McIntosh MC152 vs Cary Audio SA 200.2 ES power amps
 

Hey folks,

I'm considering either the Mac MC152 or the Cary Audio SA 200.2 ES power amps (both are class AB design) to drive my Monitor Audio Gold 200 5g (new latest generation from Gold series) speakers. Currently I'm using Classe Sigma Amp2 class D power amp with Classe Sigma preamp. I have the Cary Audio CD 306 SACD player (latest version) served as my digital front end source component.

Which power amp would be a better choice for my MA Gold 200 5g speakers? These latest MA Gold 200 5g are somewhat warm sounding tonally with very smooth refined highs and mids and punchy and articulate bass. These are laid back sounding speakers. Plus I'm using warm sounding full bodied speaker cables and XLR analog interconnects and power cables throughout.

Which power amp would be better choice for my system setup? The Mac MC152 or the Cary Audio SA 200.2 ES (new version)?
Your advise, inputs and opinions bill be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Cary Direct has an excellent sale on the SA 200.2 ES at the moment. Plus, it puts out more than twice the power of the MC152 into your 4ohm Monitor Gold 200 speakers (350wpc vs 150wpc).
If you are happy with the Cary CD 306 then it would seem the SA 200.2 ES would be an excellent match.
Having heard neither one, I would say read as many reviews as you can find.......... try to judge from what you read.
As you can see from my gear list, I'm a Cary fan. But, that said, I'm giving serious thought to a MAC7200 as my next gear purchase.

Yes, I lean towards the Cary SA 200.2 ES amp. Actually I have just ordered a used one through Audiogon so will be here next week.

I general I’m not a big fan of Mac gears. I like looking at those blue meter thingy and all Mac gears are built like a tank and are very reliable and their resale values in used markets are the highest compared to other brands. But sonically in general I find Mac gears sounding boring and somewhat dull IMO especially their preamps. But I haven’t had a chance to listen to this particular MC152 power amp.

My cousin feels the same way, that’s why he went with ARC in one of his setup and Naim Statement pre & monoblock amps in his other setup.