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McIntosh MC275 MK VI Clone

lightcapture said:
Just because the circuit design is the same it doesn't mean it sounds like a Mac. Mac also hand winds their own transformers in house which is a big part of their sound.

Winding

How its made
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Mac does so much more. I was there in the 70s and they make amps much the same today. Every part that goes into every amp is stress tested to weed out the parts that are marginal ...before the amp is made! Parts and tubes are match, left and right channels, Then the amps, after assembly, are thoroughly tested, power output curves vs. frequency response. The amp you get is ruler flat!, perfect. The chart goes in the box with the amp and specifications. The test report for your amp is stored at McIntosh. Should you ever have a problem, they know your amp. The amps are burned in before shipment, longer that it takes your newborn to cut his front teeth! That is why you buy a genuine, McIntosh. It's made like a Rolex, a Rolls Royce. I still have my Mc240 that I purchased in 1970 for $375.00, Worth $3,500.00 today, and it still meets the original factory specifications, never having been worked on. What will an clone be worth in 40 years? when the factory that made it went out of business? What will you do when that pop or click power surge fries your tweeters?
BBRand.
 
Robert Rand said:
Imagine you worked 30yrs for a company. They give you a retirement party and celebrate your years of service with a beautiful Rolex watch. You wear it with great pride and esteem until one day it stops. You bring it to a Rolex dealer and he opens it and tells you "its a knockoff", a clone. How would you fell about your former employer. Would you ever wear that watch again. Absolutely not, it offends you. Its a fraud and you aren't and you don't want anyone to think of you in that way. If you were to put it on your wrist, every time you looked at it it would scream at you "you're a fraud". Now I ask you, would you buy fraud amplifier that would scream at you "you are a fraud". Would you show it to your audiophile buddies? What would they think. Could you relish it and enjoy it with great esteem for your years of accomplishments to be able to afford one. Know this, all Chinees stuff is crap, s**t! Products from China are made with the cheapest materials, go untested to market, and break. So, don't throw away your hard earned cash. Get the real deal, genuine McIntosh. You will be so proud for owning one.
BBRand, former employee of Audio Lab Inc. circa 1972, Cambridge Mass. (who sold a ton of McIntosh, and knows what he is talking about).
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If I worked for a company and they gave me a McIntosh, I would tell them I would have rather received a few more raises and a Chinese knockoff upon retiring.
Bought a Tag Heuer in Chinatown NY 20? years ago for $20, it was a fine watch and didn't owe me anything when it died.
I guess you could say I don't agree with your point of view.
 
Robert Rand said:
Imagine you worked 30yrs for a company. They give you a retirement party and celebrate your years of service with a beautiful Rolex watch. You wear it with great pride and esteem until one day it stops. You bring it to a Rolex dealer and he opens it and tells you "its a knockoff", a clone. How would you fell about your former employer. Would you ever wear that watch again. Absolutely not, it offends you. Its a fraud and you aren't and you don't want anyone to think of you in that way. If you were to put it on your wrist, every time you looked at it it would scream at you "you're a fraud". Now I ask you, would you buy fraud amplifier that would scream at you "you are a fraud". Would you show it to your audiophile buddies? What would they think. Could you relish it and enjoy it with great esteem for your years of accomplishments to be able to afford one. Know this, all Chinees stuff is crap, s**t! Products from China are made with the cheapest materials, go untested to market, and break. So, don't throw away your hard earned cash. Get the real deal, genuine McIntosh. You will be so proud for owning one.
BBRand, former employee of Audio Lab Inc. circa 1972, Cambridge Mass. (who sold a ton of McIntosh, and knows what he is talking about).
Click to expand...
Welcome to AK!!
 
Just for the record a Rolex Sub adjusted for inflation should be around $ 2700.00 not $14000, also I know from a reliable source that works for Rolex USA a Sub in 2019 costs $500.00 to manufacture watch and box. This was a tool watch designed for SUCBA divers not a Lux item. So who is zooming who? And if you work for a company for 30 years and they gives you a counterfeit watch your a real dumb ass. This amp uses a design that the patent ran out so what’s the beef? If you don’t like the post move on.
 
A watch that is a knock off is a counterfeit not a fake because it can tell time some just as good as the genuine. A replica Is a copy of a genuine that is stamped Replica on like Roman coins that are stamped Replica.
 
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The thread that keeps on giving. All still good in Clone Land and I enjoy these Heart Felt, Defend the Cause and McIntosh is my Rock messages. I been listing to Inspire Firebottle KT88 Amp to burn in the NX-Studios and the
Clone is another tool in the shed. BTW....I am about ready to purchase either Pathos Inpol2 MKII or Kratos Tube Hybrid Integrated Amp which as I am looking for In-House built gear. Keep the messages going.....
 
