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Mc250

BlackSwamp

BlackSwamp

Previously DingusBoy
I went out and bought a very clean MC250 yesterday and currently am listening to some live JJ Cale as I got it hooked up.

Running my Lector CDP into the Foreplay and sending it out into my HPM 150's. Initial listen sounds very favorable. Sounds clear but engaging. Almost tubish (is that a word) though clearly SS.

I'm happy, please pardon me while I find some appropriate smilies:

:D :grnbounce :yippy: :banana: :banana: :hdphones: :yes: :yes:
 
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Yes in this neck of the woods tubish is appropriate, the 250 was made as the replacement for the 240 (tubed) amplifier, they have very similar sound.
 
Good score Dingus Boy. They do really great with a tube pre. You will be happy you bought it. :cool:

Carl
 
I emailed Roger Russel who has that great site with tons of information on vintage McIntosh gear. I specifically asked him if the sound of the MC250 was "tube like" or more solid state. He sent me an email stating that there is no difference in sound between a good MC tube and MC SS amp or in any well designed tube and/or solid state amplifiers. I myself have listened to expensive 300b mono block amps and my own tube amps. I own 2 Dynaco ST-70's, Dyna Mk111 mono blocks, Harmon Kardon Citation ll, and a CJ Premier 4, 100 wpc monster tube amp using 8 mullard el34 tubes. I know I can hear the difference between tubes and solid state.. I am looking for a pair of MC-30 tube amps, and a MC-250 ss amp to power my bass bins. I was/am pretty sure the MC-250 would be more tube like in sound since it was their first generation of ss amplifiers. For $500 or less it is worth the gamble and I can always sell it for what I pay for it should I not like the sound of it. For now all I own are a MR77 tuner, and a MR65B tuner. The MR77 just left to be aligned at the MC factory, and the MR65B is off to be aligned also. I am looking forward to seeing how the MR77 tuner sounds in my tube stereo on my JBL L300 speakers that are pretty ruthless for revealing harsh ss. I bought a mint restored Kenwood ss analog tuner. I sold it in less than a week as the sound was terrible on my ears. OTOH, my huge Yamaha CR-2020 analog receiver I am using now while my tube gear is being replaired sounds pretty darn good. Not as good as my MR65B bit I could live with it if I had to.
 
Tube vs solid state?

I have to disagree with the statement that there's no difference in sound between a good solid state and tube amplifier. My Eico HF-87 with El34's ran circles around my MC2100 and a friends MC2505, at least in the midrange anyway. The macs have more headroom, but the tubes just seem to have more air/depth in the midrange and also seem smoother. It could be just better/longer note decay, I don't know, but ther is a difference. Don't get me wrong though, I LOVE my McIntosh MC2100 overall better than any amp Iv'e owned. It's just musical.

I also like the sound of the old Haflers with mosfets. If there's anything that sounds close to tubes it's these boys, especially with the mods being done on them, nice vintage stuff.:D :D :D
 
Originally posted by jpchleapas
I emailed Roger Russel ...He sent me an email stating that there is no difference in sound between a good MC tube and MC SS amp or in any well designed tube and/or solid state amplifiers.
Click to expand...

I don't agree either, but that statement coming from Roger does not surprise me
 
The definition of "well designed" is a bit vague. I can hear the difference between .5% and .02% distortion. At least that is what I think I am hearing when I hear the difference between a Carver and a Mc. It could be frequency response or a combination of the two.

Here is an excerpt from Roger's site. This is from a seminar held by Gordon Gow.

"The first 60 watt amplifiers we put out had measured intermodulation distortion and measured harmonic distortion on the order of only 3/10ths of a percent but he was positive he could hear something that didn't sound right. We took the things back and analyzed them further and found that the power supply frequency of 120 cycles was intermodulating with the signal to a level of approximately 1/10th of a percent. He could hear that and he could hear it until we improved the system to where that was down to a fraction of 1/100th of a percent."

http://www.roger-russell.com/mcgg1.htm
 
Thought I'd follow up as I'd somehow missed some of this thread.
This is not my first Mc, infact I had to unhook my 2205 to give it a listen. I've had some time to give the 250 (yes it is 50 watts in stereo, or 100 in mono) a listen and it's musical.

It mates well with the foreplay and my HPM 150's. I'm on different set-up overload. Everything I own (or have now owned and sold) sounds so much better then what I had 8 short months ago it's getting a little fuzzy in my mind. So many variables have my brain swimming when it comes to objective evaluation.

I will say I was playing some John Fogerty and some Cracker earlier and it sounded really good. Just plain fun to listen. I wasn't thinking about the equipment, just enjoying the tunes. That would imply it passes the test.

Well...back to the Byrds.
 
You hit it the nail on the head there..Since I got my MC250, I sincerely stopped worrying about amp issues,,,same as with my Berning TF10 tubed pre....

some gear just lets you move on,,,so you can focus on the music...I dont analyse any more,,just enjoy!
 
Not worrying about equipment certainly is a wonderful thing. I had the same sort of feeling when I got my MC2500. All I could think of before that was output transistors shorting out and damaging my speakers. Sure there were fuses inline with the speakers, but I still worried. I guess after spending a fair amount of cash on speakers, a belt and suspenders seemed like a good idea. Then there are the interconnects. I went with the Neutrik Pro-Fi RCA plugs for the same reason. I hope I never need the protection that they offer, but I will be very happy if it ever does occur.
 
I never had any concerns with either my vintage MC2100 or MC250 amplifiers. Both were original, unmodified Macs that sounded great with my Cornwalls...that tubey, airy sound was more noticable with these two Macs than with my non-autoformered MC7200. I'm sure you'll enjoy your MC250 as much as I've enjoyed mine!
 
Jim,,did you put anything in those shelves yet? Has your brother felt any remorse at selling his MC250?
 
Nope. I finally ditched the cheap particleboard entertainment center with all its sad, empty shelves and am using my folk's vintage early '70s solid walnut cadenza (as soon as my bro gets his digital camera back from his friend, I'll post new pics...I'll hope to have my 300B SE amp by then).

No, neither of my bro's have any remorse for selling their Mac amps (they weren't real Mac followers like us). Hell, my other brother recently sold his 6 month old JoLida JD 202a EL34-based integrated tube amp (wasn't into tube rolling and bias adjusting like he thought he would) for a year old Adcom GFA-5400 MOSFET power amp! It's nice, but WTF? And my youngest brother sold his MC250 for a '90s Aragon 2004 beast!

All I know is if I don't care for the new BEZ 300B amp I just ordered, I'll still be able to fall back on my trusty MC250!;)
 
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