McIntosh MC451 Dual mono amplifier

[Formerly YB-2]

Spent some time this morning listening to a pair of the MC451 with a C12000 driving a pair of JBL Jubilee speakers. Amazing system. The SQ was stunningly good, to say nothing of the visual presentation of the gear. Thought I had taken a picture to post, but it eluded my cell phone abilities for some reason.

[Audiodaze]

I own an MC 901 with B&W 802D3, and these speakers come to life in this configuration, especially the mid and tweeter drivers. The bass is a lot punchier and detailed too. Otherwise the mids and tweeters are buried without the biamping. Previously I used a solid state mc611 600 W mono from Macintosh. it's collecting dust now.

Sending a full signal through the tube side of the amplifier and then to have the speaker only use the upper range of the frequency spectrum would seem to overly burden the tube amplifier. All those lower range signals passing through the tube amplifier that don't get relieved by a speaker puts a lot of stress on the transformer, and maybe the tubes, and therefore not healthy for the amplifier. Further, leaving the mid and tweeter drivers to filter out lower end frequencies puts an additional burden on the speaker for no good reason and may inhibit ideal performance by the speaker crossover filter.

Tubes do a lot better with the upper range frequencies due to all the harmonics being better emphasized.

[Stereocadcadman]

Well said. I had heard this information before and now that you articulate it in an understandable way, it seems to me the MC 901 provides a great way to limit the frequencies the tube section is amplifying. The MC451 may have less flexibility in the crossover section, but they are beautiful amps as well. I am pleased with my current bi-amp setup but am looking for a path to upgrade the 1.2kw mid/hi section if possible. Thank you for the post.

[LewC]

I wonder how the MC451 compares to the MC3500 on bi-ampable speakers.

[ken]

and I wonder how the 451 would compare with the 2301.

[LewC]

And how does the 2301 compare to the 3500? I know, a little off target.