I have never owned a Mac and I never will given my feelings about their aesthetic appearance, BUT I have very fond memories of taking my amps to McIntosh clinics to be tested. That was back in the late 1960s when Mac would send their employees and test gear around the country setting up shop at their dealers and inviting everyone, not just Mac owners, to bring in amplifiers for testing. All for free. In my case this meant taking my amps to Audio Associates in Arlington VA and waiting in line for my turn at the testing. Two memories stand out: First, my treasured Dyna Stereo 120 didn’t measure as well as Dyna’s specs said it should. Second, most of the Mac amps did meet specs and when one didn’t the Mac engineer replaced some tubes and then the amp met its specs. All at no charge. Clearly Mac was a quality outfit then and I hope that tradition continues today.
 
maxhifi said:
I think the real issue here is that the genuine US made version has become ridiculously expensive - they keep jacking up the price disproportionate to inflation, on a product which is substantially the same as it was 60 years ago. It's no big surprise someone is filling the gaps with a less expensive alternative.
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Amen to that!!!
 
Robert Rand said:
Mac does so much more. I was there in the 70s and they make amps much the same today. Every part that goes into every amp is stress tested to weed out the parts that are marginal ...before the amp is made! Parts and tubes are match, left and right channels, Then the amps, after assembly, are thoroughly tested, power output curves vs. frequency response. The amp you get is ruler flat!, perfect. The chart goes in the box with the amp and specifications. The test report for your amp is stored at McIntosh. Should you ever have a problem, they know your amp. The amps are burned in before shipment, longer that it takes your newborn to cut his front teeth! That is why you buy a genuine, McIntosh. It's made like a Rolex, a Rolls Royce. I still have my Mc240 that I purchased in 1970 for $375.00, Worth $3,500.00 today, and it still meets the original factory specifications, never having been worked on. What will an clone be worth in 40 years? when the factory that made it went out of business? What will you do when that pop or click power surge fries your tweeters?
BBRand.
Click to expand...

FWIW. Here`s a picture Robert Rand (and any one else viewing this thread that`s interested), of my (4) MC 275LEs that have been totally problem/issue free with multi-thousand hrs. of high SPL operational run time on the original tubes since purchase brand new over 12 yrs. ago that are mono configured for use in my tri-amplified living room reference Mc. XRT-30 speaker system taking care of the mid & high frequencies for each of the M/T driver filled line array enclosures..

I seriously doubt the Chinese clone 275 would have provided anywhere near this length of operation duration problem/issue free !

For that and the excellent specifications and wonderful SQ they deliver, have made the significant investment that I outlaid worth all the prior years that I endured saving up the coin to purchase them..
DSCN0019.JPG
 
Bill Ferris said:
FWIW. Here`s a picture Robert Rand (and any one else viewing this thread that`s interested), of my (4) MC 275LEs that have been totally problem/issue free with multi-thousand hrs. of high SPL operational run time on the original tubes since purchase brand new over 12 yrs. ago that are mono configured for use in my tri-amplified living room reference Mc. XRT-30 speaker system taking care of the mid & high frequencies for each of the M/T driver filled line array enclosures..

I seriously doubt the Chinese clone 275 would have provided anywhere near this length of operation duration problem/issue free !

For that and the excellent specifications and wonderful SQ they deliver, have made the significant investment that I outlaid worth all the prior years that I endured saving up the coin to purchase them..
View attachment 2597323
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Very Nice...This China Clone is Not my only source of gear. I like to use a number of Amps, Intergraded and Pre-Amps to have a variety of soundscapes and if it goes south no big deal. I asked the China factory if I can buy just the Main Board (for Testing) and I received this 3 weeks ago (free).
I have ordered (Mouser and Parts Connexion) Caps, Films to Higher Grade real parts :rflmao:....I am having fun with the clone/copy as I view this a Kit Project. BTW...I also have the BIAS adjustment settings that I have been trying to get for 2 months..a state secret (Pin 5 Control Grid 1 on KT88's at 59V to 63V). Will post the Parts upgrades soon.

MC275I.png
 
do they specify a current draw on the KT88 or just the grid voltage? If its just grid voltage, do you also know the plate and screen voltages? Can work out current if the voltages are known.
 
gadget73 said:
do they specify a current draw on the KT88 or just the grid voltage? If its just grid voltage, do you also know the plate and screen voltages? Can work out current if the voltages are known.
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They do show for KT88, 12AX7 and 12AT7 but this will be intercepted by....

MC275China.png
 
We'll leave it up to you to compare (and possibly comment on) the schematic you have to a modern MC275. Of course the original did not have any zeners in it as shown above, but the modern versions may.

In particular, I'd be curious if the output transformers have the extra windings for the screen grids of the KT88's which was unique to both the MC60 and MC275s. The other Unity Coupled amps did not have these windings as the B+ was lower and the screens and in particular the 12BH7 driver could handle those "lower" voltages.
 
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