So.... I FINALLY had the chance to home-audition the McIntosh like I've been talking about for weeks. Unfortunately, because I took too long, I was only allowed to keep it for two days since they needed it back for Sunday. No problem. Two days is better than nothing.
I got to home audition a McIntosh MA7000. I ended up with that McIntosh because I wanted a 200-300 watt range power amp. They only had a MC501 and MC402. So they offered the MC7000 instead. I was able to use it as a integrated amp and dedicated amp.
Nuforce. This sparked my interest a few weeks ago while reading some feedbacks. Even though I had tried the desktop Icon, that was only 12 watts. I didn't care so much for it, but I was curious to see what the talks were all about. So the dealership brought in a pair of Nuforce Reference 9 V2 amps so I can audition as well.
The Nuforce was brand new out of the box. I heard that they do need a bit of a burn-in (which was true with the Icon) because they are a bit raspy at first. Unfortunately, I did not have that much time with it, so my audition was with it straight out of the box with no burn-in period.
The McIntosh was a store demo, so it had a bit of play time on it. Don't know how much though.
Ok, so what did I do?
I hooked up the Nuforce to the Marantz pre-outs. I did the same with the McIntosh.
I'm not going list everything I played, but pretty much a bit of everything that I own... from old jazz to hip-hop to even blue-grass. :B
I told my wife that I don't want to sit down with her and focus to try and point out the differences. Instead, I told her to just listen. Just relax, walk around, listen and enjoy. I don't want something that I can only hear the difference by carefully focusing on it. So we did. I played several CDs and we just sat, had a drink, talked a bit, and enjoyed it for a while.
Now, what did I think?
Nuforce has grounding issues. As soon as I powered it on, noise was excessive with absolutely nothing playing. It took quite a bit of work to get it to finally 'calm' down.
Listening to the Nuforce combinated with the 600 S3 was a revalation. Nuforce really does shine with the 600 series. Combined with the 805, it was really hit or miss. Some songs sounded no different from the Marantz AV receiver. The bass was a bit more precise with some songs, but not all. For the first few songs, we really didn't hear much of a difference. There may have been some differences, but like I said, we just wanted to relax and enjoy the music. If it wasn't apparent, it wasn't worth it.
Separation was excellent with the Nuforce. Music with a lot of instruments sounded great. It made it more distinct where and when an instrument played. Trumpets sounded soooo good! It was about the best thing that the Nuforce amp did. It made high notes from instruments sound so real.
Strange thing though... that didn't apply to voices. One of my favorite singers, Natsukawa Rimi, has a very soft, smooth, and powerful high-tone voice. With most of her songs, her voice sounded dead with the Nuforce. It just felt lifeless. I disconnected the Nuforce, and got a warmth back from the Marantz. Unfortunately, killing her voice was enough to push me away. One thing that I realized switching from the Marantz only to Marantz+Nuforce was that the Nuforce didn't have much of a soundstage. It kind kills the 3D stage that the 805 builds.
The Nuforce was nice in some parts, but not enough overall. I just didn't hear much of a difference, and in some instances, made it worse. I just didn't find it to be a good combination with the 805.
The McIntosh was nice! Prior to this, I've never heard it paired with the 805. I finally had my chance to see what it was all about. We really liked it. A lot! We didn't even sit down at first. We just threw in an Alicia Keys' CD and both of us just smiled and looked at each other, and she said "dang... this is nice!" Everything was just soooooooo smooth, rich, and life-like. There wasn't one song that I threw at this combination that didn't sound good. The best thing was how great my favorite female vocals sounded. The bass was also impressive! It pulled a lot of bass from the 805s that I wasn't aware of. Now I really understand when other 805 owners have said that McIntosh really showed what these speakers could do. It was just so damn nice! I was going to play all the same CDs that I played with the Nuforce, but my wife said it wasn't necessary. She said it's made every CD sound so good... there's no doubt that it will keep doing so with other CD. So McIntosh is definitely our next purchase.
Interesting thing, I did try the McIntosh without the Marantz (meaning, letting it act as only an integrated amp, and not power amp), and to be honest, it wasn't as big of a difference as I had expected. McIntosh+Marantz sounded really great, Mac alone sounded better... but only a bit. So that's kinda cool about the Marantz pre-out's. Pretty clean signal I guess.
