MC 2300 Does anybody want it?

[rgrjit8]

I was playing my Ebay game again, where I bid on an item at a price that I don't expect to win.
And I DIDN'T win but.....the winner reneged or something so now I'm being offered the item at my bid price. I didn't even know that Ebay had such a feature.

Long story short...I can't spare the cash (or the wife's ire) for this right now though I'd love to have it.

As I say. I've never seen this feature before so I don't know if you would have to buy the item through me to get this price or what. The seller may simply relist the item if I take a pass.

More info...

Dear rgrjit8@yahoo.com,

You expressed interest in an item titled McIntosh MC2300 power amp by
bidding, however the auction has ended with another member as the high
bidder. In compliance with eBay policy, the seller, knocknee is making
this Second Chance Offer to you at your bid price of $777.77.

The seller has issued this Second Chance Offer because either the
winning bidder was unable to complete the transaction or the seller has
duplicate items for sale.

If you accept this offer, you will be able to exchange Feedback with
the seller and will be eligible for eBay services associated with a
transaction, such as fraud protection.

This offer expires Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 08:32:04 PDT. To purchase this
item, click the "Buy It Now" button located at the bottom of the
following page:
http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewPersonalOffer&item=3031455206.

 

[Shain]

You are under no obligation (under Ebay rules) to buy the Mac.

The seller is just trying to sell it, and you were second high bidder.

The Ebay language in the email, sort of trys to make it sound like you have to buy, .....but you do not!

Ebay wants ANY sale to go through so the get their commision, that's all.

I've had that before, and I said that I didn't want it. No harm done.

The new BIN auction they show you with your bid, is their means of getting you to complete the auction.

It is self evident that you haven't won the auction yet, or they wouldn't be giving that chance, .... to BIN at your original bid.

 

[rgrjit8]

Okay, I know I"m not obligated.
I just thought that someone might like the opportunity to grab a 2300 at less than 800 bucks in spite of the rather ugly modification.
They usually go for closer to a grand, like this one...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3030438833&category=39783&rd=1

 

[EchoWars]

Wish I could afford it....

Interestingly, in the second auction the guys says:

A couple of years ago, I had the power transistors replaced with modern motorola transistors, and in doing so, the output power was increased to more than 400 watts per channel prior to clipping

When will people learn that you can't increase output power by changing transistors? Oh sure, some new high-current Moto's might cause a a volt or so less to be dropped from collector to emitter, resulting in a couple of watts that might make it to the load, but 300 to 400 watts? Har Har Har...

Edit: It probably already was capable of over 400 watts before the transistor change....not totally familiar with how underrated the Mac's were, but from reputation it wouldn't suprise me.

 

[slbender]

Power increase, it might be possible...

Some significant power increase is actually possible, and it does depend on the output transistors. I use special parts (called a ULT) which is not available to the general public, and details are proprietary, but some info is on my webs site. Anyway... When my ULT devices are used, in an amplifier that previously had clipped at 65 wpc; the clipping point goes up into the range of 79 to 82 wpc, with no other changes in the voltage rails or power supply. That, strictly speaking is simply a voltage increase, which then translates to higher wattage.

In this case, from about 22.8 Volts rms to about 25.5 Volts rms. Certainly this is due to my exceptional ULT output devices, and while other modern transistors will not be quite as good, there will be some improvement, again, it depends on the parts.

Certainly a MAC amp was rated for 300 wpc (49.0V rms/8 ohms) typically will do over 350 wpc (53.0V rms) before clipping under test, maybe more. Yes, that's how the MAC's were - very conservative. Adding in newer "low loss" transistors (a whole bunch I'm guessing) could easily translate into another volt or two, if the proper devices are selected. So two more volts added (55.0V rms) becomes 378 Watts, and so pushing it into soft clipping might easily get one more volt out, which is 392 Watts. Since the tester didn't state he was using 8 ohms, or 4 ohms, the latter might even provide more power, as the MAC output transformer sort of evens things out.

So yes, a tester could come up with a 400 Watt test figure and still be accurate. He didn't state that he held the AC line to 110V or 115V or whatever... when the test was performed. So, if his AC Power Line voltage was running a little higher than it was when that MAC amp was designed (back in the 1970's AC power lines were typically in the range of 110V to 117V; today they are more likely to be closer to 125V, sometimes approaching 130V here in the Northeast at least). And so the resulting higher AC Line voltages by about 15% to 18% will also produce more power out from a given amp under a given test.

So the 300 Watt to 400 Watt condition is possible, its a combination of both of these factors.

-Steve

 

[EchoWars]

Don't miss the point here...the guy is blowing smoke. If you have to set a dozen conditions on reaching this new output figure, then it is essentially a worthless measure.

As I noted in my edit, it more than likely was capable of near 400 watts before any mods. I have an amp here rated at 220W into 4 ohms, yet delivers about 298W into that same load in actuallity. It does have new output devices, but is that why it can approach 300W into 4 ohms?

I won't answer the obvious.

If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to read something about these ULT's.

 

[Brian]

A stock 2300 will easily get to 400 watts without clipping. We used to routinely see them go 425 watts from 20-20,000 and not clip. This amp many Mc followers find is the best of the ss Mc amps. At times I have come across these in the past few years and each time have tried to justify the need of this type of power. Would probably do well with my Klipsch Heresys. Never a chance to clip . It was the successor to the legendary MC3500 that was a 350 watt tube amp.