Fairchild 275 Pair on Auction site

And then some.

I have always wondered this also. Can you expound on this a bit...? I am not a "mac or nothing guy" but when it comes to old tube amps, I have always been impressed with the Mac transformers and their "less than 1% THD at rated power" ... Is Fairchild similar? I haven't looked up their specs yet...

Edit: Just looked at specs for the 255... can't find 275. just under 2% at full rated power.

No disrespect meant to the Todd Transformer, but isn't this twice the distortion to a similar Mcintosh amp?
 
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I have always wondered this also. Can you expound on this a bit...? I am not a "mac or nothing guy" but when it comes to old tube amps, I have always been impressed with the Mac transformers and their "less than 1% THD at rated power" ... Is Fairchild similar? I haven't looked up their specs yet...

Edit: Just looked at specs for the 255... can't find 275. just under 2% at full rated power.

No disrespect meant to the Todd Transformer, but isn't this twice the distortion to a similar Mcintosh amp?
Fairchild 260 manual and specs can be found here along with a writeup and test data for the 275 can found here .just search fairchild.
http://akdatabase.org/AKview/index.php?cat=2
 
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Fairchild 260 manual and specs can be found here along with a writeup and test data for the 275 can found here .just search fairchild.
http://akdatabase.org/AKview/index.php?cat=2

Thanks! The Fairchild 275s look very similar to the MC-60s of the same period, as far as distortion curve. Impressive. Add to that, their rarity.... I understand their value. I hope to someday hear one. Curious of original cost ?
 
Original cost of the 275? Probably close to $200.

Original price of the 260: $149.50
Original price of the 255: $89.50
Fairchild 240 preamp: $98.50
 
Dunno how the Marantz 2, 5, 8/8B, and 9 compare.

Well I suppose the main difference is EL34 vs 6550. So far I haven’t heard a 6550 amp that I like better than my 8b, but I’ve only heard Quicksilvers and a nice pair of restored MC60’s. But something tells me these 275’s ain’t yer average 6550 amps!
 
The 8B is a little more rounded, and softer on drum leading edges. I would say the Marantz reminds me of a French pointalism painting, with lots of delightful tones and pistaches of coloring, while the Fairchilds are a Dali painting, a little mind bending in what they can produce, hypnotizing you to follow all the quirks and rabbit holes you thought a tube amp would never take you, especially in the bass nethers you had reserved only for solid state amp.

I could use all the key words the reviewers parlez with, but to me a great amp is more about how it sets your frame of mind and physical state. A great wine, a fantastic meal, a rich beer, and a fun jazz album all take you someplace in multiple ways...for me, so does a great amp. These, along with the Mac MC30, are some very, very fine vintage glass.
 
Dunno how the Marantz 2, 5, 8/8B, and 9 compare.
Your better off comparing it to a amp that uses the same output tube compliment which has already been said. If you want to use the marantz's that you listed try those are more on par with the output power and tubes that they use.
Fairchild amps are a good example as as all of them used either 1614/(6l6gc) el34/6ca7 except the 275 but they didn't all start out using that tube compliment and changed it up from the 255 to 260.
When the Fairchild 255 came out it used a pair of 6l6 for tubes and power was rated at 25w. Then the 255a came out and the power increased to 30w using a pair of 6ca7's. The 260 originally used a pair of 1614 metal output tubes which are basically a 6l6 on steroids. The tube was mostly used in rf applications and allowed them to get the '50w claimed output. They then came out with a modification called the 260r revision which then allowed you to use 6ca7 /el34 tubes.
 
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