Shootout MC452 vs Crown Macro-Tech 5002VZ!!

kevzep

Its all about the Music
So this annoying left meter going intermittent has been bugging me for quite some time, but how do I pull my 452 out of service when I listen to it every day, it plays music whenever I am home, even when I am working in the Lab....
Then there's the nature of intermittent faults, it might have to be on the bench for a couple of days....Oh the horror!!

Since I am slowly refurbishing our 80 Macrotech's right now, I have quite a few here ready to go back into service, so I thought, I'll just replace the MC452 with a Macrotech whilst I repair the MC452!! Perfect!! It was decided!!

View attachment 1307705
So there's the background on the Macro-Tech to go up against my beloved MC452....
Now we all know about the performance of the Macro on the subs, my system is actively bi-amped with the MEN220, I am about to have a shootout with the MEN220 vs the Lake Contour, as I feel I could benefit form the Linear Phase crossover Filters that the Lake has....but thats another thread.
I tried all manner of amps on the subs including the MC452. The Macro blows everything out of the water on sub duty, no question....
But how does it fare on the Midrange/Top end??? I have always been curious...
So out came the 452 with its Left meter which had not been working for a week.

So into the lab it goes.
Of course I turn it on and both meters are working!!!! ARRRRRRGGGHHHH!!!! Annoying, the worst kind of fault.
I took to top over off over the back of the meters, I reseated those connectors which are on the LED driver board, I gently wiggled those connectors, seems the meter drive cables come up and pass through the LED driver board, bit odd, but hey there must be a reason, serviceability most likely, pretty easy to get at.
IMG_6887.JPG
Then I turned it over, underneath is the meter drive circuits right there, more connectors to re-seat. I was inspecting the integrity of the sockets on the boards as well, and everything looked good.
View attachment 1307719 IMG_6886.JPG
So there wasn't much else I could do really, I could not find anything amiss. All the time, both meters worked and I could not get the fault to appear, I can only assume that one of those plugs wasn't seated correctly or something.
These amps are so hand built, great to see you get so much human touch for your money!!
Check out the Fibre Optic diffuser, thats some impressive engineering right there...I like the way they did that...
IMG_6891.JPG
This is the Left Channel Meter Driver circuit here....
IMG_6892.JPG
Anyway, not much else to check out, it does look to me checking out the output driver board that indeed one channel is made up of two amplifiers which are as far as I can tell, are bridged through the Autoformer.
So it was on the bench for two days playing some music and never once did the meter stop so I put it back into service.
IMG_6889.JPG
So how did the Crown go??
BETTER than I thought it would, I keep saying the MC452 is the best amplifier I have ever heard, well that still stands NO QUESTION!!
Okay so the Crown, it has good top end extension, its all there. Obviously plenty of headroom. I listened to two albums I know very well at a reasonable level, not concert level but at times I did turn it up a bit.
First thing I noticed was the lack of image, very two dimensional, I also found myself "squinting" with my ears, if that makes sense, to unravel everything in the upper mid range, vocals guitars and anything else in that range was sort of "smeared" together if you like, and the top end, right at the top was not exactly reacting as much with the music, if that makes sense, it was't as delicate, or velvet smooth the like 452, BUT it was there, just not as easy to listen to, I felt I wanted to turn it down, but doing that doesn't help as you still don't have the separation and linearity I am used to with the 452.
Fatigue sets in fairly quickly with the Crown when listening at a decent level, one thing I notice with the 452 is I never get listening fatigue, but the Crown was hard work after a while.
But overall, the Crown did better than I thought, and for low level its not bad, but still, its not the lush velvet easy listen that the 452 is.
I do not know how McIntosh do it, but what this shootout made me realise, was, just how damn good these amplifiers are!! How do they do it??
If my 452 failed in some way and I had to put another amp in its place for a few days, I could handle the Crown, but it would not give me anything like the pleasure that the MC452 does.
The engineering in the MC452 is extraordinary, it is such an easy listen, it has such a relaxed sound, but retains pinpoint accuracy and the smoothest detailed and most pleasurable top end I have ever heard....

I love my 452!! Thank you McIntosh for the continual development to reach levels of audio performance previously only imaginable.......

Oh, footnote, I wanted to run the 452 up on my loadbank and THD analyser and FFT analyser, but I just didn't have the time, my THD analyser might not have the resolution to measure the 452 anyway....and frankly, power rating? pfft!! It has plenty of power for me!!

So there it is....
 

Attachments

  • IMG_6881.JPG
    IMG_6881.JPG
    145 KB · Views: 199
Last edited:
Nice tale regarding the elusive electronic faults that make you say, "WTF???"

I'm not surprised at the outcome of your comparison.
 
Nice tale regarding the elusive electronic faults that make you say, "WTF???"

I'm not surprised at the outcome of your comparison.
What I was surprised at, was how well the poor old Crown did, it was better than I was expecting......MC452 though, next level and then some!!

Yeah, difficult to track down sometimes those elusive faults...
 
I like the ideas of the plastic fibre optic diffuser. That's green, so just for the logo? What do they use for the blue meters? Awesome.
 