So I'm happy. :B That was a really good experience. So pretty much wraps it up. Can't wait for my next upgrade.
I got to home audition a McIntosh MA7000. I ended up with that McIntosh because I wanted a 200-300 watt range power amp. They only had a MC501 and MC402. So they offered the MC7000 instead. I was able to use it as a integrated amp and dedicated amp.
Nuforce. This sparked my interest a few weeks ago while reading some feedbacks. Even though I had tried the desktop Icon, that was only 12 watts. I didn't care so much for it, but I was curious to see what the talks were all about. So the dealership brought in a pair of Nuforce Reference 9 V2 amps so I can audition as well.
The Nuforce was brand new out of the box. I heard that they do need a bit of a burn-in (which was true with the Icon) because they are a bit raspy at first. Unfortunately, I did not have that much time with it, so my audition was with it straight out of the box with no burn-in period.
The McIntosh was a store demo, so it had a bit of play time on it. Don't know how much though.
Ok, so what did I do?
I hooked up the Nuforce to the Marantz pre-outs. I did the same with the McIntosh.
I'm not going list everything I played, but pretty much a bit of everything that I own... from old jazz to hip-hop to even blue-grass. :B
I told my wife that I don't want to sit down with her and focus to try and point out the differences. Instead, I told her to just listen. Just relax, walk around, listen and enjoy. I don't want something that I can only hear the difference by carefully focusing on it. So we did. I played several CDs and we just sat, had a drink, talked a bit, and enjoyed it for a while.
Now, what did I think?
Nuforce has grounding issues. As soon as I powered it on, noise was excessive with absolutely nothing playing. It took quite a bit of work to get it to finally 'calm' down.
Listening to the Nuforce combinated with the 600 S3 was a revalation. Nuforce really does shine with the 600 series. Combined with the 805, it was really hit or miss. Some songs sounded no different from the Marantz AV receiver. The bass was a bit more precise with some songs, but not all. For the first few songs, we really didn't hear much of a difference. There may have been some differences, but like I said, we just wanted to relax and enjoy the music. If it wasn't apparent, it wasn't worth it.
Separation was excellent with the Nuforce. Music with a lot of instruments sounded great. It made it more distinct where and when an instrument played. Trumpets sounded soooo good! It was about the best thing that the Nuforce amp did. It made high notes from instruments sound so real.
Strange thing though... that didn't apply to voices. One of my favorite singers, Natsukawa Rimi, has a very soft, smooth, and powerful high-tone voice. With most of her songs, her voice sounded dead with the Nuforce. It just felt lifeless. I disconnected the Nuforce, and got a warmth back from the Marantz. Unfortunately, killing her voice was enough to push me away. One thing that I realized switching from the Marantz only to Marantz+Nuforce was that the Nuforce didn't have much of a soundstage. It kind kills the 3D stage that the 805 builds.
The Nuforce was nice in some parts, but not enough overall. I just didn't hear much of a difference, and in some instances, made it worse. I just didn't find it to be a good combination with the 805.
The McIntosh was nice! Prior to this, I've never heard it paired with the 805. I finally had my chance to see what it was all about. We really liked it. A lot! We didn't even sit down at first. We just threw in an Alicia Keys' CD and both of us just smiled and looked at each other, and she said "dang... this is nice!" Everything was just soooooooo smooth, rich, and life-like. There wasn't one song that I threw at this combination that didn't sound good. The best thing was how great my favorite female vocals sounded. The bass was also impressive! It pulled a lot of bass from the 805s that I wasn't aware of. Now I really understand when other 805 owners have said that McIntosh really showed what these speakers could do. It was just so damn nice! I was going to play all the same CDs that I played with the Nuforce, but my wife said it wasn't necessary. She said it's made every CD sound so good... there's no doubt that it will keep doing so with other CD. So McIntosh is definitely our next purchase.
Interesting thing, I did try the McIntosh without the Marantz (meaning, letting it act as only an integrated amp, and not power amp), and to be honest, it wasn't as big of a difference as I had expected. McIntosh+Marantz sounded really great, Mac alone sounded better... but only a bit. So that's kinda cool about the Marantz pre-out's. Pretty clean signal I guess.
So I'm happy. :B That was a really good experience. So pretty much wraps it up. Can't wait for my next upgrade.
).
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