mc 2500

gareth

New Member
hey there just wanted a to say hello im new to the mac forum but wanted to know what this amp sounds like, i have a chance to pick one up for what seems a reasonable price and was wondering what it sounded like, unfortunately i dont have the chance to listen to it before hand!! As i am on holiday at the moment but the guy is desperate to sell it as he needs the money so i get a good deal.

I am going to use it in a room that is 32ft by 27 feet with 8 ft cielings. What speakers sound good with these?? My music room is dedicated so i have no probs with getting large magnepans in there or similar?

But what i really want to know is if this amps rating of 2x500w is realistic:dunno: :jawdrop:
regards gareth
 
Actually, no. The real output at spec is probably 20 - 25% more. Mc tends to under rate the output spec.

As for speakers - it will depend on musical tastes, desired SPL, you personal prefererence in sound. Would not suggest a Lowther with the amp. Also, a bit much for horns in terms of power. Also, electrostatics - watch closely the power ratings as not to fry them.

The amp uses the autoformer and is less speaker sensitive than most SS amps.
 
thanx brian, so this will reallistically pressurize my room then!!!

:D :D :D :D

I will have to find a nice set of speakers over the coming weeks to be able to handle this beast! I have just finished looking at the specs and it seems that it was niceley over-engineered!! Always a good point.

My musical tastes vary quite a bit but i do like a bit of drum and bass now and then.
 
The 2500 is the replacement for the 2300, only weighs 4 pounds more, does have power guard, it will be fairly warm sounding, not quite tube sounding but definatly the warmth of autoformers. Just get speakers that can handle of about 540 rms with peaks at 1000 watts per channel.
 
I was out of town on business and just got back. I have 2500 amps and am very pleased with them. They sound very smooth and warm. I think they will be the last amps I will ever own as they will likely outlast me.

As far as speakers go, I am quite partial to the Mc columns like the XRT20, XRT22, and XR290. There are many good technical reasons why a column is a better speaker design than a point source.

The problem with Mc XR290s is that they still command a high price and are quite rare on the used market.

There are a pair of XRT22s and XRT20s on audiogon. While the 22s are rated at 250 watts continuous, they will handle anything the MC2500 can produce as a peak. As a matter of fact, the XRT22, when driven close to full tilt with a MC2500, will cause intermodulation distortion in the ears. :nutz:

As far as realistic goes, the 22's mated with the 2500 is about 98% of live, maybe a bit more depending on your taste in music.

No loudspeaker is perfect. Not Mc speakers, not Maggies, not anything. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. It is a matter of what you want in a speaker. Frequency response, imaging, bass response, etc. are all things that you have to weigh when evaluating speakers. It also has a lot to do with your taste in music. Some music never has any really deep bass. Some music has no dynamic range, some lacks in high and low frequency information.

I suggest that you do some research into the Mc speakers. Roger Russell's web page has a fair amount of excellent information about the entire line of Mc speakers and in particular about the XRT20, 22, and XR290. His website is www.roger-russell.com

r
 
Since we're on the subject of the Mc big boys.....

.....can anyone comment on the fan noise from the 2300/2500? I've been considering one of these for use with my JBL woofer cabinets. Would these be annoying in terms of the fan noise?

I'm using a cheapo Crown for that duty now, and am very dissatisfied with the fan noise at modest volumes (as well as with the topology - no internal guards against overdriving).

It seems that the Brystons have the lock on uber powered amps with no fans.

How big can I go in a fanless Mac? Am I going to be forced to be blue-meterless entirely, given that this is the only place I have a use for a blue metered amp (as all the rest are old schoolers)?
 
The fans are very quiet and don't come on unless you are driving the amp at 1/3 to 1/2 power for an extended length of time. Even at background music levels, you would not hear the fans. It takes a while for the amp to heat up to the point to where the fans turn on and it doesn't take long for the amp to cool down either. My fans are set to high/switched and they rarely turn on. Then again maybe they are so quiet that I miss the times that they do turn on. These aren't your obnoxious muffin fans or CPU case fans either. The rule of thumb with fans is for a given amount of air, you either use a small fan and spin the hell out of it, of you take a large fan and spin it slow. Increased speed=increaded noise. These are fairly large fans.
 
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