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MC2500/MC2300 Advice

Velocityboat

Velocityboat

Super Member
A MC2500 has come up local to me.

What should I consider when auditioning it? The owner is also selling a MC2300 too.

I am preferring the Power Guard. What would you buy and think is a fair offer?

Looking to drive the XRT20 and XR19 double stack with 4 ohm load on one Amp but may use my Yamaha PC2602 to just drive XR19. any experience or know how many watts these amps supply at 4 ohm versus 8 ohm?

Thanks for any input.
 
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Velocityboat said:
A MC2500 has come up local to me.

What should I consider when auditioning it? The owner is also selling a MC2300 too.

I am preferring the Power Guard. What would you buy and think is a fair offer?

Looking to drive the XRT20 and XR19 double stack with 4 ohm load on one Amp but may use my Yamaha PC2602 to just drive XR19. any experience or know how many watts these amps supply at 4 ohm versus 8 ohm?

Thanks for any input.
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Buy both of 'em if the price is right. On E Bay, a mint Mc2300 recently went for $2250.00. There is one posted there now for $5999.(Good luck to THAT seller) Make sure the amps have not been molested internally. The side rails being present is a plus.
I paid $800 back in the fall for an Mc2300 with the side rails missing. (E Bay purchase) The amp needed some work as well. My other Mc2300 was a Craigslist purchase back in 2013. I paid $1300.00 for it. It is a very nice example.
I'm not as familiar with the Mc2500, but I had a chance to buy a pair of them for $4000.00 when I was looking for a second Mc2300.
(Should've purchased them at that price)
Check the Audio Classics website for retail prices.
 
Ideally, I would recommend one amplifier per speaker pair. No only is it less taxing on the equipment but allows independent gain adjustments for each loudspeaker for unequal distances/placement relative to the listening position.

I don't think you could go wrong with either amplifier so long as they're both up to snuff - perhaps giving the nod to the 2500 being newer with PG.
 
Here are some things to consider:

- Do either of the amps have the aluminum side rails? If one amp does and you want to buy the other, ask the seller if he'll include them with the amp you prefer. They're easy to remove / install. Without the side rails installed, you've basically got a 130 pound box with a lot of sharp edges that will gouge just about anything you set it on. The side rails are impossible to find but the amps can be rack mounted.

- Early MC2300s did not have thermostatically controlled fans. Amps with serial numbers beginning in 2Y and later have thermostatically controlled fans - a must in my opinion when using the amp in a domestic setting.

- Some folks prefer the MC2300 to the MC2500 (me for example) while others prefer the MC2500 to the MC2300 (twiiii for example).

- Either of these amplifiers is capable of running both pairs of your speakers at any level up to full output 24/7.

- MC2300s are the only McIntosh amplifier made to have both .5 Ohm and 16 Ohm output taps. Hence they are one of the most flexible amplifiers when it comes to driving nearly any conceivable load you could connect.

- MC2500s with the Silver / Black faceplate were earlier models and MC2500s with the all black faceplate were later models. The all black faceplate MC2500s seem to have a higher resale value.

- The meter switches on the MC2500 offer far more flexibility with all of the settings offered on the MC2300 and the addition of WATTS and HOLD. Most will set them to the WATTS setting and leave them whereas on the MC2300 you'll be constantly adjusting the meter range setting based on the level you're playing the amp.

- Power Guard is a great feature to have and widely considered to be the foremost anti-clipping circuit of its kind. The MC2500 has it and the MC2300 doesn't.

Almost forgot - either amplifier will deliver its rated power to any of the available taps. So, you'd be using the 4 Ohm taps with your speakers wired in parallel.

If I were in your shoes, I'd listen to both amplifiers and take home the one you like best. Good luck and keep us all posted!
 
Only one amp when there's a perfect excuse for two?

You feeling okay dastrapman? :D
 
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62caddy said:
Now we're talking!
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I have not put that out of the realm of possibility. That's what happened to me when I drove to NM to pick up the XR19s. I also loaded up the XRT20s that another purchaser never picked up too. That took awhile finding away to load 700 lbs of speakers in a Tahoe with luggage, golf clubs, dog and wife. But I never had one regret.

The MC2500 is a silver and black but 1K more than MC2300. Both are 3Y series SN priced under what's on market. Avoidance of sales tax and shipping make them even better.

Both have Aluminum side rails. Handles on MC2500 have some rash. I am thinking I could sand then rebrush and would solve that. I did a Stainless steel fridge door once successfully. Also top schematic has a single scratch. The MC2300 looks awesome. Owner claims owned the a couple of decades.

Waiting for seller to respond and let me audition. I have asked questions on servicing and recap and whether he has some speakers he will let me stretch them out with and let amps run. If not I told him I'd haul along the 901s. Can't hardly blow a driver in them with dynamite.

I enjoyed the thread Damacman included. The post about XR19s with dual MC2500 and the bass. My doubles stack would like some more power. I did get a neighbor down across the street and down the block three houses complaining about bass in his bedroom which is backside of his house and it being late last time I drove them with separate amps on each pair. My subdivision has third acre lots and wide streets too.
 
Maybe you can make a package deal for both ... Oh and I just might have a pair of NOS handles for an MC2500 in my stash ...
 
damacman said:
Maybe you can make a package deal for both ... Oh and I just might have a pair of NOS handles for an MC2500 in my stash ...
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Looks like he is available Sunday. He said he used to use the MC2500 to drive XRT20s he sold of with other Mc gear to someone in AZ. Apparently he ditched Mc for Deutschland Emitter II Blue amplification. Runs Genesis 300s now.
 
