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Mcintosh Tube Gear Orientation????

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fftfk

New Member
Ok - I get the MC275 design...it is a classic design that has been in production for the past 50 years. I will give that one a pass.

What about the rest of the tube amps? What is the front of the amp? How are you supposed to orientate them? For example, the MC1502 has the knobs on one side, power cords coming out the other side, and the tubes theoretically in the front. Why are the knobs on the side and the cables on the other side (orientated as pretty much every photo on their website shows. Ok - let's say you put the knobs to the front and cables to the back (what I would suggest is a correct orientation) half of the amp are the transformers with the tubes all on the side...completely unbalanced.

I guess I just don't get the industrial design of their tube amps. I like symmetry and these amps really don't lend themselves to it.

I am asking this because I have a Mc stack and am thinking about switching out my 152 for a tube amp. Please post photos if able to show how you place these in your stack.
 
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I’ve only had three McIntosh tube amplifiers, but they were 1960s amplifiers, and yes if you face/orient the MCxxx toward you the knobs and connections are all on the left, but the tubes facing you. My MC75s were lined up together so you only saw the cable/knob end, tubes to one side of each, I never really worried about the asymmetry though.

I think that McIntosh just arranges the amplifiers to look similar to the original 1960s layout.
 
Initially tubes were not the status symbols that they are now and often the tube amplifier (especially commercial applications that Mcintosh is famous for) was hidden.
That's right they were stuffed in a cabinet somewhere and forgotten about.
No need to look good, when you're spending life in a dusty equipment rack in the back room of a church or auditorium.
The customer who has an Instagram to keep busy is not who the amplifiers were designed for. They're industrial equipment like a forklift or a road grater.
Function over form. The audiophile market developed later...
 
With the older models don't look for symmetry as the designs of the day treated the tubes as a necessary part, not as a display aesthetic.

Move forward in time and the tubes, which are in part nostalgic and in another part desired function, are placed more prominently to the front to increase the tube lover's aesthetic enjoyment.

Newer and current McIntosh tube gear tends to orient the tube aesthetic display towards the front of the unit. Having the cables at the back is also a feature of those models.

Orient them as you please. If you purchase tube gear because (1) you want the tube sonic experience, (2) you want the tube aesthetic, and (3) you want to display the unit in the proper orientation; get a newer model.
 
If you look at tube amplifiers as a whole from origin, it's all about the utility. Imagine then seeing an MC30 with the very first chrome chassis in the 1950s - that had to be much like putting on a set of headphones and dropping the stylus on Are You Experienced the day it was released.

Just outerworldly.
 
We used to think that installing an engine with the output of the crankshaft aimed toward the rear of the vehicle was the proper method. Now all the 1980's-up throw-away Black Plastic Crap cars are made differently.

Things change, so while there may be no "right" way of doing it, there certainly are a lot of wrong ways. Each owner can decide what is "right" in their circumstance. A true purist would acknowledge that tube equipment should be in a louvered/ventilated metal enclosure with only the controls protruding through the front panel, and not for any aesthetic reasons.
 
MC 2301‘s, MC 2000’s and MC 2102’s are all ‘placement friendly’ with knobs on the front and power and audio connections on the rear.

On the 1502 the knobs are mostly useless if you remote the amplifier with a preamp that has power control. But I agree, the layout of some of the new tube gear is odd.

36626384172_263e7ae50f_o.jpeg
 
So true, although McIntosh amplifiers were displayed proudly in the ‘’60s, it wasn’t for the tubes as there was typically a cage, and the layout was from Engineers, who oriented the parts in the most efficient way.

Today the only purpose of tubes is the aura, the nostalgia, and the visual presentation. It has been proven as long ago as the Bob Carver Challenge that any distortion that tubes create, can be emulated by solid-state, and as told my McIntosh when asked the only reason that they make tube gear is “because people buy them”.

So the nostalgia runs highest in the amplifiers that are built to look exactly like the originals, the MC275: because people will buy it.
 
