What McIntosh Gear Are You Using?

I have been working on my Main system for a little over 2 years. Although McIntosh represents a large portion of the gear, there are many other components of ridiculous value. So, to answer your question and hope I don't get laughed off the board there is over $600K invested. Even I can't believe it, but you asked. :music:

How about a few photo's
 
Love to see some pics! I’ve got pairs of MC2300s and MC2600s ...
I have no computer or computer skills. I do have a S7edge which to me, IS a computer. I've been scratching my head as to what I need to do for adding pictures to AK. In my living room I have 1- 2600 run by all refurbished Carver C19 Vacuum Tube Reference pre-amp w/E88cc 5 gold pin black plate tubes, a Carver SD/A-390t Vacuum Tube Reference 5-CD player with the same tubes as the pre, and a Carver TX-11a tuner. The MC2600 is wired into a pair of RS 9 Kappa with refoamed bass drivers. For the K9's I have perfect spare drivers for everything(except the bass) all sealed in individual round tupperware containers. Stitting to the sides of the K9's are a pair of fully refurbished RS 4b. I have hooked the 4b up a few times to break in the new bass foams. Probably only have 4 hrs on them. The other 2600 is in my heated garage in its box. I started unpacking my 2200's to put them on the RS 2b once I'm done a little soldering to put the wires back on the crossover for the bass. The 2200's were both refurbished by McIntosh Labs and have seen not much more than 250hrs. or so with moving them in and out of my different systems. Last used strapped mono on the planar wings of the RS 1b with the MC 2500 running the bass collumns. Packed them all up when I sold the 1b to AL. The MC2500 is also in the garage with the top off just to see if I should suck any dust out but there is none. Never has been. I guess it helps when the fans rarely turn on. I'll put it back on and then take the bottom cover off next just to check. I had the 2500 refurbished at Edmonton Audio Works by Lindsey with the help of Mac Labs on and off the phone for 3 days. Mac Lab did not charge a nickel for their help! Removed all output devices, re-tin and clean all pins and sockets, electrolytics, supply board caps, bias circuit, calibration, clean and calibrate meters. It's probably sitting around 4-500hrs. I would like to figure out a way to put an hour meter on this stuff. McIntosh did the same work on the 2200's. I was going to bi-amp the Kappa 9 but there is really only enough AC power in the living room to run one amp anyway. I am only leasing this place right now so I will not install a designated line. The last place I owned, I tapped into the stove outlet and run to its own panel and split it into 4-20amp Hubbel plugs. Just can't cook a turkey while listening to music. Thats why I've never used a Carver Research Lightstar Reference in this house because they take 2-20amp circuits for one amp.
 
Love to see some pics! I’ve got pairs of MC2300s and MC2600s ...
This little screen which starts with B I U A A...
is that where I can find a way to post pictures? I don't expect anyone to know my phone of course unless you have one. I barely know how to use it myself. Kind of shy to show pictures. My collection which is mostly being stored in my garage looks almost like one of those hoarding shows. I rotate things in and out here, there, to, fro, there and about, now and then just to make sure everything stays alive but I can't imagine unpacking it all at once. 11 amplifiers alone, only 8 sets of speakers now that I sold my 1b's. This spring I hope to be rid of most of it. Upsizing to one final system.
 
This little screen which starts with B I U A A...
is that where I can find a way to post pictures? I don't expect anyone to know my phone of course unless you have one. I barely know how to use it myself. Kind of shy to show pictures. My collection which is mostly being stored in my garage looks almost like one of those hoarding shows. I rotate things in and out here, there, to, fro, there and about, now and then just to make sure everything stays alive but I can't imagine unpacking it all at once. 11 amplifiers alone, only 8 sets of speakers now that I sold my 1b's. This spring I hope to be rid of most of it. Upsizing to one final system.
A really dumb question would be to ask if anyone hears about any 2600's for sale, to let me know. Reading here shows me that they will silently be SNAPPED UP! Let me know though, if you could. I need four of them for my 'final system'. I could try finding one more MC2500 and go with that but I want to keep all of the amps identical to have the same gain structure. If I can't find two more 2600's I have an opportunity to purchase a pair of rebuilt CJ 8a's with KT120's and 2ohm taps in the spring. I think that's where I'm going anyway because I'll never find two more 2600's. The CJ's create maintenance issues down the road but would surely be very nice on mid/tweet and I should go that way anyhow.. The Macs are just so easy and so great. A pair of MC2600's tops the 1200 & 1.2K in my opinion. All of these Macs turn into a completely different animal when you run them as mono blocks. The 2200's are special amplifiers on their own but mono them and the pair become absolutely spectacular. I know one guy with a pair of 1201's and one with 1.2k. They are quite similar with their draw backs. If you need them for the massive power, the 1.2k's would thermal out when you pushed them to 760w average. I have tried(not sitting in the room) pushing the K9's with one 2600 to run and hide levels with meters to the top on 2 ohm taps in my last place just to hear what the fan sounds like(can't just turn them on like the 2500). When I run into the room when a song was ending, I quickly turned it down and could not hear the fans. I got down on one knee and put my ear against the amp to hear the fans on low. Amazing! The amp was a barely warm and definately not hot.
 