Hopefully reseating those connectors did the trick Kev. I'd like to hear a newer Mac amp in my system to see what if any difference I hear between my 2205 and the later technology.
 
I like the ideas of the plastic fibre optic diffuser. That's green, so just for the logo? What do they use for the blue meters? Awesome.
There's a board that sits between the meters which has the HUE adjustment for the blue, you can see it in one of the pictures, but not that clearly...Its a pretty well thought out system...
 
Its a pretty well thought out system...

I'd personally like to see more of the innards of McIntosh gear- thanks for posting.

Sadly for me, the stuff is so reliable (and sold in such small numbers) that I rarely get to work on it. It would certainly help show many around here how beautifully constructed some of their gear really is.

Cheers.
 
I'd personally like to see more of the innards of McIntosh gear- thanks for posting.

Sadly for me, the stuff is so reliable (and sold in such small numbers) that I rarely get to work on it. It would certainly help show many around here how beautifully constructed some of their gear really is.

Cheers.
I should have taken some more pics showing the construction of the output driver boards, work of art, a lot of Surface mount, but thats to be expected, they use through hole where its necessary, there are a LOT of output transistors in these amps.

You're right though, this gear is so reliable, when you think about the hours my 452 has done since March 2013 its a testament to the build quality and design of McIntosh..
 
Within the audio industry, McIntosh does a very good job in term of layout the components and PCB across the chassis. Nothing really special about the circuit board layout.
 
Within the audio industry, McIntosh does a very good job in term of layout the components and PCB across the chassis. Nothing really special about the circuit board layout.
I work on a lot of high end professional audio gear, you say there's nothing special about the circuit board layout? I disagree, McIntosh put a lot of thought into circuit performance vs serviceability, its something they are very good at...
 
Well, I have been working with medical CT scanner, laser engraving (the printer that prints small number and letter on IC chip), in-circuit RF Test System, therefore I don't see anything special at all.
 
Well, I have been working with medical CT scanner, laser engraving (the printer that prints small number and letter on IC chip), in-circuit RF Test System, therefore I don't see anything special at all.

McIntosh is built to sound better at lower volumes, is built to be as repairable as modern amplifiers get. And with care should sound great many years down the road. The Crown Macro-Tech is a nice professional amplifier, but a complex beastie to repair, and really one of the last traditional Crown classics. The Crown sounds good, and the Crown will survive more abuse, and live. Like falling off the back of a truck, landing in the mud, and likely can be hosed off, hair dryer on for a few hours, and dry out several days and likely work.
 
Well, I have been working with medical CT scanner, laser engraving (the printer that prints small number and letter on IC chip), in-circuit RF Test System, therefore I don't see anything special at all.
Well thats great, I don't see what that has to do with what we are talking about here, its getting off subject. We are talking about different things here, this is a high end audio power amplifier, and there are plenty in the world of high end audio that do not have as good layout and design that the MC452 does, good for you that nothing looks special, spare a thought for the people that might appreciate having a glimpse in a modern McIntosh amplifier.....
 
McIntosh is built to sound better at lower volumes, is built to be as repairable as modern amplifiers get. And with care should sound great many years down the road. The Crown Macro-Tech is a nice professional amplifier, but a complex beastie to repair, and really one of the last traditional Crown classics. The Crown sounds good, and the Crown will survive more abuse, and live. Like falling off the back of a truck, landing in the mud, and likely can be hosed off, hair dryer on for a few hours, and dry out several days and likely work.
Over the last 15 years I have got to know all there is to know about repairing those 5002VZ's, they are virtually indestructible, and they do have a few tricky "gottcha's" about them too....Grounded Bridge topology!!
 
Nice write up kev! Always kinda’ wondered that myself as I love Crowns of that vintage.

I’ve also tried lots of amps. I settled on Mc decades ago because they didn’t shut down during my house party days. Along the way, I also realized - these amps are just so damn easy to listen to.

Now-a-days, I just enjoy the media.
 
Nice write up kev! Always kinda’ wondered that myself as I love Crowns of that vintage.

I’ve also tried lots of amps. I settled on Mc decades ago because they didn’t shut down during my house party days. Along the way, I also realized - these amps are just so damn easy to listen to.

Now-a-days, I just enjoy the media.
Thats it, the McIntosh is so easy to listen to.....Everything is there, its a very pleasing presentation, I have further cemented the idea that my MC452 is indeed going nowhere....Its staying right where it is....
 
Thats it, the McIntosh is so easy to listen to.....Everything is there, its a very pleasing presentation, I have further cemented the idea that my MC452 is indeed going nowhere....Its staying right where it is....

I had the MC1.25KW, now the MC452. My MC452 is going nowhere as well. The 452 kills the MC1.25 to my ear.
 
There's a board that sits between the meters which has the HUE adjustment for the blue, you can see it in one of the pictures, but not that clearly...Its a pretty well thought out system...

There's an adjustment for the hue of the illumination? They seem to have thought of everything.
 
Back
Top Bottom