Has any heard the new McIntosh MA8900 integrated?


Hi everyone.  I wondering if anyone has heard one of these and compared it to the MA7900.  Seems like the same amp with the exception of minor cosmetic changes and the upgradable DAC.  The 7900 is much cheaper, so I'm hoping there's not much difference.  Would appreciate any observations out there.

Thanks!

Jeff


jeffp13
BUMP, I just bought the h360 and after mentioning it to a fellow music lover he asked me if I had listened to MAC gear to which I replied "I can't find a dealer that will let me take a mac home", and sometimes you just know when it's as good as it gets. Hegel just came out with a h190 that sounded even better than the h360 in my system (more immediate) but my speakers need more than 150 wpc so if you're going back to hegel listen to the h190.
@jeffp13

What did you end up doing?  I heard the 8900 at a dealer in October and started a thread here asking for opinions.  It was paired with Wilson speakers and Nordost cables.  You can read my impressions here:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/new-mcintosh-ma-8900-integrated-amp

In short, I thought the 8900 had all kinds of power, but was just missing the "musicality" factor.  Not sure why.  I love the functionality of the 8900, but that has to be secondary to audio quality.

I have heard with my ears, the same shortcomings of the MA6900, which prompted me to buy the Yamaha AS2100 and matching CDS2100. I guess you have to spend much more to have sound that betters the Hi End Yamaha integrated amps when buying Mcintosh. I think 6K for the amp and 6K for the pre amp.

Mcintosh is making a lot of low end gear that cost a lot for the money but is within reach of the more affluent middle class. So you either have to save more money to buy the good stuff; at least 12K or buy really good used gear or go elsewhere, like I did with Yamaha hi end gear.

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