New to me McIntosh 1700

fox512

New Member
Hi...have a 1700 arriving in a few days...got it for $430...dont know much about its provenance as I got it from an auction...its either going to be used with klipsch kg4s with a technics sp 15 tt or klipsch hereseys with a pioneer pl 530...any recommendations/advice would be appreciated
 
Congrats on your new purchase. Here is some info from Roger Russell's site on your receiver.
MAC 1700. Also, if you google that model you can find copies of the user manual, schematic and service manuals. The Klipsch Hersey's are probably a good match.

Enjoy.

t1700.jpg
ELECTRICAL: Stereo. Hybrid (Solid state preamp and power amp, tube tuner). 40w/ch into 4 or 8 ohms. Response 20-20kHz (+0.5 -0.5dB). Distortion .25%. Noise and hum: power amp -90dB, aux -75dB, phono -76dB below 10 mV. Damping factor 100. Input impedance: aux 250k, phono 47k, tape head 500k. Input sensitivity: aux 0.3V, phono 2.4mV, tape head 2.4mV. Tone controls: bass and treble. +18 to -18dB. Filter: 60Hz at 12dB/octave and 5kHz at 12dB/octave.

FM SECTION: Sensitivity 2.5uV, S/N 65dB, Distortion 0.8% in stereo, Response 20-20kHz, Capture ratio 2.0dB. Image rejection 60dB, Stereo separation 30dB.

FRONT PANEL: Black and silver. Input selector: aux, tape, fm auto, phono 1, phono 2, tape hd. Balance. Slide switches: mode: stereo or mono, filter: out or in, tape mon: out or in, muting: out or in, loud: out or in, speaker: on or off. Headphone jack. Dual concentric bass and treble controls. Volume with power switch. Tuning knob. Tuning meter. Illuminated tuning dial. Indicator lights: fm mpx, aux, tape, fm, ph 1, ph 2, th, tape mon.

BACK PANEL: Barrier strip speaker terminals, Screw terminals: 300 ohm and 75 ohm antenna. Ground terminal. Inputs: tape mon, aux, ph 1, ph 2, tape hd. Tape out 1. Muting control. AC outlets: 2 switched, 1 unswitched. fuse.

TUBES: 2-6DS4, 2-6HS6, 6AU6A, 6CS6, 6EA8, 12AU7.

Size: 5-1/2"H, 16"W and 14-1/2"D. Weight 34 lb. Sold from 1967-1973. Last retail price $599.00
 
I just got one as well on Tuesday. I got it for 350. It appears to be in near mint condition. According to the guy I bought it from who does home repairs a old lady who's husband died had it in a closet for years and she was about to put it to the road. This was in a exclusive country club neighborhood. He scooped em up and posted it. I have never seen one locally and have been looking for one for a long time. He really hooked me up on the price I felt.

This is my first vintage receiver and am very excited to get started in this new hobby of Vintage gear. I have always loved listening to music on vinyl and have been doing so on ......I know I am going to get flack on this......my 2000 onkyo (2000) model 5.1 receiver hooked up to one of my Techniques 1200's I still have when I was DJing.

Anyway I am in the process of finding a good set of speakers for it and found some JBL L36D's .

Any suggestion if these will be a good match. It seems to me that they should be.

Also I hooked up the Mac to some....once again I know I know......Bose 201's and it woke those little bookshelves up.

I have a pair of DCM cx-17's that I just got but I have to re foam one. But just the one hooked up to is way impressive.

Is there anything I need to do to make sure that this thing is still usable from years to come? I do not plan on ever selling it....to me its a work of art and I will never be able to afford a newer Mac.

Thanks for having me on the forum
 
So I will second that the Klipsch Heresys would be a good match (though I admit I haven't heard them myself...just know their rep.) I have a 1700 myself and have it paired up with some McIntosh XL1s /w the XL1W woofer and love it. Mine had taken a nasty power hit at some point and needed the power rectifier diodes replaced but once I did that and gave it a nice fresh set of tubes it was golden again.
 
Hi...have a 1700 arriving in a few days...got it for $430...dont know much about its provenance as I got it from an auction...its either going to be used with klipsch kg4s with a technics sp 15 tt or klipsch hereseys with a pioneer pl 530...any recommendations/advice would be appreciated

Nice find, congrats.
I have a 1700 (which I love BTW) that's been paired with several different JBL bookshelves over many years, L100, 4311 and L166. They all sounded great with it.
They even make my Flamenco's sing, which are a large bass reflex cabinet with horn configuration. The key is all these speakers are extremely efficient.
A healthy 1700 is good for 60w/ch all day long, even though it's rated at 40w/ch. Keep that in mind when making your speaker selection.
 
So I got a pair of JBL 36's and paired it with the Mac.....I am very pleased.

I had a question about the tubes. Are they difficult to change? Should I buy some back up ones to store in case I need some later? How long do they typically last? Will changing them out with other brands effect the sound? Thanks
 
Right I realize that the tubes are only for the tuner, but I am fairly new to the audio file world and still have a lot to learn.
 
So I got a pair of JBL 36's and paired it with the Mac.....I am very pleased.
Excellent! And it just gets better from here.

I had a question about the tubes. Are they difficult to change? Should I buy some back up ones to store in case I need some later? How long do they typically last? Will changing them out with other brands effect the sound? Thanks

They're easy to change. You can buy backups if you have a good place to store them where you won't forget where they are (because it may be a good while before they're necessary) but you don't need to because availability isn't usually an issue. Longevity varies with make & usage patterns. Different brands and models do affect the sound, by most accounts.

