C2200 broken faceplate project

PatrickE

New Member
Hello all, This is a part 2 of a recent post I had regarding a C2200 I obtained that showed up with a shattered glass faceplate.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=604626

I was able to purchase the glass online from AC and it came promptly and in bullet-proof shipping materials, wow was I impressed with how this thing was shipped!

I will however tell you that if you have never done one of these or are thinking about doing one of these, to do it properly takes time and patience....as well as some rubber gloves and an assortment of tools. The glass is very fickle and any dust or fingerprints can be left behind marring your view of the instruments, etc that display behind it (yes speaking form experience).

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Here we have the unit completely disassembled. Left side is the front instruments and circuit board, if you look in the top left of the picture you will see the selection buttons which each plug into the circuit board, have to be removed carefully, and a rubber band gasket that has to be removed in order to pop them out of the glass. There is also a plexiglass diffuser behind the glass that must be separated fromt he glass by force as it is adhesed on there. In addition, you will have to remove blue tinted plastic strips that give the tinting color on the meters as well as lower window. Disassembly took appx 1.5 - 2 hours.

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this is the front of the unit completely re assembled, buttons back in, diffuser, tint strips, metal side rails, all circuitry. The top corners of the side rails were slightly damaged by UPS as well I am assuming that is where it was dropped, so I simply flip flopped them, now the dented corners are barely noticeable as they are now on the bottom.

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Front piece back on and hooked up.

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Very interesting here, notice the volume knob. These will pull right off the socket set inside the knob, so one must be careful doing this. I was as ginger as could be and it slid right off after removing the first time. I simply squirted some epoxy in the knob and re-set the little receiver hub.

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Here she is all put back together.

Once you get into one of these units you will quickly realize and appreciate the build quality and engineering that is put into this piece. Every part is of the highest quality material, and everything fits snug and exact as it should. Took me about 4 hours all in all, someone more credentialed would probably do it in half the time.

I am very excited to have this piece grace my collection now. Beautiful and functional in so many ways.

Hope this helps someone down the line!

-Patrick
 
Thanks for the explanation for this process. Hope I never need to do it though! I've had my C2200 for about 4 months now and couldn't be happier with it. Got it off ebay and it was in like new condition. Sounds fantastic too!
 
Ah yes I remember going through that process when I changed the glass on my previous C712. Fortunately I didn't need to be as careful about dust and fingerprints as the 712 has no meters or display window; but yeah, the Mac faceplates are a complicated design in order to achieve their unique appearance, and so dis-assembly and assembly is a tedious procedure, in some ways like a Chinese puzzle, there's numerous ways you can screw it up.
With the age of the C712, the very thin foam padding inside the top and bottom rails had disintegrated so I had to fab something in there to protect and stabilize the glass.

Good job Patrick. Thanks for sharing.
 
Thanks folks. Yes, I forgot to mention the foam micro padding of sorts that is int there to stabilize the glass and I assume help to keep it from cracking due to any frame pressures. Once again, crazy engineering and design on these. I can only imagine that stuff deteriorating after a few decades MORTIS.

Gizzyman, I absolutely love this machine. The tonality and roundness, yet the ability to depict more accurately the frequencies my mx110 couldn't as well. AND with a remote control woohoo! Just curious what did you upgrade from and how would you describe your experience going to this unit in comparison?

Anyone else want to add their experience going to a c2200?

-Patrick

Pic!
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Thanks folks. Yes, I forgot to mention the foam micro padding of sorts that is int there to stabilize the glass and I assume help to keep it from cracking due to any frame pressures. Once again, crazy engineering and design on these. I can only imagine that stuff deteriorating after a few decades MORTIS.

Gizzyman, I absolutely love this machine. The tonality and roundness, yet the ability to depict more accurately the frequencies my mx110 couldn't as well. AND with a remote control woohoo! Just curious what did you upgrade from and how would you describe your experience going to this unit in comparison?

