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Greetings. This is my first post with HTGuide.
I have a McIntosh MA6900 integrated amplifier. I have it connected to a pair of B&W 703 speakers. I'm using the 8 ohm taps on the amp. The amp also provides 2 and 4 ohm taps and uses something called "Autoformers" to deal with different speaker impedances. The B&W 703s are rated at an 8 ohm nominal impedance (with a local minimum of 3 ohms). The CD transport is a Sony CDP-X77ES.
The sound is fantastic. Best 2-channel audio system I've ever owned. However, an issue did come up.
I was playing some drum-heavy music for about 20 minutes at a moderately loud volume, when the amp shut down and the Power Guard LEDs illuminated on the amp. The shutdown appears to be thermal-related. The heat sinks were hot to touch, and the back top portion of the amp was quite warm. After about 10 minutes, the Power Guard lights went out, and the amp started working again. During the initial listening period, however, I did not sense that the speakers were being overdriven at all. Everything sounded fine until the shutdown occurred.
I contacted McIntosh about this incident. They suggested moving the speaker cables to the 4 ohm taps on the amp. Well, I've done that, but I've been a little leary of driving the amp as hard/loud as before. So far, the incident has not recurred, but I'm wondering if it would if I turned up the amp to the level it was at before.
My question for McIntosh/B&W owners out there - have you experienced anything similar? Did moving the speaker cables to the lower ohm taps remedy the problem for you?
Thanks for your kind responses.
I have a McIntosh MA6900 integrated amplifier. I have it connected to a pair of B&W 703 speakers. I'm using the 8 ohm taps on the amp. The amp also provides 2 and 4 ohm taps and uses something called "Autoformers" to deal with different speaker impedances. The B&W 703s are rated at an 8 ohm nominal impedance (with a local minimum of 3 ohms). The CD transport is a Sony CDP-X77ES.
The sound is fantastic. Best 2-channel audio system I've ever owned. However, an issue did come up.
I was playing some drum-heavy music for about 20 minutes at a moderately loud volume, when the amp shut down and the Power Guard LEDs illuminated on the amp. The shutdown appears to be thermal-related. The heat sinks were hot to touch, and the back top portion of the amp was quite warm. After about 10 minutes, the Power Guard lights went out, and the amp started working again. During the initial listening period, however, I did not sense that the speakers were being overdriven at all. Everything sounded fine until the shutdown occurred.
I contacted McIntosh about this incident. They suggested moving the speaker cables to the 4 ohm taps on the amp. Well, I've done that, but I've been a little leary of driving the amp as hard/loud as before. So far, the incident has not recurred, but I'm wondering if it would if I turned up the amp to the level it was at before.
My question for McIntosh/B&W owners out there - have you experienced anything similar? Did moving the speaker cables to the lower ohm taps remedy the problem for you?
Thanks for your kind responses.
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