Does anybody know what is the cut off for Transparent Audio Hi-Z and Low-Z speaker cables ?
A friend of mine has the Reference G5 speaker cables that have been custom calibrated by Transparent Audio as Hi-Z for his McIntosh Mc 1.25kW monoblocks.
He wants to repurpose them on his McIntosh MA9000 intergrated, to which Transparent said that the cable has to be recalibrated to Low-Z setting.
It doesn't make any sense, as all those amps are based on similar basic design, with scaled output power.
The measurements available online of various McIntosh transistor amps show very close (and low) output impedance.
McIntosh Mc 462
0.09-0.13 Ohm @ 8 Ohm, double that on 4 Ohm tap
https://www.stereophile.com/content/mcintosh-laboratory-mc462-power-amplifier-measurements
McIntosh MA7200
0.16-0.19 Ohm @ 8 Ohm, 0.12 Ohm on 4 Ohm tap
https://www.stereophile.com/content/mcintosh-mac7200-stereo-receiver-measurements
McIntosh Mc 501
0.08-0.16 Ohm @ 8 Ohm, 0.13-0.16 Ohm on 2 Ohm tap (highest)
https://www.stereophile.com/content/mcintosh-mc501-monoblock-power-amplifier-measurements-0
McIntosh MA 252
0.04-0.06 Ohm @ 8 Ohm
https://www.hifinews.com/content/mcintosh-ma252-integrated-amplifier-lab-report
McIntosh MA 9000
0.15-0.19 Ohm @ 8 Ohm
https://www.hifinews.com/content/mcintosh-ma9000-integrated-ampdac-lab-report
As you can see, the impedance is both LOW and very uniform across all McIntosh amps.
This has been confirmed by McIntosh labs:
Hi Adam,
While the 1200 watt MC1.25KW is much more powerful than the 300 watt MA9000 their output impedance is very similar.
I have no personal experience with the Transparent cables. You will have to be the judge on what works best in your system.
Thank you,
Ron Cornelius
McIntosh
I have forwarded this to McIntosh, but they stick to their guns:
I can say that our standards for output impedance are very strict. Two components may have output impedances that are “very similar”, but depending what those two values are they can still fall into two different categories by our standards.
Please let me know if I can provide further assistance.
Best Regards,
Ian Steinbach | Sales and Product Specialist
Whan asked, they do not want to disclose neither the source for (claimed) McIntosh Mc 1.25kW high output impedance, its value nor the cut off requency for Low-Z and Hi-Z.
Am I the only one who thinks sth is not right here ?
At present I'm betting on the fact that McIntosh has wrong data in their database and the cable has been terminated wrong all along.
A friend of mine has the Reference G5 speaker cables that have been custom calibrated by Transparent Audio as Hi-Z for his McIntosh Mc 1.25kW monoblocks.
He wants to repurpose them on his McIntosh MA9000 intergrated, to which Transparent said that the cable has to be recalibrated to Low-Z setting.
It doesn't make any sense, as all those amps are based on similar basic design, with scaled output power.
The measurements available online of various McIntosh transistor amps show very close (and low) output impedance.
McIntosh Mc 462
0.09-0.13 Ohm @ 8 Ohm, double that on 4 Ohm tap
https://www.stereophile.com/content/mcintosh-laboratory-mc462-power-amplifier-measurements
McIntosh MA7200
0.16-0.19 Ohm @ 8 Ohm, 0.12 Ohm on 4 Ohm tap
https://www.stereophile.com/content/mcintosh-mac7200-stereo-receiver-measurements
McIntosh Mc 501
0.08-0.16 Ohm @ 8 Ohm, 0.13-0.16 Ohm on 2 Ohm tap (highest)
https://www.stereophile.com/content/mcintosh-mc501-monoblock-power-amplifier-measurements-0
McIntosh MA 252
0.04-0.06 Ohm @ 8 Ohm
https://www.hifinews.com/content/mcintosh-ma252-integrated-amplifier-lab-report
McIntosh MA 9000
0.15-0.19 Ohm @ 8 Ohm
https://www.hifinews.com/content/mcintosh-ma9000-integrated-ampdac-lab-report
As you can see, the impedance is both LOW and very uniform across all McIntosh amps.
This has been confirmed by McIntosh labs:
Hi Adam,
While the 1200 watt MC1.25KW is much more powerful than the 300 watt MA9000 their output impedance is very similar.
I have no personal experience with the Transparent cables. You will have to be the judge on what works best in your system.
Thank you,
Ron Cornelius
McIntosh
I have forwarded this to McIntosh, but they stick to their guns:
I can say that our standards for output impedance are very strict. Two components may have output impedances that are “very similar”, but depending what those two values are they can still fall into two different categories by our standards.
Please let me know if I can provide further assistance.
Best Regards,
Ian Steinbach | Sales and Product Specialist
Whan asked, they do not want to disclose neither the source for (claimed) McIntosh Mc 1.25kW high output impedance, its value nor the cut off requency for Low-Z and Hi-Z.
Am I the only one who thinks sth is not right here ?
At present I'm betting on the fact that McIntosh has wrong data in their database and the cable has been terminated wrong all along.