Martin Logan's with Mcintosh amps!!!

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mamba24

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Well guys, I decided to return my Mcintosh MC303 amp that powered my fronts and center and got three Mcintosh Monoblocks (MC601). I still have the MC205 to power the four rears but man do my speakers sound awesome. Don't get me wrong, it sounded great with the MC303 but the three MC601's make a huge difference. My speakers are louder, more crisp and detail and more headroom. I have a pair of Ethos and a Stage X. The Stage X sounds incredible with its own Monoblock. I'll post pics soon. I also bought another Descent i sub so now I have 2. My system consists of Ethos for fronts, Stage X as a center, four Motion 15's as rears. Two Descent i subs. Mcintosh MX151 as a processor. Three Mcintosh MC601 Monoblock amps for the fronts and center and a Mcintosh MC205 amp for the rears. If anyone is considering these a amps, I definitely recommend them. If you can't decide which amps to get to power your Martin Logan's, definitely get Mcintosh. You can't go wrong. I haven't left my house for 2 days now. I've been watching movies for the last 2 days. Lol
 
Thats a great system your running, how would you describe the 601's and does it make the stage x sound any diff? I had the stage and sold it as it was crap but maybe it was the anthem amp?
 
Thats a great system your running, how would you describe the 601's and does it make the stage x sound any diff? I had the stage and sold it as it was crap but maybe it was the anthem amp?

The 601 makes the Stage X sound incredible. The dialogue is crisp, clean, clear and loud!!! The 601's made a huge difference. I auditioned quite a few center speakers and the Stage X was far better than anything else. I heard B & W centers, motif x etc... On transformers 3, when starscream is after Sam towards the end of the movie when they're battling in downtown Chicago is amazing. The dialogue is clean, loud, detailed and it just hits you hard. It's intense.
 
I may be tempted to buy a stage x once again or a Wilson watch center channel and get a full wilson HT setup as my guests did not favor my stage as they sat off axis
 
I may be tempted to buy a stage x once again or a Wilson watch center channel and get a full wilson HT setup as my guests did not favor my stage as they sat off axis

If you can, go to a Magnolia Design Center and ask them to demo the stage X with a Mcintosh MC601.
 
Hmm, interesting development with the upgrade to the M601 beasts! I gotta ask the obvious question... With 600-watts on tap per panel matching with the "puny" 200-watt internal bass amplifier, at what point do you feel that the woofer is running out of steam, trying to keep up with the BIG Mac?
 
Hmm, interesting development with the upgrade to the M601 beasts! I gotta ask the obvious question... With 600-watts on tap per panel matching with the "puny" 200-watt internal bass amplifier, at what point do you feel that the woofer is running out of steam, trying to keep up with the BIG Mac?

Honestly, it doesn't. With the bass coming out of the ethos and the 2 Descent i's, it's not an issue.
 
Honestly, it doesn't. With the bass coming out of the ethos and the 2 Descent i's, it's not an issue.
I interpret this statement to mean that the bass coming out from the Descents is masking the issue you might encounter with the Ethos' woofers. If one were to consider the Ethos by themselves and turn off the Descents, will one encounter the above stated problem of the big Macs overpowering the internal bass amps.
 
I interpret this statement to mean that the bass coming out from the Descents is masking the issue you might encounter with the Ethos' woofers. If one were to consider the Ethos by themselves and turn off the Descents, will one encounter the above stated problem of the big Macs overpowering the internal bass amps.

Actually, that is not the case. I've turned off both Descents and the bass is more than enough coming from the Ethos. Before I bought the Ethos, I demoed them by themselves with MC601's and the sound and bass was great. It was never an issue. The Ethos throughout a lot of bass. If you have a Magnolia Design Center close by, I recommend you go listen to them. They'll have them there to demo along with the MC601's.
 
Overkill?

Actually, that is not the case. I've turned off both Descents and the bass is more than enough coming from the Ethos. Before I bought the Ethos, I demoed them by themselves with MC601's and the sound and bass was great.
Forgive my ignorance, but I am trying to wrap my head around the MC601 & Ethos combination. Don't get me wrong, the Mc 601 is a great amp and I can see using this BIG MAC on a passive Logan like my ReQuests or CLX. But I am still getting stuck at the concept of matching the 601 with a "puny" 200-watter internal amp and here's my rationale... You said that the bass is more than enough coming from the Ethos, so I interpret it to mean that the 200-watt class-D amplifier did not get pushed to its limit to reach distortion. By definition, this means that 200-watt is enough for your application. If 200-watt is enough, then your previous MC303, at 300-watt per channel, should be just cruising to drive the panels. So here's my question: if you did not get to push the limits on the MC303, why the need to get to the MC601? In other words, what do the 601s do that the 303 couldn't in this particular use case where the limitation (I believe) is the 200-watt internal amp trying to keep up with the big MAC?
 
I own 3 MC601's to power my L/R CLX's and my new Paradigm C5 Center that replaced my Stage. For the first time in years, the center has come alive. The Stage is no sonic, and, in my opinion, no timbre match for the CLX's.
 

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