MC-2205 - I joined the club!

Should I stain the cabinet black and give it a glossy finish?

  • Hell yes!

    Votes: 3 8.3%
  • no, keep it original, you heretic

    Votes: 26 72.2%
  • i don't give a rat's ass what you do

    Votes: 7 19.4%

  • Total voters
    36

woofmytweets

Super Member
hey guys,

it's been a while, been busy with work, but a good deal came up and i pounced on the aforementioned MC-2205: 85lbs of transformers, VU meters, and walnut casing. i have it in the main system and it's running like a champ. it's got a couple issues, but for now it's working fine. Curious about the service manual, i have one that says "serial AX1001" and up, mine is AX77xx - is there a newer version of the manual?

issues are as follows:
- "normal" lamp is either out or there's an inaudible problem causing it to not be lit. (might have a look to see if there's a voltage present at the bulb, if i get brave)
- meters are in need of calibration

i'm planning to have it go for service and at least a partial recap, i was also thinking about giving the cabinet a very dark, near black stain and a glossy enamel finish.

IMG_20170522_155244.jpg
needless to say, this is a temporary setup.

thoughts?
 
Welcome to McIntosh Forum. Since you plan on having it worked on why pay for two different jobs? You'd save money in the long tun by having it rebuilt from the start IMO.
 
The unit is fairly old and why pay to have it taken apart twice? I have a 2205 that was totally rebuilt and I enjoy it a lot. I would go for a rebuild by a Mac tech. That way anything that doesn't meet specs is replaced. Not just caps.
 
The unit is fairly old and why pay to have it taken apart twice? I have a 2205 that was totally rebuilt and I enjoy it a lot. I would go for a rebuild by a Mac tech. That way anything that doesn't meet specs is replaced. Not just caps.

yeah, kinda excited to hear how this thing sounds with modern components installed....the main filter caps are from '77 and according to the previous (and original) owner, it's never had any service.

Get rid of the plastic bezel. IMHO, they look better when they look like the MC-2105

not a bad idea, i think the 2105 looks a lot cleaner....is the bezel just glued to the glass? everyone voting seems to want me to keep it original....of course, i might just choose to ignore the results. #thisisnotademocracy
 
issues are as follows:
- "normal" lamp is either out or there's an inaudible problem causing it to not be lit. (might have a look to see if there's a voltage present at the bulb, if i get brave)
- meters are in need of calibration

i'm planning to have it go for service and at least a partial recap, i was also thinking about giving the cabinet a very dark, near black stain and a glossy enamel finish.
99% probability the lamp is burned out. Have all four replaced as well as the meter lamps and knob lamps. DeOxit the switches and use DeOxit Control Cleaner on the level pots. What do you mean by "partial" recap. Recap all the electrolytics on the two driver boards, the power supply board and meter board. Don't bother with the two huge filter caps unless the entire amp has power supply problems. People with extra time and money on their hands will replace the output transistors and emitter resistors. If the unit works I personally would not bother. Either have the speaker relay contacts cleaned or replace the relay. Others may disagree. Keep the bezel on.
 
There are a lot of amp cabinets that are beat up and need fill and then color staining. If your cabinets wood veneer is good save it or flip it and get a beat up one to refinish your way.

The lamps are very long lived lamps but do burn out eventually after decades of use. I replace both the normal lamps and the meter lamps whenever a normal lamp goes out. You have to be doing a lot of hard core rocking to burn out the PG lamps.

I bet Tony is good at that!
 
99% probability the lamp is burned out. Have all four replaced as well as the meter lamps and knob lamps. DeOxit the switches and use DeOxit Control Cleaner on the level pots. What do you mean by "partial" recap. Recap all the electrolytics on the two driver boards, the power supply board and meter board. Don't bother with the two huge filter caps unless the entire amp has power supply problems. People with extra time and money on their hands will replace the output transistors and emitter resistors. If the unit works I personally would not bother. Either have the speaker relay contacts cleaned or replace the relay. Others may disagree. Keep the bezel on.

sounds like a plan to me. it sounds really good right now, i can't wait to hear it after all those old caps are replaced. It's going to be a bit of time before that all happens, i'm probably going to get some nice BJC speaker wires for it, and the cabinet finished....have to figure out how to fit it in the gear stack...i want to locate it more in the centre, so i can keep the speaker leads short.
 
