Damn You MC225

nolasally

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Why the hell do you sound sooo good! This amp is what started me down the rabbit hole. Now look at the mess im in.. And
 

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Looks like to me you were on the slippery slope long before the 225. It probably just greased the slide to give you more of a thrill. Isn't amazing what a little 30 watt amp, no 34 watt amp can do. To think that little amp can out perform two 8b's. or at least match them. I still think the first time I heard a 225 was driving Klispch horns. I know the first time I heard a Kilpschorn it was being driven by a MC 30. Probably one of the best mono systems I ever heard. So I can't really compare a 30 to a 225 in that case. But I heard 225's versus 240's driving Bozak 302, KLH, Stevens and Altec speakers and the 225 was special. There was something special about a MX-110 and a 240. But a C-11 with a 225 was so much more as was a C-22. I owned 60's, a MA 230, 240's, 275's. The MA 230 did rather well with my Stevens speakers as did the the 225's at the shop. I was very happy for a few years, but having MC60's around was the 230's down fall, and the power race was on. So I never owned a 225. I listened to them a t work and at peoples homes. I recognized there was a difference, but I never got involved. Was it a loss, probably.

My slippery slope would have been 3500's. With 4 of them I would have been in heaven. But alas, I passed. It took another 38 years before I finally reached what I could have had. But then hindsight is 20/20. I hope your vision with your 225 is as clear and you didn't wait as long. For only a 3500 can match the sound of a 225 at 35 watts or less. Its a different sound from the 240 and 275. The 275 was a warmer sound than the 240 which was a little more strident and both just did n't have the sophistication and yet delicacy of a 225. 225 didn't lack bass, though it couldn't shake the walls down like a 275. Like the 3500 which everyone thinks is a bruiser the 225 has a way of taking you into a performance you have experienced before and like with the 3500 you have never understood until then, My speakers liked being bi-amped and the 207's I use today do it so well tri amping the left and right and bi amping the center and rear. It would be fun to have 8 3500's but we all know the sound would n't be todays sound. But the best of the past like with your 225. That's not really a bad thing. Its a choice. A Stradivarius is from the past, it sound is rich warm and full, not equaled today, as is a Steinway well defined, percussive, with great harmonics, from the past. And yet there are modern sounds from different instruments that are totally improved over the past, interpretations by directors have changed,foo. Whose to say which is better, only our ears can tell us which we prefer, But if I had modern Heritage Klipsch, having a 225 just might restore some of the tonality that has been lost from the older more euphonic Klipsch.
 
Hey twiiii I think you have unfinished business with the Mc-3500's that got away. Get a pair, and never mind that blue meter nonsense, Mc-3500 meters are multi-purpose meters for adjusting tube bias. You will be in tweak-ers heaven with a pair or two.
 
That first, left hand side power tube in the MC225 is now toast. Did you fix it?

Ron-C
 
I used 3 3500's for live concerts, CW dances, Worlds Rodeo Finals, and other misc PA jobs. We also sold a few pair to Power Concert Grands. One pair in Honduras, and another in Mexico. I preferred the sound of bi-amping, especially with SS on the bottom for my Grands. Our first proposal for the Basilica in Mexico city was to use 275's and 3500's. But with the passage of time the design was changed to 2300's. Everything was 70,7 volts using Peerless transformers and Big Altec Multicells and twin woofer boxes. I always wanted to install 3500's in a permanent commercial installation, but it never happened.
 
Once a power tube looses bias and runs away, that is the plate glows bright red like the one in your picture, it is finished.

thanks,
Ron-C
 
Why the hell do you sound sooo good! This amp is what started me down the rabbit hole. Now look at the mess im in.. And

LOL ... Yep, many of us are right there with you.

it can become an endless death spiral... I'm very happy with my assortment now..

zxSXuFc.jpg
 
I’m beginning the process of evaluating my new-to-me McIntosh MC225. It’s shown here in my TV room system, where it will probably reside. Amps currently in this system: Scott 399, MC225, Kenwood KR-9050, Fisher 800B, Fisher X-1000, Scott 299C, MC 240, and an NAD C375BEE for movies. (The MC30s sitting on the floor are installed in this system temporarily to compare with the MC225. The MC30s are normally installed in my living room.)