Anyone else want to add their experience going to a c2200?

-Patrick

Pic!
View attachment 538281

I bought the c2200 to install in my main system in the living room,replacing my Audio research LS7 tube pre-amp. After getting the Mac pre I first installed it in my downstairs vintage setup and have enjoyed it so much that I haven't moved it yet! right now its paired with a Kyocera 100 watt intergrated amp. A vintage Sony cdp,sacd player, PS Audio digital link lll dac, Pioneer pl600 turntable (silver), and a pair of ESS amt 1a speakers.

The addition of the Mac pre was a very nice improvement over any integrated amps that I was running before.


One reason I haven't moved it yet is the fact that I am running a low output cart on my VPI classic upstairs. Pretty sure the Mac won't drive it. My vintage table has a high output moving coil mounted. The c2200 sounds great with it.


Eventually I will switch out the Ls7 pre with the c2200 and let the MC252 amp play with the c2200 but I not in a big hurry.

Yea, I also love the remote (wish it looked better though).
 
Hi,
Same problem for me today. Broken glass on arrival. Can anyone decipher AC as a supplier for a glass plate for a Mcintosh C2200
Thanks PatrickE for starting this thread.
 
or you can call McIntosh direct. I've ordered from both.
I believe price would be the same.
good luck. :yes:
 
Hi,
Same problem for me today. Broken glass on arrival. Can anyone decipher AC as a supplier for a glass plate for a Mcintosh C2200
Thanks PatrickE for starting this thread.

Hey Jeff good luck with this I'm sure you'll be fine. Slow and steady wins the race here, as you will find its a bit of a Pandora's box to perform a seemingly easy task. We're you able to find your glass? Glad this thread was of use, I figured there'd be others like me that are less than technically inclined but don't have the resource of someone local that you could trust to do this perfectly....or perhaps not leave your unit with someone for a month after you just got it! I got quite antsy to get it all set up.

Side note, my metal side rails on either side had both been damaged on their sharpest top corner when the unit was dropped. I flip flopped them so they are inverted and the dented corner is now barely noticeable on the bottom of the machine instead of directly in your field of view on the top.

Enjoy your new unit you will love it!

Patrick
 
Thanks Patrick and others. I was able to get the glass from McIntosh. $200 mailed to Canada. Disassembled yesterday. Got stuck removing the switches from the glass.
Should I remove each switch from the board first, then remove the switches from the glass? If so, then put switches back in glass and attach board to switches? I'm going very slow as not to break anything not already broken. Thanks for this thread. I'll post a picture of the mess when I get home.
 
One of my first jobs at the high fi shop, when not working at the radio station, was installing phono cartridges and replacing Mac glass. The klutz in the shop would break about every 4 th one so I got stuck with the job. I must have replaced 100 over the years, between ones broken in shipping when new, damaged in installation and the majority by owners. I only broke one, my own C-29 plate. I left a 1/4 phone plug adapter in one of the head phone connectors and closed the lid on my Bozak Moorish console. Ouch. For me the 2255 was the most difficult and I refused to deal with the MR 80. I own one ,too. It goes to Audio Classics for touch button issues.
 
Wip 3 subscription 004.jpgBroken face plate removed from unit, not so hard. Unplugged the cords and pulled apart. Found a description for the c2200 face removal online somewhere. Cant remember where where I found it, but its out there.

Wip 3 subscription 005.jpgPulling the switches off the board in order to remove the switches from the glass. One at a time. Wooden toothpicks helped along with gently using a flat screwdriver. Nothing broke. Whew!

Wip 3 subscription 008.jpgI put all the switches in the same position, so repalcement would be correct.

Wip 3 subscription 006.jpgBoard removed. Don't worry about all the red and green tape everywhere, the new board comes complete except for the blue window shades, which are easily removable with a utility razor knife.

Wip 3 subscription 010.jpgScary mess on my desk...
Time to clean up and get ready for re-assembly. Without breaking the new glass.
 
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