McIntosh MA6500 / MA6900 on 703 / 804S

[jim777]

Me again asking some questions before returning a 3rd time to my dealer without deciding what to buy yet... To narrow down my options again, I'd like to know if somebody tried the McIntosh MA6500 or MA6900 integrated amp on the B&W 703 , Nautilus 804 or 804S ?

I only listened to the B&W 703 (and CM4/CM6) on Rotel only for now. The 703 was very nice, but maybe a little to analytical to my taste (mostly in the mid/high range, but low presence was good enough for me). Since I do research in the audio codec fieild, I guess that I probably need what you call a "warmer" sound at home . What I'm sure, is that I would love to feel the music (I guess a "warm" system does bring this emotion; not talking about getting hit by a subwoofer here).

So I would be very happy knowing if somebody tried some of these systems together and how they compare (703 vs 804 and Rotel vs MA6500 vs MA6900). I think Geoff might have some good knowledge on this :wink:

And thanks everyone for the *very* helpful guidance, opinions and comments!

[herotongtong]

bad choice !!

McIntosh "CAN NOT MATCH" the 703 . it really sounds crap .way too bright .all my friends does that .none of them sounds good . by the way 700 series !!! try not to buy it. think of the 800 series. well that all i can say . thank you !

[Mark_C.]

804s and McIntosh....mmmmm!

[Aussie Geoff]

Jim777,

As you have probably picked up - my local B&W 800 series dealer (only one in town to stock them!) is also a McIntosh dealer and loves the combo. We don't have the new 800 series in Australia yet (soon I'm told!) but I have heard the 703 and 804 on the MA6500 last year when I was trying to decide between the two before "loosing my way" and lusting after the new 803Ds.

Now everyone's ears are different - but for me this was S-W-E-E-T. The McIntosh MA6500 made the 703’s sound so good that it took careful listening (needed volume matching) to hear the superiority of the 804’s (mind you the 803’s where way better again). I'd listen to both and then decide for yourself.

For my ears the McIntosh's drive the B&Ws as well as anything I have heard...

Geoff

[jim777]

Geoff, how many "804" speakers are they out there? Do you mean that you can find a old 804S and a new one or we can only find a Nautilus 804 (old 804?) and the 804S (new 804?) that costs some more $.

Thanks again guys!

[jim777]

Oh, and I also wondered if the Rotel CD player RCD-1072 would be ok with such a combo (6500 & 804). If it sounds OK, I could just upgrade it in a year or two with a DAC (if it makes a good difference). The best would be their 300GB music server instead but thats *way* out of budget for a few years

[Aussie Geoff]

Jim,

I meant that I have heard the Nautilus 804 not the 804S (not yet in Australia). However I can't see why the Mac's shouldn't do just as good a job on then 804S as they did on the Nautilus 804s

Geoff