There are a lot of amp cabinets that are beat up and need fill and then color staining. If your cabinets wood veneer is good save it or flip it and get a beat up one to refinish your way.

The lamps are very long lived lamps but do burn out eventually after decades of use. I replace both the normal lamps and the meter lamps whenever a normal lamp goes out. You have to be doing a lot of hard core rocking to burn out the PG lamps.

I bet Tony is good at that!

the cabinet is in good shape, but there's a few nicks and stains, i wouldn't call it mint...and then this is a working amplifier, it's not a rare museum piece - plus i don't have room to hold onto all this stuff - in fact, i have a pile of old gear to get rid of.

who's Tony? does he live in your finger?
 
Tony is damacman....look for a blown Olds in his avatar.......I think everything he does is pedal to the metal.
 
Regarding the case....... I received one with the MC2200 I now use. It is NOT a slant leg cabinet as used on the late 60' units that has REAL walnut veneer. Most later cases (that I have seen) have printed wood grain with a plastic type glossy coating. It is my personal opinion that any refurbishing on these would require a heat gun to remove the "veneer" down to wood before any real refurbishment can occur. I personally call these junk over priced cabinets.
 
Regarding the case....... I received one with the MC2200 I now use. It is NOT a slant leg cabinet as used on the late 60' units that has REAL walnut veneer. Most later cases (that I have seen) have printed wood grain with a plastic type glossy coating. It is my personal opinion that any refurbishing on these would require a heat gun to remove the "veneer" down to wood before any real refurbishment can occur. I personally call these junk over priced cabinets.
hmm, my case has slanted legs and what appears to be real veneer....i suppose more investigation is needed before i mess with it.

pics to follow
 
All the speaker cabinets and the cases had real wood walnut veneer under various final topcoats.

For the first XR series speakers, to battle the potted plant and cold drink ring issue they tried a heavy coated plastic topcoat as the final finish. They then went back to a laquer finish for the 2nd generation of XRs and the matching cabinets.
 
All the speaker cabinets and the cases had real wood walnut veneer under various final topcoats.

For the first XR series speakers, to battle the potted plant and cold drink ring issue they tried a heavy coated plastic topcoat as the final finish. They then went back to a laquer finish for the 2nd generation of XRs and the matching cabinets.
it may not show in the photos, but my cabinet seems like there's no finish on it at all
 
You have to be doing a lot of hard core rocking to burn out the PG lamps. I bet Tony is good at that!

Tony is damacman....look for a blown Olds in his avatar.......I think everything he does is pedal to the metal.

Who me? As we say around these parts - PYFTTF (put your foot to the floor) . . . never did burn out a pair of LIMIT bulbs though - maybe I wasn't trying hard enough!

Welcome to the Mc club. The MC2205 is a very competent power amplifier with quite a following. As mentioned above, the NORMAL lights do burn out as they just sit ON all the time. This is very common. It's either a 7381 or 7382 bulb in these amps - I never can remember which w/o dragging out the service manual. Yes, there are two different versions of the service manual, one for early units and one for later units.

I'm with Gibson - spend the money and have the amplifier refurbished by a competent McIntosh technician. While this is not inexpensive, you'll have an amplifier that can be enjoyed for another 40 years.
 
Who me? As we say around these parts - PYFTTF (put your foot to the floor) . . . never did burn out a pair of LIMIT bulbs though - maybe I wasn't trying hard enough!

Welcome to the Mc club. The MC2205 is a very competent power amplifier with quite a following. As mentioned above, the NORMAL lights do burn out as they just sit ON all the time. This is very common. It's either a 7381 or 7382 bulb in these amps - I never can remember which w/o dragging out the service manual. Yes, there are two different versions of the service manual, one for early units and one for later units.

I'm with Gibson - spend the money and have the amplifier refurbished by a competent McIntosh technician. While this is not inexpensive, you'll have an amplifier that can be enjoyed for another 40 years.

indeed - i think that's the way i'm leaning, have it checked out from stem to stern and brought up to date...not only for the cost of additional service, but also from the perspective of not wanting to move this beast once, let alone a second time....i will be sure to talk to my tech about what exactly i'm signing up for, i think jlovda's post about what needs attention is probably a good laundry list to go over with him.
 
There is actually 3 schematics......3 different sources of outputs and a number of changes to implement corrections as suppliers changed their parts specs.
 
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