McIntosh Amps: flip switches with caution...

[West]

I recently popped in an MCC404M, sounds amazing but I wanted to offer a few words of warning so people do not run into the issue I did.

Well I was making some adjustments and I got a loud blast of noise from the speakers when I tried to set one of the filters. Just an FYI: DO NOT FLIP ANY SWITCHES ON THE AMP WHEN THEN POWER IS ON. I flipped a low pass filter switch and may have done some damage to the speakers, I listened to it for an extended period and I don't think I did any major damage. The manual does not warn customers of this. If you need to flip a switch from Out to x1 or x10 you should power down the system then flip the switch. Dials are OK to turn when its powered on. I learned this from McIntosh tech support after I contacted them...

On the Alpine I was using before this was not an issue, but the Mc's need to be handled a lot more delicately. For what its worth...

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[matt_bennett05 10+ year member]

Good advice. Thinking that someone running one of these considering it's price will probably have stupid nice equipment and that would be one bummer you wouldn't easily get over!

 

[chillin 10+ year member]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep that in mind when I win the lottery

 

[West]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep that in mind when I win the lottery

I got the MCC404M for 950$ off of Craigslist, open box/never used. Had to hunt for a deceit price online for two weeks. But when you consider it will last much longer than most other amps I figure its worth it. The sound is crystal clear as well, but I think they should include more safeguards to protect your speakers...

 

[West]

Good advice. Thinking that someone running one of these considering it's price will probably have stupid nice equipment and that would be one bummer you wouldn't easily get over!

Yes, I was definitely concerned after it happened. :/

 

[2Dcore 10+ year member]

My memphis amp was the same way it would make an almost popping thud if you flip it while on. Thanks for the advice, I'm going to get one when my girl leaves me, Lol!

 

[Vis01]

Lol @ lasting longer

 

[West]

My memphis amp was the same way it would make an almost popping thud if you flip it while on. Thanks for the advice, I'm going to get one when my girl leaves me, Lol!

No problem. I am glad that this post got the word out to some people. There is also a single band equilizer on that amp, it is very sensitive and its best to turn it to a very low frequency and as close to zero as possible.