Destructor
Super Member
Any owners of MA230's that have converted them to stand alone amps ? I have owned a pristine beauty for some time and finally bypassed the SS preamp section with two female RCA cables connected directly to the tube amp section. The cables pass through the two headphone jacks in the front. I am using a Mac MX110 for the Preamp. This set up sounds fantastic. I now have my vintage all tube McIntosh system. It looks awesome with the MX110 over the MA230 (on shelves). It actually looks cool with the two rca cables protruding out the headphone jacks about 4 inches. This mod is very easy to do, just desolder three existing connections at the input tube and connect the new cables. It is also easy to reverse back to the original configuration, thus preserving the integrity of the unit. Total cost about 4 dollars if you already have an MA230. MA230's can still be had at reasonable prices. The tube section is very good on these amps. BTW these amps are quite good as integrated amps, they just lack some of that tube magic that an all tube system will provide, unmodified they will blow away most mass marketed gear.
