MC275 Tube Sound vs Conrad Johnson's

mckid

New Member
Hi,

Anyone ever made a comparison between MC275's sound vs the Conrad Johnson's? Curious as to which one sounds sweeter and does the 75watts per channel 275 translate into better performance against the 55watter CJ MV60?
 
Compared to the MC275 the CJ will be somewhat more pleasing to listen. The caveat of course is that it is not a MC275 mkIV. The markIV is really nice sounding, and will sound better than MV60. The watts are not what makes music sound nice it only makes music louder. IMO, the MC225, MC230, MC30 or a MC60 will sound better than CJ or the original MC275. If you are in the market to buy a MC275, try to get the new mkIV it is really very good. If you want one of the vintage ones, consider the ones I suggested earlier.
 
Spot, I do not know what original MC275 you have listened to but you may need a new tech working on your amps. I have an original 275 with modern caps, both power supply and signal along with good tubes. It flat out rocks and will do all of the audio tricks the earlier models do with less noise and more clarity. It is very hard to differentiate to my MK IV. To say the original MC275 can't run with 60s or 30s is silly, in my opinion of course.

Ron-C
 
Yep Ron, maybe I was too hard on the original MC275, and I am sure they could sound pretty good with modern parts. How could I argue with the Mac God, and throw the baby away with the bath water? I don't know why, but the MC225, MC230 and the 1500 still has a special place in my heart! Does this clear the haze somewhat?
 
spot said:
Yep Ron, maybe I was too hard on the original MC275, and I am sure they could sound pretty good with modern parts. How could I argue with the Mac God, and throw the baby away with the bath water? I don't know why, but the MC225, MC230 and the 1500 still has a special place in my heart! Does this clear the haze somewhat?
Spot
To clear the haze even further, I'm pretty sure you mean the MA230 integrated amp not MC230?

I once took home a MA230 from my dealer to demo but when I got it home it had major static noise threw the speakers. Even with it not working I was tempted to buy it and send it out to be fixed. I was going to try to find a way to bypass the preamp and use the MA230 as a amp only (trying to get a lower priced MC225).

Victor
 
IMHO, the MA230 is not the same as the MC225. Looking at the circuit, it has one less stage than the MC225. While I do not have a MA230 "currently" to play them side by side, I love the way my MC225s sounds. I do have a MAC1500 and noticed that it also has one less stage like the MA230. I have compare the MAC1500 with the MC225 and MC225 comes out a tad sweeter. The MAC1500 is 100% orginal without any caps change etc. May be that is why the different.

Come to think of it, I love all my tube McIntosh sounds. All of the MC series tube amps I am using have new caps and NOS tubes in them. The only thing I love a little less are the SS Mcs...

Oh yes, my MC275 IV I think is finally breakin-in. It is very nice.

cheers,

Silas
 
I think Conrad Johnson always strived for a euphonic "tube lovers" sound, whereas a proprerly working MC275 should have a pretty neutral sound with just a touch of warmth. The original MC275's are super reliable while Conrad tube amps (at least the older ones) were so so in terms of reliability.


Mike
 
Thanks for all your views on this. You guys are the BEST! :thmbsp:

I was looking at the Mc amps and when I walked past the CJ showroom, the sales rep asked me in for a demo. I must admit that CJ sounds real sweet too but I still want a MCINTOSH! :banana:
 
I took home a brand new out of the box MC275IV and I thought it sounded harsh for the first three hours, but did not notice any changes after that. Three hour break in time, NICE. :)

Victor
 
Maybe that's it. I brought mine home and connected it to a pair of speakers and let it idle for 12 hours one day and played it the next.


Carl
 
Guys cables are thin stranded silver cables from homegrown audio.
Nothing special !
From your posts I see you doubt my sentences.........
My speakers are suggested to be driven from even 400w per channell

They are huge dimensionmonsters and most important they makes amps easily oscillating presenting impedance of 2 ohm on highs and 64 ohms on low freq.

Ask around !
To my eyes the Mc works fine, it simply does it job as many other amps failed.
PS audio failed, Sonic frontiers failed , Perraux failed.
When i say failed means the sound was clipping at 80dB !!!

Hope now you could give me a help about my first post question that I don't see resolved. Basically if a 402 can bring significant improvements not only about power but also as sound.
Thanks
 
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