100_2319_zpstargrrfq.jpg




Amps in my living room system: McIntosh MC30s, Scott 296, McIntosh MX110 / McIntosh MC275, a pair of Pilot HF-56 mono receivers, an NAD pre-amp and Acurus A250 power-amp for movies, and a McIntosh 2155 driving speakers in the kitchen / dining room.

Amps in my office system: Fisher 500C, Scott 299B, Altec 353A, and an NAD D 3020 for general internet use (and summertime).

Amps in my basement system: Scott 272, Inspire “Fire Bottle” SE Stereo Tube Amplifier HO, Scott 222C, McIntosh MX110Z tuner/preamp, Fisher KX-200, Marantz 2325 solid state receiver, Pilot SA-260, Scott 210F (mono), Fisher TA 500 (mono), Scott LK150.

I have a Fisher TA 500 (mono) in my bedroom.

For me, which amp sounds best depends on the speakers, the recording (I listen mostly to classical music and opera), and on my mood.

Yes … it’s a sickness … :)
 
I used 3 3500's for live concerts, CW dances, Worlds Rodeo Finals, and other misc PA jobs. We also sold a few pair to Power Concert Grands. One pair in Honduras, and another in Mexico. I preferred the sound of bi-amping, especially with SS on the bottom for my Grands. Our first proposal for the Basilica in Mexico city was to use 275's and 3500's. But with the passage of time the design was changed to 2300's. Everything was 70,7 volts using Peerless transformers and Big Altec Multicells and twin woofer boxes. I always wanted to install 3500's in a permanent commercial installation, but it never happened.


Very nice you have quite a bit of first hand experience with the Mc-3500's. I knew you had a story to tell. They were definitely ahead of their time in 1967.
 
I’m beginning the process of evaluating my new-to-me McIntosh MC225. It’s shown here in my TV room system, where it will probably reside. Amps currently in this system: Scott 399, MC225, Kenwood KR-9050, Fisher 800B, Fisher X-1000, Scott 299C, MC 240, and an NAD C375BEE for movies. (The MC30s sitting on the floor are installed in this system temporarily to compare with the MC225. The MC30s are normally installed in my living room.)

100_2319_zpstargrrfq.jpg




Amps in my living room system: McIntosh MC30s, Scott 296, McIntosh MX110 / McIntosh MC275, a pair of Pilot HF-56 mono receivers, an NAD pre-amp and Acurus A250 power-amp for movies, and a McIntosh 2155 driving speakers in the kitchen / dining room.

Amps in my office system: Fisher 500C, Scott 299B, Altec 353A, and an NAD D 3020 for general internet use (and summertime).

Amps in my basement system: Scott 272, Inspire “Fire Bottle” SE Stereo Tube Amplifier HO, Scott 222C, McIntosh MX110Z tuner/preamp, Fisher KX-200, Marantz 2325 solid state receiver, Pilot SA-260, Scott 210F (mono), Fisher TA 500 (mono), Scott LK150.

I have a Fisher TA 500 (mono) in my bedroom.

For me, which amp sounds best depends on the speakers, the recording (I listen mostly to classical music and opera), and on my mood.

Yes … it’s a sickness … :)

Please share your thoughts on the sonic differences between the 225 vs 30s vs 240.
 
Why the hell do you sound sooo good! This amp is what started me down the rabbit hole. Now look at the mess im in.. And

An MC225 was the same amp that started me down the proverbial rabbit hole. One of my neighbors gave me the MC225 and an MX110 he had stored in his garage. The MC225 worked but the MX110 had a bad transformer. Both are now working and my collection has grown considerably with pieces moving in and out as I see fit.
 
I have owned and used Scott and Fisher amps in the long ago. What about them ,compared to your 225 and MC 30's, makes you want to keep them? I have my theories.
 
I have owned and used Scott and Fisher amps in the long ago. What about them ,compared to your 225 and MC 30's, makes you want to keep them? I have my theories.

Oh, Boy...there's a question that will be stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
If I had to answer that, I'd take the coward's way out and say I want 'em all.
 
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