• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

McSerious Or McBackground

J

jdandy

Super Member
Banned
McIntosh equipment has always kept me listening to music more than other gear I have or previously owned. I have my McIntosh system energized about 12 to 14 hours a day. A large portion of that time is listening to music in the background as I move about, in and out, or working in my office where I can hear it from the living room. I usually park myself on the couch in my sweet spot three to four hours a day where I truly listen, and become completely involved and focused in the audio experience. There are occasions when my McIntosh system has kept me spellbound for up to six hours of concentrated listening, although normally it is between three and four hours each day. This figures to approximately 25% of my total daily listening is concentrated and focused, and 75% of my listening is background. Were it not for McIntosh gear, and the increduble quality of the music it reproduces, I am certain these numbers would be dramatically different.

How do these numbers compare to your McIntosh listening habits?
 
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
When my primary system goes on, it's always McSerious.

Good Thread, BTW!
 

Attachments

  • batman-dark-knight-joker.jpg
    batman-dark-knight-joker.jpg
    48 KB · Views: 30
My system is always on when I am home. I'll watch a movie or two a week and some news but that's about it, the rest of the time is spent on music. Today the kids and wife were out and about and I did a marathon listening session of 13 hours! :thmbsp: The room got a bit warm with the new amps. :D
 
my system stays on 24/7. 2 channel is 95% of the time with sacd/cd, dvd-a, vinyl, xm, fm. the other 5% are movies, concert dvd`s, tv. I work from home a lot and get to listen seriously about 4-6 hours a day.
 
I spend about 4-5 hours per day in serious listening. There is only the one chair in my 2-channel room and while I am listening I might be surfing the net or reading one the five audio magazines I get monthly.
 
I also work out of my house, so my system (Office) gets turned on abot 6:30-7:00 and stays on all day. Listening to Pandora or Rhapsody.

When work is ove 4:30-5:00 the main system gets turned on, and serious listening begins. These are the moments that I really savour! Having a beer and putting on a beautiful piece of vinyl is the best way to end the work day and begin the evening of listening.

Casual ~ 8 hours

Serious ~ 3-4 hours

Then there is the bedroom system... listening to and watching Crossroads Guitar Festival right now... Hubert Sumlin can really play!
 
I have something to read most of the time during listening sessions. Just not enough time usually to give it undivided attention. Get a couple hours of that a week, and sometimes get my son to join in a bit. He's 12, and I get a bigger kick out of him appreciating something like Duke Ellington's musicality than just listening, and that's not a put-down of pure listening at all. Wish there were 40 hours in a day!
 
I don't have a prescribed routine nor a dedicated system I can escape to. And, being a working stiff I can't log the time of some others; however, on weekends it's probably on about an average of 15 hours with 3 - 6 of them spent purely listening. Yesterday I really got on a role, first listened to 3 new ones (Hope Waits -- thanks, U2 No Line on the Horizon, and The Best of Johnny Winter). Those sounded so good I just keep putting in more and more. Ended up listening to about 8 CDs non-stop. Amazing how quickly time passes when you're enjoying yourself.
 
My system is on about 3 hours a night after work, and if I am home on the weekends it is typically on most of the day.

I will get serious for a least an hour sometimes 2 a night the rest is background.

On the weekends it varies, I have spent entire days listening while I was home along.

Yesterday I went to the used record store, bought 4 used LP's that were in mint shape, came home swapped in four telefunken tubes into my pre amp, and began the next 5 hours glued to my sweet spot. Played the some tracks off the four LP's and went to CD's.

You know its a good listening session when the hair stands up on the back of your neck on a particular track or many tracks.

Hope Waits singing Fortune Teller, did it for me yesterday.
 
Office system (Mac1700 + computer audio) is on all day as background. Home system goes on when I get home but I don't get the opportunity for sustained listening unless I slap on my headphones after the kids go to bed, or on the weekends. Even then its catch is catch can. I usually bargain some sit-down-and-listen time with the wife every couple of weeks, when I can lock myslef in the den and tear through the record collection. The best is the rare time when I can convince one of my kids to sit and listen for longer than 30 minutes.
 
casual in the office = ma2275 + mvp861 or mr71 = 4 hrs a day
serious in the family room c2300 + mc2102+ vinyl rig = 1-2 hrs per day
 
PHC1 said:
My system is always on when I am home. I'll watch a movie or two a week and some news but that's about it, the rest of the time is spent on music. Today the kids and wife were out and about and I did a marathon listening session of 13 hours! :thmbsp: The room got a bit warm with the new amps. :D
Click to expand...

