|
Review 3 of 3 Summary:
So, if you are in a band or want perfect sound from a perfect amp, give me a call. As for me, I am going to buy an antique stereo and fix it up, tubes and all, I think that will be closer to the Hi Fi I am looking for.
I will still give this amp 5 stars, becuase it does what an amp should do.
Strengths:
If you want an amp to do what an amp is designed to do: reproduce the music faithfully, then this is the amp you want. For the home listening experience, the MC-150 (150 watts/channel RMS) goes plenty loud (keep in mind, there is only a 3dB increase if you buy the MC-300 or 6dB for the MC-500!) The power guard does work, and the watt meters suck you in. The looks of this amp are very wife freindly. The sound itself is aggressive, dynamic, and colorless. Good for movies, excellent for live music production! I have seen a lot of pro-grade amps in the music industry and the sound quality and build quality of this amp does not fall short in any way, it just looks prettier! Weaknesses:
As far as an amplifier goes, this amp has no weaknesses. But I did not like the way this amp sounded in the home. In my opinion, this amp is too good for the home. Okay, maybe I am crazy. But here are my two bits. When you go to a live performance, miced or not, the "true" music of the intruments bounce off the stage, walls, ground, people, and other objects of varying densities and materials. So by the time the music gets to my ears, it is no longer pure, it is colored, blended, and attentuated. There is more sound there. This is not a bad thing - this is natural - this is the real world. I like this sound, it is more full, has more depth and space. In the home, there is not enough room for the recordings to "color" as they do in bigger, more open spaces. So I felt that the MC-150 took away from my listening experience, because it had no color. The music is dry, hollow, and shallow. Digital recording technques have not helped. People are still recording music the same way they did when the stereos did have color and it sounded great, because the recording was perfect and the stereo added color to make it sound natural. Now equipment can playback music exactly the way it was recorded. I know this is the goal of Hi Fi. However, if that is the case, recording artists need to be more creative about recording music in a more "live" setting. On the other hand, people seem to like the uncolored, digital sound of this era, so, please, be my guest, buy an MC-150! Similar Products Used:
I used the McIntosh C-22 with this amp, which helped me with my delima, but it was not enough. I used all kinds of speakers on this system, ranging from Jensens, B&W matrix, Meadowlark Shearwaters, JBL Pro line, and just for a laugh Sonys. Funny enough, none of them worked by themselves, but in combinations. That just proves that there is not enough diferent sounds in one pair of speakers. I know I am crazy, but any of you can take advantage of my uniqueness, because I am currently selling all this equipment, including the MC-150.
| 
5 of 5