My current McIntosh based rig, A C46 preamp feeding an MC452. The MC452 just recently replaced an MC2205, I'm still amazed with the MC452, it's incredible. This amp will be a permanent fixture for a long time. The MCD7005 CD player rounds out my McIntosh lineup.

View attachment 1088249
View attachment 1088251
Dumb question. Other than power which can make a huge difference, what is the difference between your 2205 and your 452?
 
A really dumb question would be to ask if anyone hears about any 2600's for sale, to let me know. Reading here shows me that they will silently be SNAPPED UP! Let me know though, if you could. I need four of them for my 'final system'. I could try finding one more MC2500 and go with that but I want to keep all of the amps identical to have the same gain structure. If I can't find two more 2600's I have an opportunity to purchase a pair of rebuilt CJ 8a's with KT120's and 2ohm taps in the spring. I think that's where I'm going anyway because I'll never find two more 2600's. The CJ's create maintenance issues down the road but would surely be very nice on mid/tweet and I should go that way anyhow.. The Macs are just so easy and so great. A pair of MC2600's tops the 1200 & 1.2K in my opinion. All of these Macs turn into a completely different animal when you run them as mono blocks. The 2200's are special amplifiers on their own but mono them and the pair become absolutely spectacular. I know one guy with a pair of 1201's and one with 1.2k. They are quite similar with their draw backs. If you need them for the massive power, the 1.2k's would thermal out when you pushed them to 760w average. I have tried(not sitting in the room) pushing the K9's with one 2600 to run and hide levels with meters to the top on 2 ohm taps in my last place just to hear what the fan sounds like(can't just turn them on like the 2500). When I run into the room when a song was ending, I quickly turned it down and could not hear the fans. I got down on one knee and put my ear against the amp to hear the fans on low. Amazing! The amp was a barely warm and definately not hot.
You should start a new thread in regards.
 
You should start a new thread in regards.
Hi damacman. I was only hinting. I don't think, at least as far as I know, that people are to buy and sell on this forum. I know I'm only dreaming to find two more 2600's anyway. Found one a year ago but I couldn't move on it at the time. Then there is the wait for another..... People just don't seem to let them go for some reason.
 
Hi damacman. I was only hinting. I don't think, at least as far as I know, that people are to buy and sell on this forum. I know I'm only dreaming to find two more 2600's anyway. Found one a year ago but I couldn't move on it at the time. Then there is the wait for another..... People just don't seem to let them go for some reason.
S
Hi damacman. I was only hinting. I don't think, at least as far as I know, that people are to buy and sell on this forum. I know I'm only dreaming to find two more 2600's anyway. Found one a year ago but I couldn't move on it at the time. Then there is the wait for another..... People just don't seem to let them go for some reason.
Sorry. I guess I should have asked in reguard to what. As you may have noticed I do ramble a little. Just making up for not participating in any social media ever.
 
Dumb question. Other than power which can make a huge difference, what is the difference between your 2205 and your 452?

I was actually surprised to find the differences so plainly audible. Even the Mrs, who normally doesn't seem to hear any difference between my setup and the Amazon Echo, commented on it.

Mostly, it's fast, incredibly fast. It's speed brought out a whole new level of detail. The detail improvement was clearly noticeable throughout the entire frequency range, but in my case it was most pronounced in the bass region. The precision in the bottom end is remarkable.

