Adding a 2255 to my main 2205 system

jbailey930

AK Member
Ok, bad idea posting this thread. I jumped on @geddy402 thread asking for reply to @c_dk I could pick up a 2255 very reasonably from a trusted source.

I started down the path with an MC250, then a MC2100 (still have them), and last 10 years 2205. @Gregory and I documented the updates to the 2205 earlier this spring - needed new speaker relay and few caps and a hack fix. Its very clean cosmetically and sounds great paired with the CJ tube preamp to my Rectlinear Highboys. The speakers are not part of my long term plan. Debating Focal Sopras, AudioNote, Harbeth eventually.

So, what does this get me? Bi-amp or a mono config? Better sound signature than the 2205? Sell all of them and go with 152, 302, 452, etc?
 
Ok it's 1981, we know a new amp is coming out and it shows up......3K a big number in 1981, $1200 more than the MC2205. It took us about 20 minutes to get it unboxed and hooked up to the voiced XRT20s.

Again turntables ruled the day so I kept a piece of masking tape across the top of the 20's display with marks noting the placement of instruments spread across the soundstage with various records so I could keep track of the them as I would audition various cartridges for resale.

At that time we had just started recommending the AT MC32 MC cartridge as our top line offering and I had a particular record' a direct disc from Les Brown that had a piano far stage left that wanted so bad to get fully outside the LH speaker but was not quite there with the MC2205.....MC2255 it was presented well outside the speaker....when I got Gordon's prototype MCs it jumped 2 more feet to the left, but that was a few years later.

So the channel separation sure sounded like it was better. It was quieter......and seemed to be more dynamic. The countdown test was over the top but we had to live with it.

So I sold a few in the next month, everybody was certain that it was a sound improvement over the MC2205, and we had Gordon come in to introduce it to our customers.

I started working on him when I made him his first cup of tea in the morning. When he needed to confirm my turntable setup and voicing curves I bugged him again.....Why does the MC2255 sound better than the MC2205. This went on a few more times as we listened to some of my demo records that he would use and each time he demurred a answer.

If I remember correctly after Skizo interrupted him getting a show of hands about who had their systems voiced and cartridges set up Skizo pressed him to get a answer as he owned a MC2205. He did not get an answer either.

I tried one more time and the look said to back off so that was it I thought.

We are all out for a true 5 star dinner, with my wife sitting between Gordon and I, to my right. Gordon's wife, Palma, to his right next to my boss and the rest of the crew enjoying the stories and a coffee with a aperitif. The day is done as far as I am concerned and Gordon pulls out the big artillery.

Across my wife, with her hearing every word he asks me" Are you willing to gamble your house payment, car payment and your children's education on the ability of some guy who might work in a noisy factory to hear a difference between two excellent amplifiers?" Palma cracked up....he nailed me the big one.....

We all knew it sounded better and we did do a few A B comparison swaps while we still had a MC2205 in stock but I learned to not press him on how equipment sounds. I did press him years latter on cables but that too was a dead end. Turntable setup or room voicing we would talk often. When he swapped out his ML4s for 20s we discussed the voicing, same with the 20s referenced here lately in a different thread. He loved to talk about turntable setup....

Sometimes you just had to do what you had to do. We have done the before and after MAC4100 A B C comparison, the C30, 35, 31 comparisons, I wish I could measure something to know why we have heard such a improvement, but alas at this time I do not know.

Pragmatically I know he was right, but still it was a dirty trick to bring it up in front of my wife!
 
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Thanks for the nice write up c dk. I keep threatening to compare my 2100's to my 2255 but the thought of moving those heavy beasts around always kills that idea. What I do know is my 2255 driving my ADS 1530's has become my favorite amp out of the dozen or so that I used to rotate in that system. I've also contemplated bi-amping the ADS's but again the 2255 sounds so damn good I'm thinking there'd only be a minimal improvement at best. But if another 2255 happens to pop up local........
 
What I think we need to remember......what if someone can not hear the difference we are so attuned to? Is this a put down inadvertent or not?

I happen to be entralled with a big, deep, sound stage, this is what I hear when I listen to live non amplified accoustic events.

We know that most music is contrived.....theater sound is even worse, and what if you want a more mono sound, a sound stage bunched in the middle not the width of the room.

Who is right? Maybe both?

When we would do a live recording and playback of a string quartet I truely believe that for many this was a very new experience, hearing something live not contrived.

The amount of latent energy, the feeling of space is so often not there with standard recordings.
 
Live, not contrived - I like that. Try Cowboy Junkies Trinity Sessions if that's your cup of tea. Eery.
 
Great memory @c_dk. Wish I was there. When I first saw this one come in, I aid hold it for me. Now just need to wheel a beast in and a beast out.
 
I owned 240's, 275's 2100's 2200's and used 2255 and 7200 in my system while other amps were being repaired. I also installed all the same amps in professional systems. To me a 2205 had smoothness the previous generation didn't have, most of that I contribute Power Guard. The difference between a 2205 and a 2255, is pretty small, but I just thought the clarity was better. Different amps react differently with different speakers and maybe that was what I was hearing. But with Professional Altec, JBL and professional Klipsch speakers I preferred 2250's and 2255's. If you really want to hear a difference, throw a 7200 or 7300 in the mix. I'm sure you will hear difference with a 7200. Especially with Bi amped systems using electronic crossovers.

