Thought I might mention a little trip I took over the past several months into the land of McIntosh. Thinking that I wanted to 'update', I bought a McIntosh MC275MkV, their latest version of this venerable 75wpc tube (KT88/6550) amp that first came out in 1961. The MkV is very 'up-to-date', having balanced inputs, 5-way binding posts, a single PCB as opposed to point-to-point wiring, new/larger transformers, and, of course, high-grade componentry throughout. An excellent piece of gear with a great sound. So good, I would almost call it a VFET sound. Just not quite.
Of course, if one sounds good, two must sound better so I got another one and ran them as 150wpc monoblocs. Surprise, surprise. Two simply did not sound as good as one. I tried running them in vertical and horizontal bi-amp mode as well as straight, full-range monoblocs. None of the configurations sound as good as the single MC275. But, of course, that is what I heard. YMMV.
As nothing succeeds like excess, I decided to try an MC602. That is McIntosh's 600wpc, 155 lb. stereo amp. While a wonderful amp, it was not up to a single MC275 in the area of sonics. But, as you can imagine, it could effortlessly drive the speakers and had what is called 'bass slam'.
Not giving up, I next tried the 100wpc MC2102 tube amp. Sort of a pair of MC275 amps on a single chassis. Not as heavy as the MC602, but still a substantial 88 pounds. Again, not as good as the single MC275 or the pair as monoblocs.
The upshot of this 4+ months of listening, tube-rolling, etc., is that I am back where I started. Nothing can beat the Yamaha B-2 amp. But, of course, all of you knew this before I got started. It simply is the most musical of all the amps I've owned (tied with a refurb'd TA-5650, but with more balls). Simply nothing I've tried beats it. The single MC275MkV would have to be second to the B-2 in my list of amps. With a set of Tung-sol 6550s, RCA 'blackplate' 12AT7s and Mullard 12AX7s, it was superlative. Just the slimmest of whiskers behind the B-2.
Also gave a try with McIntosh's MCD201 2-channel only, SACD player. Started off with a factory refurb'd one. I didn't do enough digging, as the MCD201 has been a problem piece of gear. I should have read more. Only took it two days to start acting up. I purchased through Audio Classics (Frank Gow) and they took it back and sent me a brand-new unit. It was good. For about a month. Then it, too, started the same skipping and not reading discs, etc. So back it went. Now am awaiting U.S. delivery of the new Yamaha CD-S2000 2-channel SACDP. Kudos to Frank Gow and Audio Classics. They have stood behind what they sell and will be supplying me with the new CD-S2000.
The long and the short of this is that to my ears, the vintage Yamaha B-2 VFET amp is as good as it gets. Is a wonderfully musical amp. Not that the McIntosh amps are bad. Anything but. I could happily live with any one of the amps/configurations I listened to. But, none of them, in any configuration, could top the B-2. So, that is what, again, sits in my rack and will for a very long time.
