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Conference hips::uk_audioo

Title:	You get surface noise in real life too
Notice:	Let's be conformist
Moderator:	GOVT02::BARKER

Created:	Thu Jul 28 1988
Last Modified:	Mon Jun 02 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	550
Total number of notes:	3847

464.0. "MF A100 upgrade consideration" by HGODC1::NICHOLASHO (Nicholas Ho, Digital Consulting Hong Kong) Fri Jan 07 1994 03:46

        Hi,
        
        I own a Musical Fidelity A100 Class A integrated amp rated at
        50W. It drives a pair of small speakers (JM Lab Profil 3, French
        Speaker). The sound is sweet and smooth. It gives me a lot of
        pleasant time.  The only weakness of it is the lack of power and
        bass. I am considering an upgrade of the amp.
               
        Has anybody used the new Mcintosh 7100 power amp? The size and
        price of it is very attractive to me. It's slim and price of it
        in Hong Kong is about US$1300. However, the pre-amp from Mcintosh
        is very expensive. I can't afford any of them.   
                          
        Is there any recommendation of what pre-amp should be chosen to
        match the 7100? My budget is around US$1000. Will it sound better
        than my current MF (sweet, smooth)?          
                          
        Besides of the Mcintosh solution, any other suggestion for the MF
        upgrade are welcomed.                                  
                                                               
                                                               
                          
        Thanks and Regards
        Nick              
                                           
        P.S. There is no power switch in the Mcintosh 7100. That means I
        have to power it on all the time. I can't find this feature in
        other higher Mcintosh model (7150, 7200 etc). Is it a new design?
        What's the benefit of it?          
                                           
        This note is posted in both VAXWRK::AUDIO and SAC::UK_AUDIO notes
        conferences.

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
464.1	It may not be your amp	BAHTAT::SALLITT	Dave @LZO 845-2374	`Fri Jan 07 1994 09:58`	32
	Nicholas, I know nothing about the McIntosh hardware you list, but perhaps the clue to lack of bass and volume lies with your "pair of small speakers". Small speakers rarely give a lot of bass, and are often less sensitive than larger models. Doubling output power to a 100W amp will only give you 1.414 times the sound pressure for a given volume setting, and that is only if you can be sure that you will get twice the signal into the speakers that would get with a 50W amp. Chances are it won't be much different; if the music signal doesn't use the full dynamic range of the power stage you won't hear any difference at all. Upgrading to more sensitive speakers will give more sound for a given volume setting. Speakers with 88dB sound pressure level at 1 metre for 1 watt input will sound twice as loud as a pair rated at 85dB sensitivity and may not necessarily be bigger than the ones you have now. Provided your source (CD or whatever) is capable of delivering reasonable bass, upgrading to larger speakers should give more bass as well as being more sensitive. Always listen before you buy, preferably at a dealer that will let you take in your own system and let you hear where the real differences are as you substitute first the amp, then the speakers. I don't know how easy that will be in Hong Kong, but if you can do it I guarantee you will hear what I mean. Have fun, anyway. Dave Dave
464.2	Just might be the amp	WOTVAX::MEAKINS	Clive Meakins @OLO	`Mon Jan 10 1994 13:23`	11
	How old is your A100? It's a bit remote, but it's just possible the performance of your amp has very gradually gone off. I'd expect the A100 to be very slightly soft in the bass, but not unduly so. Like Dave I expect your speakers to be the culprits. (Don't worry Rob, my A1 looked fine!) The reason I mention the slight possibility of the amplifier being to blame is that I once looked inside an A100. Even though it has cooloing fans, the commponents, especially the electrolytic capacitors looked cooked. If they are damaged due to heat, then anything could have happed to the sound, lack of bass being quite probable.
464.3		CHEFS::TAFF::Wob	Robert Screene, UK Finance EUC	`Tue Jan 11 1994 12:35`	11
	Hi Clive. The A1 Seems to be providing sterling service. It does get the odd squirt of contact cleaner into the source selecting switch. I wish I could get at the volume pot in the middle but can't get the cover off easily. Just the odd crackle if the volume is moved. Is the A100 simply an A1 with bigger output stages hence twice the power? Rob.
464.4		WOTVAX::PC0905::MEAKINS	Clive Meakins @OLO	`Tue Jan 11 1994 13:15`	19
	>The A1 Seems to be providing sterling service. It does get the odd squirt >of contact cleaner into the source selecting switch. I wish I could get at >the volume pot in the middle but can't get the cover off easily. Just the >odd crackle if the volume is moved. A few months before you took the A1 over it was given a new source selector switch by MF. I also fitted a new volume control, I guess the heat is just a little hostile, it uses a 100K ALPs pot. The top comes off easily, just undo the allen bolts on the heatsinks, these screw into the central inverted U shaped heatsink. When I re-fitted the heatsinks I found the A1 felt warmer. I made sure the heatsinks were screwed down very tight and used quite a lot of heat transfer compound. It seems I achieved a better thermal contact than MF did when the A1 was manufactured. The outside may have been hotter, the inside should be cooler. >Is the A100 simply an A1 with bigger output stages hence twice the power? All I know is that it is designed around the same principles and they do sound very similar. An A100 just having bigger balls than the A1.