Fig.8 McIntosh MC1201, 8 ohm tap, distortion (%) vs continuous output power into (from bottom to top at 10W): 8 ohms, 4 ohms, and 2 ohms.
Fig.9 McIntosh MC1201, 4 ohm tap, distortion (%) vs continuous output power into (from bottom to top at 10W): 8 ohms, 4 ohms, and 2 ohms.
Fig.10 McIntosh MC1201, 2 ohm tap, distortion (%) vs continuous output power into (from bottom to top at 10W): 8 ohms, 4 ohms, and 2 ohms.
From the 8 ohm tap, for example, more than 1500W are available into 8 ohms, with well over 2kW delivered into 4 ohms at the usual 1% THD clipping point. But "only" 700W can be delivered into 2 ohms from this tap. The power level indicated on the giant meter, by the way, was correct when the output tap matched the load.
I couldn't perform my usual pulse testing with the MC1201; its fully differential output is incompatible with the single-ended Miller Amplifier Profiler. However, given the humongous gobs of low-distortion power it can deliver, McIntosh's MC1201 should be capable of driving all real-world loudspeakers to very high levels with music program (rather than continuous tones) without breaking a sweat.—John Atkinson
Footnote 1: The premature truncation of the 2 ohm trace in fig.9 is due to the MC1201 shutting itself down due to thermal overload at that point.
