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Musc Hall A7 .2 Integrated Amp

post #1 of 9
4/14/12 at 10:08am
Thread Starter 
Been breaking in my New Music Hall A70.2 integrated.It replaces my 14 year old Rotel integrated. After listening to the Creek 'Exposure'Krell' Rega I chose the MH for its build quality and all around sound.They all sounded good with my MA rs'6. The difference from my old Rotel is quite unreal.This integrated like most Higher End integrated never sound loud.When you turn the volume up you hear each piece of the music get more detail but not excessive volume.Their is no Fatigue.I like the exposure also.Al of these newer Integrated were so much better than the Rotel that their is no comparison.The MH has such a open soundstage and imaging.Plus the MH has 125w into 8ohms.Plenty of power for down the road new speakers.It also has 2 separate mono blocks each with its own Transformer. I like the volume display that goes from 0 to 80 so you can put the volume level at the exact same spot when testing new equipment.I just wished I had gotten this amp sooner if I would have known it would be this much better.Roy Hall did a fine job of this amp and it includes a decent Phono stage for my MH TT'I have yet to use this.Will post on that later.

And let me say some who post here and always say all amps sound alike have no clue.I feel sorry for them.All of these amps I tested had their own sound.And the difference between these higher end integrated and HT recivers are not even funny for 2 channel setups.I own 2 nice HT recievers and they do not come close to this MH integrated.For those who appreciate high end audio please feel free to comment.Thanks Bob
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post #2 of 9
4/15/12 at 7:31am
Thanks for the information.

There are a few integrated amplifiers that offer excellent sound if you are willing to get into the $1200-1800 price range, including Music Hall, Musical Fidelity, Exposure and Creek.

It's too bad that so many people do not realize the difference in harmonic distortion between amplifiers that are well-engineered and those that are not. They are keeping themselves isolated from a much better quality of sound that is there for the taking if they would open their minds and their ears.

While speakers are certainly important, I am amazed at people who will spend large amounts of money on good speakers and power them with amplifiers that are guaranteed to degrade the sound quality (especially the 90% of the HT receivers, which suck). Garbage in, garbage out.

I found out the hard way back in the 1980s when I spent around $1000 for a set of Polk RTA12 Monitor speakers, which sounded great in the store. They sounded like crap when I got them home, and I was mystified. I couldn't believe that my old amplifier was the problem.

To make a long story short, my old amplifier WAS the culprit, and to make my speakers sound nice I had to get a new one (a NAD 3020), which made them sound MUCH better!

I will be interested what you think of the built-in phono stage. Most are not very good, but since Music Hall makes a lot of turntables I suspect it will be pretty good. If not, the Musical Fidelity V-LPS is very good and not expensive.




Quote:
Originally Posted by buddahead View Post

Been breaking in my New Music Hall A70.2 integrated.It replaces my 14 year old Rotel integrated. After listening to the Creek 'Exposure'Krell' Rega I chose the MH for its build quality and all around sound.They all sounded good with my MA rs'6. The difference from my old Rotel is quite unreal.This integrated like most Higher End integrated never sound loud.When you turn the volume up you hear each piece of the music get more detail but not excessive volume.Their is no Fatigue.I like the exposure also.Al of these newer Integrated were so much better than the Rotel that their is no comparison.The MH has such a open soundstage and imaging.Plus the MH has 125w into 8ohms.Plenty of power for down the road new speakers.It also has 2 separate mono blocks each with its own Transformer. I like the volume display that goes from 0 to 80 so you can put the volume level at the exact same spot when testing new equipment.I just wished I had gotten this amp sooner if I would have known it would be this much better.Roy Hall did a fine job of this amp and it includes a decent Phono stage for my MH TT'I have yet to use this.Will post on that later.

And let me say some who post here and always say all amps sound alike have no clue.I feel sorry for them.All of these amps I tested had their own sound.And the difference between these higher end integrated and HT recivers are not even funny for 2 channel setups.I own 2 nice HT recievers and they do not come close to this MH integrated.For those who appreciate high end audio please feel free to comment.Thanks Bob
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post #3 of 9
4/15/12 at 8:45am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Comms for the reply.I only used my MH TT yesterday a mmf-5 with stock cartridge'I was using a parasound stand alone phone preamp'It was about $150.So far I can't here really no difference between the 2.I never had or used a expensive Phono preamp.I do not have a large record collection.Just about 20 old ones that are in great shape and about 7 new ones that vary in sound.I like the sound of the older records better than any of the new ones I have bought even 200 gram ones.I do have over 500 cd's that also vary in sound.I prefer CD 's due to the ease of playing.I agree many have no clue what a good integrated or separates can do to a set of speakers.I grew up around many who own high end stereos and the sound is just so open and quiet.Thanks
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post #4 of 9
4/15/12 at 8:46am
Thread Starter 
I will post further updates on my opion of the MH a70.2.
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post #5 of 9
4/15/12 at 9:13am
How much $$ does that Music Hall 70.2 go for? I have looked into getting a Music Hall 15.2 integrated amp, or possibly a Parasound 2100 with a Rotel amp. They would both be roughly the same cost wise. Not really sure which would be better? What would you suggest, OP?
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post #6 of 9
4/16/12 at 4:41am
Thread Starter 
They sell for $1499 new.But you get pretty much 2 mono blocks 125w amps at 8ohms.I have not heard the Parasound 2100 but I do hear that they are nice.In fact I was considerering separates like parasound pre and amp but wanted the One unit solution in my space.Even though I like Rotel I do like the sound of the MH and Creek and others better.If I was going separtes I would get both from the same company.That is just me.Bob
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post #7 of 9
4/16/12 at 12:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by commsysman View Post

Thanks for the information.

There are a few integrated amplifiers that offer excellent sound if you are willing to get into the $1200-1800 price range, including Music Hall, Musical Fidelity, Exposure and Creek.

It's too bad that so many people do not realize the difference in harmonic distortion between amplifiers that are well-engineered and those that are not. They are keeping themselves isolated from a much better quality of sound that is there for the taking if they would open their minds and their ears.

While speakers are certainly important, I am amazed at people who will spend large amounts of money on good speakers and power them with amplifiers that are guaranteed to degrade the sound quality (especially the 90% of the HT receivers, which suck). Garbage in, garbage out.

I found out the hard way back in the 1980s when I spent around $1000 for a set of Polk RTA12 Monitor speakers, which sounded great in the store. They sounded like crap when I got them home, and I was mystified. I couldn't believe that my old amplifier was the problem.

To make a long story short, my old amplifier WAS the culprit, and to make my speakers sound nice I had to get a new one (a NAD 3020), which made them sound MUCH better!

...


NEWSFLASH! It's 2012, not the 1980s. Good amps are much more common.
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post #8 of 9
4/18/12 at 12:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by commsysman View Post

It's too bad that so many people do not realize the difference in harmonic distortion between amplifiers that are well-engineered and those that are not.

Oh, please. A 'well engineered' amp will have a distortion spectrum 80dB or more down so it's irrelevant. Less than that and it's a poor design.
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post #9 of 9
4/22/12 at 4:25pm
It is funny how much people will spend on speakers and think any amp/avr will do. I agree with you that the power part of the equation is just as important as the speakers.
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