Yes I would rather have 2500's than 2300's. Much lower distortion and much more realistic top octave with the 2500. Whether playing at 1 watt or full power with occasional Power Guard flashes the 2500 is nicer sounding. Now a lot of folks like to listen to distortion and feel 2500's don't play as loud or dynamically as a 2300. Part of that is because the 2500 doesn't go into distortion like a 2300 when pushed. A 2500 driving 8 La Scala tops and the LaScala bottoms is so much cleaner and safer than two 2300's doing the same thing. Its almost like listening to different speakers somehow. 2500's and 2600's driving Cerwin vega Bottoms with 18 inch woofers just don't sound the sameas with 2300's. Most folks prefer 2 mono 2300's to a 2600. The sound is so much more life like I have had people tell me. Its the distortion they love when 2300's are almost going over the edge. The single 2600 is just too polite and restrained. Its because its not creating tons and tons of distortion. I had the same problem with musicians who preferred 2100's vs 2120'. I could get 4 to 3 db more level from an Altec 291 driver than I could from a 2105, with out eating the diaphragm. And yet musicians thought the 2105 or 2100 sounded more life like and was louder. They wanted to hear the distortion. I can be guilty of the syndrome. too. Its the way most of us have been exposed to recorded and amplified sound. Do you think a Martin guitar would sound right using a Mac amp versus using a Marshall Head. Of course not you need the distortion. I'm not saying a 2300 is a bad amp, far from it. I'm just saying a 2500 or 2600's are better amps. I did use the 1 ohm tap of the 2300 once for a system. But more often or not it was the 16 ohm taps were used to drive 70.7 volt speaker line transformers For large Horn warning systems. Or large complex speaker clusters.
 
There is also all this concern today about mixing SS and tubes to get the right sound. Maybe the right distortion. If you turn down the highs on a C2300 or C220 5 or 6 db with speakers system that is bright or is ragged on the top end above 6 khz or so the tube pre-amps do provide a nice warmth and more open some say emphasis. Seems the area where reverberant information resides is better with tubes. 200 to 900 Hz or so. I love the C500T with tubes, providing the speakers are well behaved and feel that way about the MC 2301, though I say it grudgingly. All I want people who love sound is to recognize why they love what they hear. Some folks like Bussendorpher pianos. Some prefer Steinway and others Baldwin. I prefer a Steinway, but recognize its not the best piano for a small venue, its to bright. So folks like and love 2300's. I either prefer the sound of direct coupled amps because of the properties of my speakers or 3500's. Talking about a difference in extremes. I guarantee the sound of a 2301 vs a MC 302 or 602 is much closer than a 7200, 207 to a MC 3500. I prefer 3500's to 2301's, but thats me. If you want a tube sound get a tube sound. If you like the 2300 sound, say its because you like the sound, but don't say its a better than a 2600. Because its not.
 
Well the MC2300 was already snatched up and going to audition MC 2500 tomorrow. So it is either the MC2500 or just stay with my yamaha PC2602 or wait for another amp. Spec sheet and sound wise the Yamaha is quite amazing and sounds great being pushed. Lack of meters and power guard gives me some restraint. So I back off at first clip light flickers which are set for 1 percent distortion.

One thing it does not due is flash amber max power lights on the XRT20. The XR19 goes solid amber amp pushing both.

I also get fan to go off lots running it hard under 4 ohm load. How loud are the MC2500 fans and how often do they go on? I was thinking buying a quieter fan for the Yamaha.

Does anyone have full specks with plots on MC2500?

I know what twiii means distortion free sound does not seems as loud. I do like the details in music. Just wish I could drive my Mc set up with Amp before spending 5 times waht the Yammie cost.

So sell me on the Mc! Lol
 
The fans on the 2500 aren't loud at all. I have mine turned off because I can barely get it up to operating temp let alone warm enough for the fans to come on. There's plenty of specs written right on the top of the 2500. My favorite happens to be it's rating into a half ohm load. I wonder how many other amps that have that figure stamped on top of their case:scratch2:
 
Okay I completed MC2500 audition hooked up to my series 6 901s. I ran the amp up into power guard first try and heard clipping and only right channel power guard lamp was lighting. Neither left or right signal lamps worked nor left channel power guard lamp. So playing around I turned off speakers on MC 2500 to discover the AV pre was dumping power to his 7.1 surround. After disconnecting his surrounds and driving amp past 500 WPC to power guard still no light on left channel power guard but no clipping distortion audible but could drive until I could hear signal compressing. I did hear a 60 Hz buzz but could have been Bose equalizer induced since had to run a long RCA patch cord to his pre Killing equalizer took out the buzz.

Question remains is whether the left channel power guard is lamp or bigger issue. Given neither channel signal lamps lit is it bad bulbs. How much of a DIY project is it to replace lamps? Are they accessible? Guy had no clue what power guard even was but did have lots of high dollar equipment.

As for sound, driving 901s it was clean. Meters and lamps to meters worked in all modes. Amp had some dust. Guy never cracked it open. Since I did not bring speaker stands and was not close to wall the bass was not there but still speaker played loud and clean besides 60 Hz hum at amp idle?

Any help from the forum on what rework might entail cost and time and whether these symptoms indicate a bigger issue is greatly appreciated. Amp never really heated up in the short run.

Thanks!
 
Lamps are cake ... very common for the NORMAL lamps to be out but not the LIMIT. If you can buy the amp fairly, it can be sorted out reasonably.
 
damacman said:
Lamps are cake ... very common for the NORMAL lamps to be out but not the LIMIT. If you can buy the amp fairly, it can be sorted out reasonably.
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I figured that powerguard lamps would not normally be on that often to have been bad. Hard to believe someone would be bouncing off powerguard that much.

So reasonably would be 200 to 300 dollars I am assuming if the lamp does not do it? Are the lamps plug in or soldered? I am sure most shops charge a premium to man handle it.
 
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