The 2205 is a great amp, but they were not really known for a stellar bottom end. As much as I enjoyed the 2205, once you go MC452 there isn't any going back.
 
Here`s my current McIntosh equipment list of 25 units in a pdf. FWIW.
Being that I type with one finger, this method has saved me a bunch of time and effort.

Also, since I`ve already posted pictures of about 98 % of them on this site and am not a subscriber I won`t needlessly add to their site`s limited storage.

If someone is interested in looking at the pictures of them, I would suggest that they lookup my posts and find them..

Regards, OKB
 

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C28, MR78 and MC2155 along with an 8W SE EL35 headphone amp. It's also being fed by a FiiO X5 II. The most minimalist setup I own.....
 
Here is my current setup, not all dialed in just yet, just finished installing yesterday.

Mcintosh C-28 pre
Mcintosh MR-73 tuner
Mcintosh 2100 amp
Mcintosh MQ-102 eq
Mcintosh ML2 speakers. 2 stacked pairs.
Thorens TD-160 turntable

room is too small...but I am going to do some major room acoustic treatments to see if it helps..

but it sure does look cool...:rockon::rockon:

20180127_205354.jpg
 
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Here is my current setup, not ask dialed in just yet, just finished installing yesterday.

Mcintosh C-28 pre
Mcintosh MR-73 tuner
Mcintosh 2100 amp
Mcintosh MQ-102 eq
Mcintosh ML2 speakers. 2 stacked pairs.
Thorens TD-160 turntable

room is too small...but I am going to do some major room acoustic treatments to see if it helps..

but it sure does look cool...:rockon::rockon:

View attachment 1100783
Love it!
 
Here is my current setup, not ask dialed in just yet, just finished installing yesterday.

Mcintosh C-28 pre
Mcintosh MR-73 tuner
Mcintosh 2100 amp
Mcintosh MQ-102 eq
Mcintosh ML2 speakers. 2 stacked pairs.
Thorens TD-160 turntable

room is too small...but I am going to do some major room acoustic treatments to see if it helps..

but it sure does look cool...:rockon::rockon:

View attachment 1100783

I don`t know how far back you sit to listen to that setup, but it looks like it could be one really "in your face" Near Field setup !!
Great gear JeffV, keep us posted as you get it tweaked in.

Take care and have a great week Sir.

Regards, OKB
 
I don`t know how far back you sit to listen to that setup, but it looks like it could be one really "in your face" Near Field setup !!
Great gear JeffV, keep us posted as you get it tweaked in.

Take care and have a great week Sir.

Regards, OKB
Well, unfortunately, I can only get about 12-15 feet back for my sitting position. , but, like I said, room treatments should help, my pre still needs to be finished in regards to replacing some caps, and all the rca jacks in the back.( they were rusty) ..

work in progress. I will keep the board updated. :) :)
 
Since we conversed last I have added a MP100 so I can change to a XX2 dynavector and/or add another TT. The MX 119 has been replaced with a 151 and the MAC-3 is gone. a 7084 has been added for AM radio. Fans are arriving tomorrow to replace others and to add thermostatic control for those that have finally failed after 30 + years.

The 151 has been the biggest improvement in my system in years. It has the same clarity the old C-29 had. Its so good in the pure analog mode I now run one of the C-34 outputs through one of MX 151 inputs and can't detect any difference than going straight by passing the 151. Mp 100 has cleaned up the phono section and though the MP 100 phono section is only rated at 80 db signal to noise and the C-34 is rated at 90, they are referenced to different input levels and the Mp 100 s actually quieter. Whats really surprising is using the digita output of the MP 100 to drive the MX 151. It reveals how the C-34 modifies the sound of the phono. Just a slight adjustment of the mid and mid/bass controls and the C-34 sounds very similar to the old C-29 sound I had been missing. The overall sound of the system has really cleaned up between 70 and 300 hz . and I'm not sure but I think recaptured some of the sound That I thought the Crowns were superior to the 207 below 60 HZ or so, too. I know the digital circuits and the Dolby processing of the MX 151 is much superior to MX-119 , 120, 134 and 135.

I wish the 7084 had the power control feature or had a mechanical on and off switch that I could leave it on and then use one of my PC-4 to activate it.
 
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