:worthless
 
To the left is my McBackground system. The the right is McSerious. :thmbsp:

attachment.php


attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • DSC00855.jpg
    DSC00855.jpg
    42.2 KB · Views: 416
  • DSC00856.jpg
    DSC00856.jpg
    40.7 KB · Views: 294
Serge.......Yea. We saw the crates. Let's see the contents.
Click to expand...

Ok, since you guys asked....

The events leading up to this point caused me some anxiety. I was torn. Having lived with my 501s for the last 3 years, I have really enjoyed my time with them. I've been an admirer of Lamm gear for quite some time but since the 501s found their way into my system first, that thought laid dormant for that period of time. As fate would have it, while on a quest to audition a pair of Avalon Isis speakers, I was invited to an audiophile's house who happened to be driving them with Lamm M1.2s and L2 Ref preamp. Of course that spark of admiration turned into a roaring fire of desire.... :drool:


The class "A" and well executed "mosfet" amps have always sounded so musically and emotionally "right" to me, they seem to convey the "emotional essence" of music on a different level all together. The rich harmonic content, the purity of tone and more importantly, the ease with which they suck you into music is something that one really needs to experience on a well setup system to understand. Being of "hybrid design" and having a single 6922 triode in the second stage driving the high speed MOS-FETS, they infuse "life" into sound like no other amps I have experienced. Simply hypnotic. "Deep listening" takes on a new meaning for me.

There are so many reviews out there on these amps that to go on trying to explain it further is rather pointless. I can go on quoting some of the reviews but instead I will just say is that to me, they are the amps I have been searching for all my life. :music: Having found a deal on a demo units that Vladimir Lamm used himself for a short while, I couldn't resist any longer...

The 501s are now my second favorite amps that I have been fortunate enough to own.

Well crated. Better have the cordless drill with a Phillips bit handy!
LammBoxes.jpg


These travel first class only!
IMG_0858.jpg



Is it bragging if you can actually do it?
IMG_0859.jpg


The stage is set and they are ready to perform. :music:
IMG_0864.jpg

IMG_0865.jpg



The 501s feelings may be hurt.... :tears:
IMG_0869.jpg



Giving the tubes a listen...
IMG_0862.jpg



Night shot for Alberto. :D
IMG_0860.jpg

M12_front_tilt.jpg

M12_rear_side_news.jpg
 
Last edited:
Serge.......Do you miss the other 390 watts the MC501's can deliver?
 

Attachments

  • Lamm M1.2 Interior.jpg
    Lamm M1.2 Interior.jpg
    44.5 KB · Views: 14
jdandy said:
Serge.......Do you miss the other 390 watts the MC501's can deliver?
Click to expand...

What other 390w? :scratch2:

The beauty of these is of course to keep them humming along in pure Class A. :thmbsp:

110 Watts into 8 Ohms (Class A operation).
220 Watts into 4 Ohms (55 Watts Class A operation).
400 Watts into 2 Ohms (27.55 Watts Class A operation).
600 Watts into 1 Ohm (13.75 Watts Class A operation).
 
gregswaim said:
The pre looks like a Line Level pre. Will you add a phono stage to this for your vinyl rig or will the TT go with your 2nd system?
Click to expand...

Since I have the C500, I'll have to see which of the preamps will drive them long term. If the Lamm wins, I'll have to look for a phono stage.. :scratch2:
 
gregswaim said:
Does Lamm make a phono stage?
Click to expand...

Yes, it is quite popular with the vinyl crowd although not very flexible. If it works with the cartridge you have or plan on owning then all is great in the land of Lamm.. :thmbsp:
 
PHC1 said:
What other 390w? :scratch2:

The beauty of these is of course to keep them humming along in pure Class A. :thmbsp:
Click to expand...

I was refering to the 110 watts class A output, which I had assumed was the prefered choice for listening.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom