very broad getting close to a headphone experience. Is anyone using the Copper Kimber Selects KS1116?

 

[Crowbar44]

Crossing over from the other thread the Khozmo passive preamp had come up. I reached out to them some 12 days ago as to what they would pair the MHA200 with and they opted to remain silent… They are known for being responsive and I had opened the door to upselling me with all the possible upgrades. Easy sale and good money for them.
I am speculating their silence may be due to the MHA specs being out of the norm. Many headphone amps seem to have 100K ohm inputs and some run 50. McIntosh publishes the single end input on the MHA200 as 10K, balanced 20K.
The general online advice suggests the passive amps are not going to be a good fit with the MHA. 50K is ok, 100K better as I understand it. Appears to take passives out of the picture. I thought the rule of thumb in audio was to reduce the components in you chain, not add more, unless you are selling rather than using. My education continues. Maybe someone in this thread has some experience with the impedance matching at these levels?

Was going to check the input impedance before I bought anything - this is very helpful, thank you!

The low input impedance of the MHA200 is another pretty good clue that this amp was designed to be integrated into an existing high end system. McIntosh has an extensive installed base who tend not to mix and match gear, but who also keep their gear for a while.

@TSAV Jason, any recs on a minimalist McIntosh preamp that would pair well with the MHA200?

 

[Crowbar44]

I am curious what kind of interconnects are really good with the MHA200? I am switching around between silver/copper hybrids and all copper. I am finding that I prefer all copper Kimber Kables with this amp. I am also finding that there is a surprising amount of bass that is well articulated with this amp using the 64 Audio U18t and the sound stage is very broad getting close to a headphone experience. Is anyone using the Copper Kimber Selects KS1116?

I'm not a big cable guy...I'm using these, balanced (Mogami Wire, Neutrik termination).

 

[u2u2]

Was going to check the input impedance before I bought anything - this is very helpful, thank you!

The low input impedance of the MHA200 is another pretty good clue that this amp was designed to be integrated into an existing high end system. McIntosh has an extensive installed base who tend not to mix and match gear, but who also keep their gear for a while.

@TSAV Jason, any recs on a minimalist McIntosh preamp that would pair well with the MHA200?

They have their recent C8 that is styled similarly to the MHA and runs with 4 12AX7A tubes, fairly flexible inputs/outputs, and an optional module that adds a DAC and plenty of digital. Minimalist by their standards and some $3,500.00 USD. Wonder if a Chord Qutest to a C8 then MHA200 would perform. Presumably the unity position would then be right from user and engineering perspectives. Would RCA into the C8 allow true balanced out to the MHA200? Pay once and be done? Maybe Jason will chime in...

 

[TSAVJason]

Was going to check the input impedance before I bought anything - this is very helpful, thank you!

The low input impedance of the MHA200 is another pretty good clue that this amp was designed to be integrated into an existing high end system. McIntosh has an extensive installed base who tend not to mix and match gear, but who also keep their gear for a while.

@TSAV Jason, any recs on a minimalist McIntosh preamp that would pair well with the MHA200?

If all your sources are digital you could consider a McIntosh D100/150. If you’d like to incorporate analog the C8 is a good choice.

you can use any preamp to be able to use the MHA200 in “Unity” as a main amp.

 

[TSAVJason]

They have their recent C8 that is styled similarly to the MHA and runs with 4 12AX7A tubes, fairly flexible inputs/outputs, and an optional module that adds a DAC and plenty of digital. Minimalist by their standards and some $3,500.00 USD. Wonder if a Chord Qutest to a C8 then MHA200 would perform. Presumably the unity position would then be right from user and engineering perspectives. Would RCA into the C8 allow true balanced out to the MHA200? Pay once and be done? Maybe Jason will chime in...

I’ve actually tried that combo. C8, MHA200 & Qutest. My initial impression was it was very warm overall and didn’t shrink that big beautiful McIntosh midrange.

 

[u2u2]

I’ve actually tried that combo. C8, MHA200 & Qutest. My initial impression was it was very warm overall and didn’t shrink that big beautiful McIntosh midrange.

Thank you.

 

[Lépine]

I have a limited selection of interconnects to try out and see how they make the MHA200 sound connected to the Hugo TT2.
I spent the afternoon trying a few interconnect cables I have available.

1) Straight Wire Encore RCA. No these aren't the right cables.
2) Kimber KC1 RCA. No these aren't the right cables. Probably the worst cables I have ever purchased.
3) Kimber Timbre RCA. These are nice overall, pretty good clarity, good authority in the bass, not harsh, great midrange, not much treble rolloff. (Works great for the Hugo2 and MHA200).
4) Kimber Silver Streak 2 silver, 2 copper hybrid XLR. These are really detailed. Lots of detail, clarity, bass authority, great mid range, a bit fatiguing in the treble.
5) Kimber Hero CU XLR. So far this the best cable I have in the house for the MHA200. All the good of the Timbre with added holographic dimension and more controlled transients. This is the most natural sounding cable, slightly more aggressive than the Timbre RCA but not as bright as the Silver Streak.

 

[HiFiGuy528]

Special note to owners of the MHA200. We have discovered in 3 cases that cell phones can cause a sound similar to tube degradation/failure. Before you assume your MHA200 has an issue and you use a phone as a music source be aware the scratching sound is more than likely a result of RFI not tube issues.

Have great weekend!

I am using iPad Pro next to the MHA200 for streaming music and noticed the scratching sound. Not a big deal for me so I didn't mention it until I saw this post.

 

[Lépine]

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