What vintage McIntosh's to avoid?

I still own and use a 1700, 6100, C26, 2 C24's 2 250's and a 2100 and they all float around the house (not to mention some Yamaha gear) Oooops. I like the changeup. It's fun. I love all this gear and I keep saying I am going to pawn some off and never do. I know it is lesser model stuff, but I don't see my C24's as dismal at all. The pots are better in the C24 than the C28 & C26 and no scratchiness at all. I think they are all fantastic!!! My kids are out of the house and these are my kids at home. It all depends on what you want to do, but I have been using a C24 pre with a beauty Thorens 125 TT and twin 250's as mono blocks with Infinity Kappa 8's and it's mind blowing. At least to me anyway. I am not audiophile though. Whatever that is??? I think you stamp yourself audiophile. I don't think you can go wrong with any MAC. Obviously the price has to be right, they should work and I am a real stickler for condition, because I like to show them off as little prizes. I sure would like to have a 1500. I can't believe how the costs have ballooned. Need to get lucky like that Sansui garbage picker that found those tube amps and pre. Just read those threads yesterday. WOW!!!
 
OK. I admit. I have a tattoo on my , well let me say sometimes it says Audio and sometimes audiophile....................................................................!!!
 
well I'll say this, and you may not believe it but its true. Some second generation solid state mac gear sounds surprisingly tubey......like a 2105 amp. great place to start, good match with a c28. Never owned a Mac receiver...
 
OMG LMAO is right!!! I was just on the general forums and this thread was started.

Show us your audio/music related tattoos!

YIKES!! What the "F" is that???

BANNED!

I spit my coffee out! I gotta stop. I have been on a fun roll all day here at work. That's kind of rare, but everyone's giddy today. Hahahaha!!!

Have a nice weekend and Happy Fathers Day to all!
 
I love my tube stuff in my main sysyem but for a bedroom system I went with McIntosh solid state from Tom Manley. A C29 preamp ( one of the best vintage preamps out there ) and a MC2105 amp. Great sounding equipment.
 
I'd rather push a Mcintosh than drive a _________? :)

From wiki:
"In 1946 Frank McIntosh, a design consultant for broadcast and TV stations, hired Gordon Gow to help him design a high power, low distortion amplifier needed for his clients. This amplifier would become the 50W-1. It included McIntosh’s first patented circuit, the Unity Coupled Circuit, still used by current products.[2]
In 1956, the company moved to its current location of 2 Chambers Street, Binghamton, NY.[3]
Dave O’Brien joined McIntosh in 1962. He led the McIntosh Amplifier Clinics for the next 30 years."

Folks, thats over 65 years of unrelenting production, and we still have a hard time picking out a bad apple from their entire line-up.
A+
 
Yep. All 1st GEN. I think if you stay in the era you are better off. It was all designed and tested together. Tube like SS sound. Can listen all night. Gnite. Not!!! Ever enjoy the Carmine Appice drum solo in Morning Dew? My Japanese pressing! The records to good for my needle. Hope I'm not scratching it.
 
I agree that all of Mac's amp tube stuff was great from the MC 30 onward. Some more than others. Some of Mac's pre-amps suffered mechanical issues, C-28's, MX-110 4 gang volume control, C-24 switches, MA230 output tube life was short as was 40's and 240's compared to 75's and 275's. The MC2002 wasn't as robust as a 2200 or 2205, but had much cleaner bass. 7000 series and 2000 series Mac amps were all good classic units. I'd stay away from the 7000 MCD CD players. C-32 could be noisy if not calibrated to the amp while running efficient speakers, C-26, too. All the Mac pre-amps with clunky input, mode, selectors and tone controls need careful maintenance to remain trouble and noise free. Stay away from Mac tube tuners unless you have a top tech and a great source of tubes, MR71, 67, 65 etc etc.$$$$$
 
Great, great, information for me. I think I have been pretty lucky with my gear. Knock- knock. But I ilke reading this beacause it is quite obvious you know what is problematic and what is not. I know what I can quite possibly expect and preventative maintenance is key just like anything else. My 2100 is cooking pretty good right now. I can always tell. It's a nice aroma and the sound gets better as she warms up. I think it's actually happier hot.
 
twiiii said:
Mac tube tuners unless you have a top tech and a great source of tubes, MR71, 67, 65 etc etc.$$$$$
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Nothing at all wrong with the tube tuners. Just like all the rest of McIntosh vintage gear they will need a good cleaning, recap and adjustment (alignment). No different from their vintage solid-state tuners in that respect, other than you might want to toss in a fresh set of tubes. My MR65A still runs on the originals (but, are on their last legs). Most small signal tubes last for a very long time.
 
As a young fellow in the 60's I could hear the pilot tone from the MPX with MR65, 67 and 71. Though the 71 was much better. But all had to be returned to Mac for alignment. It wasn't until the MR77 came along that I was happy. Of course it wouldn't matter today because 16.5 khz is my limit today.
 
twiiii said:
As a young fellow in the 60's I could hear the pilot tone from the MPX with MR65, 67 and 71. Though the 71 was much better. But all had to be returned to Mac for alignment. It wasn't until the MR77 came along that I was happy. Of course it wouldn't matter today because 16.5 khz is my limit today.
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And mine's about 10-12 kHz, heavily masked by tinnitus...
 
Have any of you any knowledge about the Fairchild amps and how the tube stuff measures against the Mcintosh? I see the Fairchild 255,255A,260 tube amps selling very rarely and always for very high prices and can't seem to find anyone that has had any experience with them since they're kind of rare and old? Let me know what you can, Thanks?
 
MX117.MC7150 said:
Can't imagine that you could go wrong with any vintage McIntosh tube gear. However, be aware that, if vintage, it is 40+ years old and will likely need to be refurbished to sound its best. That is generally a recap and often new resistors. Also, it is more important to get something vintage in good cosmetic condition than good electrical condition. Is faster/less expensive to fix the electronics than the cosmetics. The earlier MC30 and MC60 monoblocs and MC275 stereo amp are regarded as the most desirable and most think have the best performance. The later MC75 monobloc and lower powered MC225 and MC240 just slightly less so. The hybrid (solid-state preamp, tube amp/tuner) MA230 integrated and MAC1500 & MAC1700 receivers are the least desirable, but only compared to the amps.
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.
So should I avoid the MA230? It’s what a can afford at the moment. Or do I even need it if I have a 2270. I apologize for my lack of knowledge. And also picked up a pair of lascales today.
 
Absolutely no reason to avoid an MA230 if you find a decent one. It would be an excellent match to your LaScalas, as would any of the McIntosh tube amps. If it needs cosmetic help, then just be prepared to spend the time (long) & $$ to make it nice looking, if that is important to you. One of today's problems is finding a good tech to do the work. Any number are good at circuit rework, but not many are good at the cosmetic end (more difficult - considerably more disassembly, parts difficult to source, etc.) of the game.

Assume that is a Marantz 2270 you mention. It should be a good match with your speakers, as well. It won't be like tubes, but if has been recapped should be a fine receiver to drive them with.
 
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