Read that. Sometimes it's hard to accept a much cheaper unit can sound as good as higher end gear.Thanks Glenn; It's all your fault that I just tried out yet another non Mac amp with my other Mac pre. I'm going to start a thread on that one and offer up damacman an apology........he was right much to my chagrin
Indeed; I had to eat a little crow on that one........I still haven't gotten it through my head how a $600 amp can better a $3,800 one.Read that. Sometimes it's hard to accept a much cheaper unit can sound as good as higher end gear.
Indeed; I had to eat a little crow on that one........I still haven't gotten it through my head how a $600 amp can better a $3,800 one.
haha no trolling or controversy here. After several hours of listening yesterday I'm just incredibly surprised and quite disappointed by the outcome.Can't figure out if you are "fishin" for possible answers or "trolling" for controversy......
So I closed the deal and am the happy new owner!
This amp is virtually physically mint! Have the original owners manual and some other paper. I'm the 3rd owner. Original owner had replaced the glass.
So a couple things were revealed during testing.
The 2 video/aux settings output on the right channel is about half of the left channel. TV and phono sound perfect.
The SUT introduced hum and some distortions & hiss, so removed it. LMC cart sounds great, just need to turn up the volume a couple clicks.
I'd like to update to LED's. The kits on fleabay seem overpriced, who do you gents recommend for these and what volt?
Thanks for all the help and encouragement through the process!
Glenn
The stock bulbs are 8610 (6.3 volt) type. AK member Dgwojo offers a 4mm 8 volt LED with wired leads. I switched over to these earlier this year and they work well . Keep in mind that the illumination is not as consistent when using LED's due to them being more directional that the regular bulbs so the resulting look is a bit different.
Thanks jeffs for the bulb info! It's lovely piece.Congratulations on the new piece, Glenn!
The stock bulbs are 8610 (6.3 volt) type. AK member Dgwojo offers a 4mm 8 volt LED with wired leads. I switched over to these earlier this year and they work well . Keep in mind that the illumination is not as consistent when using LED's due to them being more directional that the regular bulbs so the resulting look is a bit different.
Thanks jeffs for the bulb info! It's lovely piece.
The reason i was thinking to go the LED route is because my MC502/C504 are both brighter.
I'd love to see some pics of someones unit with the LED conversion, I would guess some thin silver reflective board could be used to diffuse the lighting. Being LEDs, heat shouldn't be a problem.
What ever I end up doing, I'm not in a rush.
Now what about the uneven out put on the two Video/Aux sections? Simple Deoxit cleaning, or tech work needed?
Thanks again, Glenn
Thanks jeffs!Deoxit may solve your issue. Start with the input selector and see how it goes. Input switching is done with JFET's & I've never encountered a problem with them - but I've only worked on a fraction of the units that the more experienced techs here have.
The LED's are not as bright as the incandescent bulb. There is a diffuser behind the glass face plate. Perhaps something could be done with that. Some light sanding to the LED may help but I think that would lessen the brightness even more.
I've added a pic but I'm not sure how helpful it will be. You can sort of see the uneven lighting along the top row - "Listen", Mode Selector" & "EQ Frequency". I'll see if I can get you a better pic later.