Dan S

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.67 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $9000.00 from E bay

Summary:
These are the monster of amps. It is kind of like having a car with fourtimes the horsepower you could ever use. The first day I hooked them up (after pulling every muscle in my back) I smoked the tweeters and mid range speakers on my Thiel 3.6's. Seriously though. These amps are awsome. The imaging is excellent, clarity super clean, and the amps are absolutly silent. No hiss or hum. There is infinate power, and easily will peak at 2400 watt. I believe McIntosh rated these speakers at 1200w continuous, at any load. The apperance is aw inspriring, kind of like looking at a Brand new BLACK Bently. Not small, but jaw dropping.
The dual meters are hugel. I suspect the hubble could see them it it desired. They look great. My only two complaints are the weight, and the amp seems slightly hard. Don't get me wrong, it is musical, infinate power, deep, clean bass, great mid, and the crispiest of high's, it just seems like it needs to soften a little.I suspect that after a thousand hours of burn in time it will smooth out even more.

Strengths:
Endless power, Great bass, stunning looks, completely sileent, no hiss or hum, Could be used as a welder if needed., The most beautiful front panel display, and the unit scrreams quality.

Weaknesses:
Stupid heavy, you can easily damage any speaker if not careful.

Similar Products Used:
Dynaco Stereo 416, B& K Sonata 200 w. mono blocks, bi amped (4)

Price Paid:  $8500.00 from audiogon

Summary:
if you need lots of power & killer dynamics then the mc1201's are the ticket,if your looking into mc1201's then buying them used is your best bet & save atleast 50% from msrp.

just for some back ground im a mac user for a long time & i have owned most amps made by mcintosh including the mc300,mc252,mc500 & many many more,ive also tried other high end amps from manufacturers like krell.

the speakers im powering are mcintosh xtr 22's which are rated for 300 watts max,when ran with the mc500 @ 500 watts a channel the xrt 22's sounded great but i knew there should be more,in comes the mc1201's,what a difference in every way,more bass at lower listening levels,cleaner highs & unlimited headroom,i also ran a pair of mc252's in bridged mono for 500 watts a channel before going to the mc1201's & they didnt even come close to the performance level from the big 1201's.

i think the most notable difference ive found is bass control,with alot of amps ive ran when i het louder volume levels the bass started to get loose & squirely,even with the krell class a amps i had when i really pumped up the volume the bass got squirely,not with the mc1201's,no matter the volume they keep a firm grip on the bass & NEVER distort.

im giving these amps a 5 star rating in every way,even the price because you can buy them for $10k or less used & you'll never ever find better amps within that price range.

Strengths:
unlimited & undistorted power,impossible to klip,very refined sound.

Weaknesses:
these amps are extremely heavy,if you buy a pair you will need help in lifting them unless your a weight lifter.

Similar Products Used:
other mcintosh,krell,rotel,parasound,golden tube audio,sunfire,carver,marantz,pass labs,aragon.