Mcintosh with Ayre pre-amp

The output impedance of the Ayre preamp is quite low, and will be far lower than, and therefore completely compatible with, the input impedance of virtually any power amp, including the ones you are considering.

Regarding your recent thread about hiss levels, however, the way things were left I would have some concern that after changing amps to one of the McIntosh's you are considering you might still find that excessive hiss is present.

Regards,
-- Al

Your Ayre would sound best used balanced...and there is a certain synergy when you use their amp and pre together.

Al, I have currently disconnected my XLR cables and am using my Audioquest Emerald RCAs for now. I have found that this reduces the hiss to tolerable levels. When using XLR cables the gain increases from 4db to 10db using the Ayre preamp, which makes a noticeable difference to my ears.

I know that Ayre amps will work best together. However, from my experience the Mcintosh will sound better with the Klipsch speakers I am using and plan to keep for a long time. Ideally I would like to have a Mcintosh MC3XX and an Ayre V-5xe to hook up to my system and compare back to back before making a purchase. I don't think any of the dealers around my area would let me do that because I have purchased all my gear on Audiogon, Ebay, etc. and not from them. Some of the dealers around the Seattle area can be kind of snoody if you know what I mean.

IMO the 402 is far superior to the 352 and worth the extra $$$,,and to find a 352 for 2200 is a pipe dream!!! but I would match your pre with Arye amp