And remember this you can test amps with resistors all you want, but we don't drive resistors we drive speakers, and depending on how the amp deals with the back EMF of the speaker and the reactive crossover makes a difference. I think this where the 2255 excels over a 2205. I know for sure a 7200 wipes both of them, maybe not always louder, but in other ways.

I never go a chance to install 7200's in professional systems. The pricing at the time had put Mac out of the commercial/ professional market
 
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I picked up the 2255, actually picked it up 3-4 times and moved my 2205 - no small feat. It was one owner originally bought at the House of Sound of San Francisco on Union St. I have the original box too. The owner moved to Hawaii and didn't want to move his gear. There was a C32 and CD player in the mix.

Its not as clean as my 2205. There is some pitting on the chassis chrome and a small bubble on the glass. The case is also not as great but probably a 9, so I am using my cabinet for now. I will get to the clean up later. I had to compare.

Well, @twiiii is right. I had depth and great sound stage with the 2205 on different speakers = BWs, JBLs, TFs and the Rects. This amp does widen the stage. It also seems a bit 'brighter' so I may knock down the Lpad setting on my uppers. More to come and the thread is worthless without pix, so a couple of crappy shots while it sits on the floor.
Cheers!IMG_2848.JPG

IMG_2847.JPG
 
Almost every MC2255 you see needs a new faceplate due to the MC2255 STEREO POWER ... lettering delaminating from the rear. Yours is not that way - bonus! Really is too bad the meters get so discolored on these amps as they do, but that's easily rectified by one of the replacement gel kits offered on eBay.

What state is the amp in, electrically speaking?
 
Almost every MC2255 you see needs a new faceplate due to the MC2255 STEREO POWER ... lettering delaminating from the rear. Yours is not that way - bonus! Really is too bad the meters get so discolored on these amps as they do, but that's easily rectified by one of the replacement gel kits offered on eBay.

What state is the amp in, electrically speaking?
Yeah, that lettering is fine. My 2205 was as you say, middle letters were gone.

I will open it up tomorrow to see if any updates/repairs were made. And I may borrow @Gregory dummy load to check the power guard. So far, very good sound wise. Hit some 20 watt peaks when my wife and daughter were out. Been running it since 10am ET. MR 77 sounds great as usual. It's a nice, non-humid day here so reception is fantastic. Playing Bill Evans LP. Streamed some rock earlier. Once my other daughter shows up, we will crank what they like -Beyoncé, JT, Rap.....etc.
 
There are three filter gels inside the meter housing that determines the lit meter color.

I am trying to remember the color names. Any way, the greyish clear one overheats turns brown and causes the discoloration. A pain to retrieve from inside the meter face, not for the faint of heart, but needs to be done for the correct color.
 
We did. There were guys that were correct in matching a ampA orB to X 5 and 6 times out of 6 trials. Quite conclusive. There were guys that had no clue, wrong every time or only correct 1 or 2 times out of 6. What does that conclude. What if you are in that group that day......or forever you know just because.....

I should also point out these test subjects were all audio pros, they all had ponied up to be members of the Audio Engineering Society and this group of 3 dozen or so were local members plus the 2 clients I invited.

While I don't personally mind being put on the spot, it's been my job to figure out what is wrong quickly, others wilt, or don't know what to listen for, or maybe spent to much time near "live" ordinanc that they have had hearing damage.

Some of the things members here claim to hear leave me shaking my head, others who fail to hear so many known common audio flaws, well I just don't know.
 
Excellent thread. I am a happy 2205 owner faced with the need for more power after a speaker upgrade. I am thinking that a move to a 2255 or even 7200/7270 isn't cost effective (I don't have an unlimited budget). So I have the same dilemma, get another 2205 and vertically bi-amp or sell the 2205 and upgrade to 302 or 452?
 
It is well known in this forum there are two approaches to biamping, triamping or whatever.

The pros have chosen to do it a certain way to accomplish certain goals or solve various problems installations impose on them.

Amateurs have also chosen a number of ways to solve problems or make use of opportunities that their installation imposes on them.

I have credentials from both camps and they are not mutually exclusive, in spite of what some posters might post.

What new issue has your speaker choice now imposed on you?
 
Well Chris I am certainly am an amateur! :) Additionally I complicate things with a limited budget, so I want to do things right the first time with the best bang for my buck possible. A recent speaker upgrade to a relatively inefficient (86) speaker leaves me considering an amplifier upgrade to get more power/current to deliver the best possible performance from the speakers. From my limited perspective, I believe my two choices are to make a meaningful upgrade to a new amplifier, or add a second 2205. The 2205 I have has given me yeoman service over the years but technology has come a long way since it was the current TOTL consumer offering out of Binghamton. So while it may be cost effective to find another 2205, would there be a meaningful improvement in overall performance? Alternately, would the money be better spent on an single, newer more powerful amplifier?
Then, if it makes sense to add another 2205, what is the best option available? Mono operation (vertical bi-amping) makes sense to me, but there is also a possibility of running two different amps, with a higher current amp being purchased for the low frequency drivers and keeping the "warm" 2205 for the HF drivers. Additionally, I believe the 2205's design may limit my choices. I guess it boils down to the best bang for the buck and to arrive at a decision that will provide a solution that will work for many years to come. Simply put, I am trying to leverage the vast experience here at AK to educate myself and make the best decision possible. I apologize if this has been covered many times, I have been pouring over these pages recently and the original question in this thread seemed very relevant.
 
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