The McIntosh MCD-550

[PanheadXR290]

I have a chance to pick up an MCD-550 with a broken faceplate as part of a package deal including a pair of McIntosh XLS-340 speakers & an old 1960s counsel ,the seller has an amp & unknown drivers too but all he knows is an " old dirty " tube amp is inside of the counsel because he can see it glowing when powered up,it has a built in Turntable and attached speakers that weren't in use to his knowledge ,just the MCD-550 & LS-340s ,my interest is seriously piqued about the amp , Turntable & driver's inside , anyhow I've replaced multiple amp faceplates and the face of my MVP-861 ,had no trouble with amp faces but the buttons on the 861 gave me hella trouble getting right ,so if I aquire this collection I'll be sending the MCD-550 off to McIntosh for a new face inside my MVP box, what I'm curious about is the preamp section on the unit ,how well it functions ,is it just a volume/gain control preamp section or is it a full preamp with digital tone controls & the ability to run sources ? At the price quoted for the speakers and MCD it's such a good price I can afford to buy a new remote ,new boxes & have McIntosh repair the unit & have a zero cash spent once I sell off just the unneeded LS-340s,the MCD-550 & everything in the counsel is gravy ,anyone have experience with the MCD-550 or other Mc CD players with built In preamps ? I'm looking for a reason I can add the player alongside my current 861 that plays all disc types as the MCD ,if it functions the way I think it does I might add it to my 2 channel system & use it as a reason to bring out my XL-1 bookshelves & XL-1W bass module where the MCD can be used within the 2channel system as a CD)SACD player ,and be used as the preamp & source for the Bookshelves ,any insight will be helpful because I really want a reason to keep the MCD .

 

[damacman]

I'd be all over that . . .

And, paragraph breaks are super helpful to digest a post that lengthy . . .

 

[PanheadXR290]

I'd be all over that . . .

And, paragraph breaks are super helpful to digest a post that lengthy . . .

I was all over it like white on rice & am enjoying/learning the MCD-550 as we speak with an Audio Slave CD spinning ,the option of fixed vs variable inputs is super sweet ,I wish I didn't have to send it into McIntosh for repairs , if the only issue was replacing the glass faceplate I'd do that myself ,however the gain/volume control knob is lose ,I suspect the nutt holding the pot in place has wiggled lose & just needs tightening ,I've had that same issue with the C-2200 preamp I gave my brother with the XR-290s and was able to correct the lose pot myself ,with the broken glass still being intack and all the buttons in place I don't want to potentially lose button parts working on the player.

I'm going to send the player into McIntosh inside one of my MVP boxes for repairs ,I'll have Mac ship it back in the correct box along with my MVP box ,a manual and an extra remote while I can still source one ,the speakers I was told we're LS-340 turned out to be LS-350 which are an excellent buy as well ,zero snags on the grills ,cabinets with light scratches I've already made vanish using furniture scratch repair products ,the drivers the owner claimed we're blown equalled a mid-range with a pushed in surround ,I used my shop vac corner cleaning attachment to suck the surround back into place ,the tweeter he said was blown was caused by sheer ignorance ,the gold bars that slides through all 3 binding posts had came lose and slipped out of the top set of posts ,a simple realignment of the connection bars brought the entire speaker back to life except the bottom woofer ,the speakers would be a true 7 using Audiogons grading scale ,an 8 for some people .

I doubt the bottom woofer is blown but when listened through a cup the woofer isn't producing it's low bass ,once I can figure out a way to remove the woofer without damaging the cabinet I'll know for sure & know how to proceed ,so far I've had no luck ,I remove all 6 Allen screws and the 2 way tape has the driver held tight ,I do not believe the driver has an outer ring that's hiding more screws attaching the woofer because when gently pried on there is zero movement ,outer rings are generally not 2 way taped ,if you have any ideas for me to pull this woofer without damaging the wood I sure could use suggestions .

The old 60s counsel was a zenith POS with Zenith Alegro speakers inside ,nothing I want ,I got the LS-350s and MCD-550 both for $1,200 and here they are ,I do my best with grammar ,paragraphs and punctuation ,I'll try to shorten paragraphs ,notice how clean Speaker cabs are with a quick wipe down & no oil ,the grills are also stain & snag free ,the tops have zero marks.

 

[charne@sprin]

I was all over it like white on rice & am enjoying/learning the MCD-550 as we speak with an Audio Slave CD spinning ,the option of fixed vs variable inputs is super sweet ,I wish I didn't have to send it into McIntosh for repairs , if the only issue was replacing the glass faceplate I'd do that myself ,however the gain/volume control knob is lose ,I suspect the nutt holding the pot in place has wiggled lose & just needs tightening ,I've had that same issue with the C-2200 preamp I gave my brother with the XR-290s and was able to correct the lose pot myself ,with the broken glass still being intack and all the buttons in place I don't want to potentially lose button parts working on the player.

