McIntosh MC402

When I bring gear home to listen to, I keep it real simple...I just listen. 3 outcomes are possible.

1) it sounds better
2)it sounds about the same
3)it sounds worse

I have taken home 2 aftermarket powercords, 1 sounded about the same, the other sounded worse, both were expensive.

I have tried 3 powerconditioners, 2 made my system sound worse, 1 made it sound better ( I bought it)

In the last year or so I have been trying mainly equipment.

Fom Mcintosh I have heard in my house..the mc252 the 402, and the 501s...the c2200 the mc275, the c41, the c46, the 205 cd player. I own the c46/252 and the c2200/275 plus the cd player. When I tried the amps, I was using the c2200, I found there were differences and of the 3 I did like the 501s the best, But they were not huge, BUT I haven't tried the 501s fronted by the c46 so I don't know.

I have found that I prefer the tube pre with tube amp and ss pre with ss amp...I enjoy both combos and they have their own sound. I have found there can be differences in all equipment, some large some small, so I am always willing to listen. I am not sure you have to do the blind comparisons, I think if you simply listen and trust your ears, thats the way to go (assuming you are not predisposed on something)...Ironically I have not taken home the int amp....maybe I should try that, would be interesting....one thing is for sure I like Mcintosh equipment alot.

Has anyone had any experience running directly into a 402 from a DAC with volume control? Thanks.

I just tried to run a Benchmark DAC-1 I bought for a friend to run into my MC402. It worked fine, actually. The Benchmark´s output level can be adjusted, in fact, by switching internal jumpers. I listen to vinyl, too, and I only had the Benchmark briefling in my house and system, but I was surprised at how good the sound was.

I am currently running a Mark Levinson 390s directly (balanced ic's) into a pair of MC501's with superb results.

As for the 501, I have found this to be a wonderfully balanced amp - the bass control, midrange liquidity, top-end smoothness and soundstaging are utterly impressive for an amp in this price range (at any price really). IMHO, you would have to spend considerably more to realize any subjective "improvement". Of course, this is all dependant on sytem matching, but I would definitely try to audition a pair of 501's at home.

I am particularly interested in how well the Benchmark works into the 402 (thanks Hassel -- did you have to make internal adjustments to the DAC-1 or not?) but am interested in all such setups with the 402 (thanks Aldog).