McIntosh Amp Ratings

Like any amp with an output transformer (or autotransformer) power delivery will be the same into any load for which there is an output tap. So the "double down" rule does not apply, but neither does the "divide-by-two) rule when you go to an 8 ohm speaker.

An interesting observation I had made about mcintosh specs which I believe a one of the contributing factors to making them more universal and tube sounding is partially the autoformer deal, but also they have very low damping factor in comparison to esoteric Solid state amps… Most of them are like 100 to 150… Big amps with tons of juice that everybody seems to get off on have 600 or 2000 damping factor, to me these amps are mostly toughted as " More defined bass" or "Tighter" but to me they sound more constipated, and many times less organic than most Mcintosh designs.

Also being the damping factor is so low on them it seems that’s really the one Spec that matches up to most tube designs, which might be part of the key they seem to be more of that musical and accepted sound. I don't really know, but just an observation.

I understand McInotsh amps have a certain following, but Undertow, what you're saying makes little or no sense. Other amps sound constipated? Wow. That totally contradicts my observation, which is McIntosh amps sound fine with an easy load speakers. When you pair their amps with a difficult to drive speakers that have some impedance curves, or what have you, smaller McIntosh amps sound constipated. Actually any Mac amp up to MC501 monoblocks can not really be paired with any challenging load. You need to at least start with MC501 monoblocks for such task. And the fact that McIntosh amps don't double down doesn't help either. For example, with B&W 803D or even N803, MC402 sounds OK on lower levels, but the louder you get, the more obvious the dynamic restrictions seem.

I mean I do understand if you like McIntosh sound. That is totally up to you. But deeming McIntosh amps as above anything else is a bit of an overstatement, to say the least.