Got my first Mac's today!

[VintagePlus]

Picked up a MC 2120 and a C26 preamp. I've been wanting to try Mcintosh for a long time but it never happened until today. I am so far very impressed and a believer as to why this brand has such a loyal following. Both pieces scream quality. The sound is just what I have been looking for.

 

[tuffstuff1]

Excellent combo! Congratulations. It only gets better.

 

[kevzep]

Picked up a MC 2120 and a C26 preamp. I've been wanting to try Mcintosh for a long time but it never happened until today. I am so far very impressed and a believer as to why this brand has such a loyal following. Both pieces scream quality. The sound is just what I have been looking for.

Great stuff......the beginning of a journey no doubt....:thmbsp:

Its nice when the first impression is like that.....

So hows the C26, has it been worked on? Or is it just original? There are a few updates for those ones which can get your performance even better......

They are quality, I've been really impressed at the build quality of all the McIntosh gear I have.....

 

[VintagePlus]

Both are all original. I may leave that way as an upgrade is surely not long off. Everything works perfectly so I may just leave it alone.

 

[kevzep]

Both are all original. I may leave that way as an upgrade is surely not long off. Everything works perfectly so I may just leave it alone.

Hell yeah, if its all working might as well enjoy it!!....:thmbsp:

The amplifier has a few things like these horrible German ROE capacitors which were notoriously unreliable, and while you're in there might as well replace the other caps on the driver boards....
Its always good to reflow the solder on the molex connectors on the driver boards too...
The big caps are not worth changing unless theres actually leakage or they have gone off spec, but generally they are pretty good. My MC2205 is all original, I figure I'll get to it one day, but it all works perfectly so Im going with the flow.....
But all in all, its all pretty basic stuff.....

The pre-amp I believe sometimes they have tracking issues with the volume pot....and the usual age related things like switches and pots needing a little treatment, but, as you say its all working perfectly so might as well get the most out of it.....
There's a couple of guys on the forum here which know the C26 well, and so you are never far away from help if you should need it....

But keep cranking the tunes in the meantime, music suddenly makes sense with McIntosh....
Funny, I went from Sansui to McIntosh, and my first impressions were pretty similar to yours......

 

[VintagePlus]

I'm going from Sansui to Mac as well. G8000, may just have to part with it and use the funds to buy more Mac......this could get expensive...I was leery of the volume pot on the c26 but it is perfect.

 

[4-2-7]

I'm going from Sansui to Mac as well. G8000, may just have to part with it and use the funds to buy more Mac......this could get expensive...I was leery of the volume pot on the c26 but it is perfect.

Both Kev and I did that as well, still like the Sansui gear though but it's not my main system any more.

Congrats on taking the dive.

 

[TR6man98]

Congratulations!
This is just a beginning of your McJourney; now you'll just continue collecting!

Goof luck.

 

[VintagePlus]

Yes, nothing against Sansui. Mcintosh just seems like a step into higher fidelity sound.

 

[VintagePlus]

Congratulations!
This is just a beginning of your McJourney; now you'll just continue collecting!

Goof luck.

Thanks! That's what I have done with all other brands.... So much Mcintosh to explore. Hopefully there will be some glowing tubes in the future as well. Bet your MC 60's sound amazing!

 

[kevzep]

I'm going from Sansui to Mac as well. G8000, may just have to part with it and use the funds to buy more Mac......this could get expensive...I was leery of the volume pot on the c26 but it is perfect.

Haha...thats what happened to me, once I got a taste, more and more Sansui was sold......well, you can see my two McInotsh systems in my signature.....
Same here, nothing against Sansui at all, in fact they are right up there.....but for me when I heard and experienced McIntosh.....I also knew it was going to get expensive......AND fun......I'm loving my Mc journey so far....:thmbsp:

 

[twiiii]

2120 is a great amp for folks with efficient speakers, 95+ db, 1 watt 1 meter, from the 60's 70's, 80's etc. The Power Guard works great and saved a lot of Altec, Klipsch, JBL and EV diaphragms for customers. If Mac built a 7 channel HT amp 120 watts would really be all I would need. I've never seen the lights flash on my 207 and the needles have only reached 100 watts a few times in 5 or 6 years. Though the 2120 and it sister the 2200 didn't like my woofers, I tri-amp, the mid/ tweeter and super tweeters sounded very nice. I do prefer the delicacy of the later power amps, but 2120's have a very satisfying sound that is superior to the previous 2105 , 2505 and others in that family. Is it a 7150, no, but its very listenable. You may find the output relay contacts need to be polished if you notice some irritation in the signal that can happen intermittently. Make sure all the controls and sensitivity switch on the back are clean, too. The RCA jacks may need to be tightened up a bit and the barrel of the jack polished. I haven't much to say about a C-26 except the fact that it blew a Marantz 7T out of the water when the Superscope rep thought they could prove Marantz to be superior or prove Mcintosh clinics were biased. They did prove C-22 didn't like to operated into 20,000 Ohms with low distortion. I don't like the idea of running high power from the amp back inside the pre-amp in order to use the speaker on and off switches. But I can't say positively that in compromised the signal quality. I don't like the stepped tone controls as the steps are to large. That Also goes for the C-28 and 29 I owned. I much prefer the graphic controls on my C-34, but wish they were split as on previous pre-amps with only treble and bass controls. You're on track now for some great sounds! Enjoy your self.

 

[catama]

Congratulations and welcome to an engaging new world!

My journey began with a Mac1700 receiver. Once I heard that legendary sound, I was hooked.

I have three Mac systems now and still collecting.

Enjoy your new kit!:thmbsp:

 

[damacman]

Nice score. As others have said, now it begins!

The MC2120 is a lot of amp for the money and can be had significantly cheaper than its metered twin the MC2125.

Enjoy!

 

[62caddy]

Agreed with damacman, MC 2120 is one of the better bargains in McIntosh. A friend also recently scored one and he loves it.

Another congrats & welcome to the world of McIntosh. :thmbsp:

 

[Mike Gibson]

Congratulations and you have many years of listening enjoyment ahead of you.

 

[mulester7]

Picked up a MC 2120 and a C26 preamp. I've been wanting to try Mcintosh for a long time but it never happened until today. I am so far very impressed and a believer as to why this brand has such a loyal following. Both pieces scream quality. The sound is just what I have been looking for.

.....you did yourself a favor by making sure your first experience with McIntosh included a McIntosh pre-amp....I personally believe anybody's pre-amp is responsible for 75-80% of what gets to your ears, be it bad or good....too many people purchase a McIntosh amp only, as their first experience with Mac, and think the Mac amp is the answer to all their system's problems....sorry, but even a McIntosh amp can't fix the signals sent from a lesser brand of pre-amp.....

.....then, those people who only tried a Mac amp once, go through life saying, "I tried a piece of McIntosh one time, and wasn't impressed at all"....I've seen this situation more than once, and every time, I envisioned a large cream pie hitting them square in the face....imo, if someone is wanting to experience McIntosh and can only afford one piece, make sure that piece is a McIntosh pre-amp, a McIntosh integrated amp, or a McIntosh receiver.....