You can search all around AK for more details/opinions on which brands do what. Have fun!
 
Thanks, SO I have another question. Is the phono inputs pre amped by the tubes? Or is only the radio sound effected by the tubes
 
Thanks, SO I have another question. Is the phono inputs pre amped by the tubes? Or is only the radio sound effected by the tubes

The MAC 1700 has a vacuum-tube tuner section and solid state pre-amp and power amplifier sections.

As has been said many times here before in this forum, these receivers are 46 to 52 years old and so need to be electrically restored. This does not mean "gone through by a tech" or "recently serviced and seems to work". This means that most or all of the original capacitors need to be replaced along with other components as necessary; controls and other electrical contacts must be cleaned; bad or weak tubes replaced; the tuner section aligned and the whole thing bench tested to prove it is operating at or beyond spec.

So unless you have receipts from a prior owner proving that this electrical restoration as described has been done in the last 10 years or so, it probably needs to happen.

This will insure that the whole receiver (including the tuner section) sounds as good as it's going to get, will insure reliable operation for a long time and will increase resale value.

As has been said many times here before, Audio Classic is a great place to get this work done.

Messing with otherwise good tubes in a tuner to tweak the sound is not a good idea.
 
Thanks for the answer about the pre amp.
I was wondering if changing the tubes out effects the sound of the FM radio or the tubes just effect the reception?

Also about how much does it cost to get the unit properly gone through? I did nothing but hook it up and it sounds amazing and I have been using it non stop since I got it two weeks ago.

I plan on this being my main unit and have no plans on getting rid of it ever. I plan on leaving it to which
ever of my children wants it the most. So I want to keep it going.

Thanks for the answers in advance
 
Labor rates are so varied around the country let alone across the world. So I always advise hours a experienced tech might need and you can multiply that by what the typical service rates are in you area by the various trades.

A restoration tech, one that has done these units before would most likely have 4-5 hours into the preamp and amp section, then another 2-3 hours to alighn the tuner if needed.

If you are in the states parts cost excluding the main filter caps should be around $50-60.

Most experienced techs get work by word of mouth and should be willing to bench test your unit before service for a nominal fee.

And never say never....there is always another Mac out there calling your name......
 
The tuner seems to be dead on accurate, How do I know if the filter caps need replacing? How will I know when it needs to be serviced figuring it just stops putting out sound?
 
A proper bench test.....you put the amp under stress at 20 hz monitoring the output with a distortion analyser and ociliscope. You typically do this at multiple frquencies. Monitor the supply voltage, if they sag too much the caps need replacing. If the scope shows excessive power supply hum they will need replacing.

A tech will look at the signal to noise of the various sections as well as run frequency response curves to check for linear operation.

A square wave passed thru will give a indication of the response as well as the tone circuits linearity.

When we would do amp clinics we would do most of these checks but since there was usually a line of units backed up would not always pronounce all the flourishes. If a issue would peek out from the basic tests we would then explore deeper like doing a reverse RIAA linearity check and such.

A responsible tech will like I sai, typically do this for a nominal fee, but let's face it, many will abuse this largess and will be charged accordingly.

All else is just guessing.
 
thanks for the replies everyone...it is at the shop now getting the once over by my local expert...they may at some point be hooked up to my hereseys but at first they will be powering my KG4s...more out of functionality than anything else...ill post some pics when its up and running
 
I just got one as well on Tuesday. I got it for 350. It appears to be in near mint condition. According to the guy I bought it from who does home repairs a old lady who's husband died had it in a closet for years and she was about to put it to the road. This was in a exclusive country club neighborhood. He scooped em up and posted it. I have never seen one locally and have been looking for one for a long time. He really hooked me up on the price I felt.

This is my first vintage receiver and am very excited to get started in this new hobby of Vintage gear. I have always loved listening to music on vinyl and have been doing so on ......I know I am going to get flack on this......my 2000 onkyo (2000) model 5.1 receiver hooked up to one of my Techniques 1200's I still have when I was DJing.

Anyway I am in the process of finding a good set of speakers for it and found some JBL L36D's .

Any suggestion if these will be a good match. It seems to me that they should be.

Also I hooked up the Mac to some....once again I know I know......Bose 201's and it woke those little bookshelves up.

I have a pair of DCM cx-17's that I just got but I have to re foam one. But just the one hooked up to is way impressive.

Is there anything I need to do to make sure that this thing is still usable from years to come? I do not plan on ever selling it....to me its a work of art and I will never be able to afford a newer Mac.

Thanks for having me on the forum

Congratulations on an excellent buy. Depending on what it needs, you could easily be looking at a service bill of $200 - $400 at Audio Classics. A full blown restoration (including shotgunning of all caps - good, bad or anything in between) expect even higher.

If it generally seems to be performing well and not making any strange noises from any of the inputs, I would enjoy it the way it is for the time being.
 
Congratulations on an excellent buy. Depending on what it needs, you could easily be looking at a service bill of $200 - $400 at Audio Classics. A full blown restoration (including shotgunning of all caps - good, bad or anything in between) expect even higher.

If it generally seems to be performing well and not making any strange noises from any of the inputs, I would enjoy it the way it is for the time being.

It sounds better than anything I have ever listened to on the JBL L36's that I have on it. I think I will just let it rock on until.... I do think that if I ever need to do anything to it I will just have to shell out the money.... Its just too beautiful of a receiver. Like a piece of art to me.
 
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