Vintage versus new
February 9, 2004
I'm considering purchasing a "vintage" McIntosh
MA5100 integrated amplifier from a well-known refurbisher. The distortion specs of this
30-year-old amp don't come close to what a cheap, modern integrated amplifier can achieve,
but I'm told that the outstanding build quality of the McIntosh and its suitability for
jazz (which accounts for 90% of my listening) makes it a better buy than, say, an NAD or
Cambridge in the $400 to $500 price range. Would I be foolish to match the McIntosh with
the Paradigm Mini-Monitor or Axiom M3ti, or should I be looking at something new?
Colin Saunders
There's more to a component's sound than
specifications reveal, so you can't simply go by the numbers. In your case, it sounds to
me like you're an informed consumer. The integrateds you're looking at, whether the
Cambridge, NAD, or McIntosh, are all well thought of and any one should provide excellent
performance. "Excellent" doesn't translate into equal, however -- all three of
the integrated amps you mention will have a different sonic signature.
I'm a big proponent of older McIntosh gear. Having
owned a MC2100 many years ago, then buying one a few years back to relive that magic, I
can tell you that these old amplifiers compete quite well with today's offerings. If
you're buying from a restorer/refurbisher, they're likely able to test the unit to insure
that it's performing up to spec. If that's the case, why not take a chance on it? If you
don't like it you can always auction it on eBay and get your money back out of it. The
market for vintage McIntosh gear is rife these days. And you just might find an amp you
can be happy with for many years.
Receiver inputs and outputs
February 6, 2004
I have a surround-sound receiver that is about six years
old. It decodes AC-3 Dolby Digital. The back has phono connections for the front, center,
rear, and subwoofer channels that are not being used. The manual says I can connect
amplifiers to them for additional power. Am I able to connect my SACD/DVD player to get
multichannel SACD sound? And can I also use the DTS decoding on the player, bypassing the
Dolby Digital decoding on the receiver with this connection?
Randy
The connections you are referring to on the back
of your receiver are called preamplifier outputs, or pre-outs for short. As your manual
states, these are outputs for connecting additional power amplifiers to your system,
thereby bypassing your receiver's power section. As these are outputs, not inputs,
you can't connect your SACD player to them. What you need for that is a set of
multichannel inputs. And yes, if you had those, you could use the processing in your
player for Dolby Digital and DTS sound. Unfortunately, it looks like you need a new
receiver with multichannel inputs.
$1000 system?
February 4, 2004
I love the GoodSound! site. It provides so much
information you just can't get from other sites, at least not easily.
Do you think that $1000 is a realistic amount to spend on a
system for a college student? I need something for a small apartment, stereo only. Thanks
for your help.
Allison Parker
You should be able to put together a fine system for
$1000. Check out the integrated amplifiers from Cambridge Audio, available at www.audioadvisor.com. Pair this with something like
the Pioneer DV-563A universal audio/video player we reviewed this month and a pair of
loudspeakers like the Axiom M22tis (or models from Paradigm, Athena Technologies, or
Ascend Acoustics), and you'll be set. A thousand-buck audio-system budget goes further
today than ever before.
Subwoofer connection
February 2, 2004
I have a Yamaha RX-V992 receiver and a Klipsch SW8 powered
subwoofer. I have the front speakers connected directly to the subwoofer so that I can use
the main speakers primarily for the mid and high ranges. I am in the process of purchasing
a Philips SACD player and wondered if I should change the speaker connection for the
subwoofer. The salesman said I have the connection all wrong so that now when I view DVD
movies, the subwoofer will not be on during the parts that the movie director intended. I
think it sounds fine and the bass seems to be on during the special-effects scenes. My
receiver has a single mono subwoofer output; however, the subwoofer has two phono RCA
inputs marked right and left. Since I will need to connect the six-channel analog output
for true SACD sound to the receiver, should I change the subwoofer speaker configuration?
Randy Ball
Depending on how you have your system configured, you and
the salesman could both be right. The salesman is saying that since there is a dedicated
LFE track on DVD-Video, and since you're not using that particular input on the sub/output
on your receiver, you're missing that information altogether. He could be right, if you
have the subwoofer output on your receiver turned on. In this scenario, the LFE channel is
being lost because all your subwoofer is producing is filtered bass coming from your main
channels. On the other hand, if the receiver allows for bass from the LFE to be sent to
the main channels when LFE is turned off, you'd be hearing the LFE anyway. You have all
main-channel bass (in this case, including LFE) routed though the subwoofer -- so you'd be
right.
Having said all that, when you configure for SACD you'll be
using the subwoofer for LFE (part of the six-channel inputs) and the problem will be
solved. The only downside, and it depends on your sub's connections, is that you'll not be
using it for main-speaker augmentation. Some subwoofers allow for multiple inputs, though.
You may be able to configure it for a video/SACD mode and a two-channel mode. Check your
owner's manual.
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