I'm going to send the player into McIntosh inside one of my MVP boxes for repairs ,I'll have Mac ship it back in the correct box along with my MVP box ,a manual and an extra remote while I can still source one ,the speakers I was told we're LS-340 turned out to be LS-350 which are an excellent buy as well ,zero snags on the grills ,cabinets with light scratches I've already made vanish using furniture scratch repair products ,the drivers the owner claimed we're blown equalled a mid-range with a pushed in surround ,I used my shop vac corner cleaning attachment to suck the surround back into place ,the tweeter he said was blown was caused by sheer ignorance ,the gold bars that slides through all 3 binding posts had came lose and slipped out of the top set of posts ,a simple realignment of the connection bars brought the entire speaker back to life except the bottom woofer ,the speakers would be a true 7 using Audiogons grading scale ,an 8 for some people .

I doubt the bottom woofer is blown but when listened through a cup the woofer isn't producing it's low bass ,once I can figure out a way to remove the woofer without damaging the cabinet I'll know for sure & know how to proceed ,so far I've had no luck ,I remove all 6 Allen screws and the 2 way tape has the driver held tight ,I do not believe the driver has an outer ring that's hiding more screws attaching the woofer because when gently pried on there is zero movement ,outer rings are generally not 2 way taped ,if you have any ideas for me to pull this woofer without damaging the wood I sure could use suggestions .

The old 60s counsel was a zenith POS with Zenith Alegro speakers inside ,nothing I want ,I got the LS-350s and MCD-550 both for $1,200 and here they are ,I do my best with grammar ,paragraphs and punctuation ,I'll try to shorten paragraphs ,notice how clean Speaker cabs are with a quick wipe down & no oil ,the grills are also stain & snag free ,the tops have zero marks.View attachment 1376502
View attachment 1376500

The glass is probably the most fragile part of these Mcintosh products. If they'd start using high quality plexi ..........

 

[techguy0192]

The glass is probably the most fragile part of these Mcintosh products. If they'd start using high quality plexi ..........

Plexi? No thanks. A good idea in theory; however, some of the scratch resistance would be lost and the face would not age nearly as well. Also, it would "cheapen" the products in my opinion.

 

[Mamrak1]

The glass is probably the most fragile part of these Mcintosh products. If they'd start using high quality plexi ..........

McIntosh would get beaten to a pulp if they tried a stunt like switching to a plexiglass front piece.

 

[PanheadXR290]

No Bueno on the plexiglass ,I briefly owned a vintage C-20 with the plexiglass face and hated it ,plexi dosent transmit the deep gloss shine like the glass does , as long as people who sell used McIntosh keep using uhaul boxes & packing peanuts we can keep getting gear on the cheap ,in over 200 pieces of Mc bought & sold the MCD-550 is my best score ,with the new boxes "$60" and the new remote $60" and manual "$25" plus new glass "$160" I'll only have just over $600 into the machine that's a current model selling for $3,500 to $4,000 used ,I offered $1,200 on the LS-350s and the people threw in the MCD-500 if I went up to $1,500 for both so I only paid $300 for the machine ,and it looks stunning even with broken glass ,it makes my MVP CD player look dated .

 

[techguy0192]

No Bueno on the plexiglass ,I briefly owned a vintage C-20 with the plexiglass face and hated it ,plexi dosent transmit the deep gloss shine like the glass does , as long as people who sell used McIntosh keep using uhaul boxes & packing peanuts we can keep getting gear on the cheap ,in over 200 pieces of Mc bought & sold the MCD-550 is my best score ,with the new boxes "$60" and the new remote $60" and manual "$25" plus new glass "$160" I'll only have just over $600 into the machine that's a current model selling for $3,500 to $4,000 used ,I offered $1,200 on the LS-350s and the people threw in the MCD-500 if I went up to $1,500 for both so I only paid $300 for the machine ,and it looks stunning even with broken glass ,it makes my MVP CD player look dated .

You did very well. At that discount, I wouldn't mind waiting on Mac to make replacement glass.

 

[PanheadXR290]

Plexi? No thanks. A good idea in theory; however, some of the scratch resistance would be lost and the face would not age nearly as well. Also, it would "cheapen" the products in my opinion.

You are 100% correct,part of what makes McIntosh gear last so long and have excellent asthetics after 30 years is the fact the glass faceplates force owners to think & plan before moving a piece of gear, the glass face is part of McIntosh's marketing strategy as well as beauty ,I just looked at my neighbors 2 year old Krell /Dan Diaganisto $38,000 preamp the other day & it's scratched to hell ,my 15 year old C-2200 preamp is in way better condition without a scratch,I won't even take a piece of gear out of my rack without gloves so I don't have to polish the face ,McIntosh wouldn't be the king of beautiful high end HiFi without the glass .

 

[jdwk]

yeah, I sure as hell hope they never get rid of the glass faces, just pack properly. Don't blame the face.

 

[charne@sprin]

yeah, I sure as hell hope they never get rid of the glass faces, just pack properly. Don't blame the face.

OK!OK!OK! The AK focus group has spoken!

 

[damacman]

OK!OK!OK! The AK focus group has spoken!

More like seasoned owners who appreciate the backlit glass ID. That's all.