These 4 tube caged Mc. MC-275LE layout in my living room is totally for practical reasons (nowhere else had space in the living room near the tri-amplified Mc. XRT-30 speaker system`s MR/HF driver filled line arrays that they power)

After powering up the system and all the 275 amps go through their warming up startup self test and the green glowing LED under the tube`s lighting remains on confirming the amps are heathy, no more visual attention is given to them.DSCN0019.JPG
 
That’s the way I point them also Bill. It does get awkward stacking mono amps two deep as I prefer my system to take up as little space as practical, but for the most part I never touch them other than to put dust-covers on when I’m not going to use them for a while.
 
SaturationPt said:
That’s the way I point them also Bill. It does get awkward stacking mono amps two deep as I prefer my system to take up as little space as practical, but for the most part I never touch them other than to put dust-covers on when I’m not going to use them for a while.
Click to expand...
Also, in my living room`s 275 amp`s layout, there was convection thermal chimney considerations with the 12"X"12 wedge foam acoustical wall tiles and the concern of the 4 amp`s combined 16 KT-88`s proximity waste heat breaking down the foam if they were oriented facing to the foam tile covered wall over time, not even considering a possible Homeowner`s insurance frowned upon fire hazard, though the tiles testing results vertical flame rating is very good, if I recall from the tile`s spec. sheet.

Their current physical placement seem to keep the (4) 15 yr. old all still original tubed space heaters, that incidentally, also happen to amplify audio signals, completely issue free since installation.
 
Oh man - thank you for all of your responses! I was not set up for email notifications so apologies for not responding sooner.

I agree with everything that is said except the comment about rear wheel drive. Rear while drive is definitely the better way of setting up a car.

Ok, I am about 95% towards making a decision. My other question is this - does it make sense to use a MEN220 with tube gear? I’m thinking yes bc of time alignment, sub integration , etc but just wondering if the additional distortion is defeats the purpose.
 
fftfk said:
Oh man - thank you for all of your responses! I was not set up for email notifications so apologies for not responding sooner.

I agree with everything that is said except the comment about rear wheel drive. Rear while drive is definitely the better way of setting up a car.

Ok, I am about 95% towards making a decision. My other question is this - does it make sense to use a MEN220 with tube gear? I’m thinking yes bc of time alignment, sub integration , etc but just wondering if the additional distortion is defeats the purpose.
Click to expand...
RWD yes, but then AWD makes it even more fun!

The MEN220 certainly is useful to correct for room acoustics, regardless of whether the sound comes through a vacuum or doped silicon.
 
Just some thoughts I wanted to inject. I own a pair of MC30's, and I proudly display them because to me they are works of art not just to look at, but in functional layout. The gain and hum balance pots are on the side because they are not meant to be used constantly. I would only use the gain pot if I had a preamp that could overdrive the MC30's. I would turn it down so it couldn't, then leave it. The preamp would then control the volume. The hum pot doesn't do much unless you are using a tube preamp that gets it's power and filament supply from the MC30. It's effect can be noticed on early, low level preamp stages. The side mounting of the pots speaks for the uncommon usage of them. The tube layout follows the signal path, and maximizes it's distance from anything that could put noise into the audio. I do use a small fan mounted behind the output tubes, not to cool the tubes, but to keep tube heat off the transformers. 60yr. old non replaceable transformers should be treated accordingly. The original 1614 tubes were metal, and did not transfer as much heat to the transformers. I don't believe that Mcintosh expected these amps to be hidden in cabinets, or they would not have chrome plated the chassis and logo on the front of the amp. If your Mcintosh logo is not in front, either turn the amp around, or remove the bottom and turn it around. This rant is opinion only. Love these Mcintosh tube amps. Paul.
 
Some of us, like myself, prefer tubes not because of the way they look on the shelf or any other less important reason (frankly, I’m not a huge fan of the aesthetics or the cost or the upkeep or the added heat in summer of my MC275MKVI), but because of the way our speakers sound when driven by good tubes. This is despite whatever Bob Carver proved, or not.

Also, regarding distortion/noise, my MC275 and C22MKIV are absolutely dead quiet on my Klipschorns.
 
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I was told many years ago that NEC and other State agencies were always passing regulations to make consumer electronics safer for the owner. So I guess thats why Mcintosh is doing what they are having to do. Its like there are new rules as how amplifiers and integrated amps are to be rated specification wise. All of Macs separate power amps passed with only one integrated amp having to be re-rated at 4 ohms. It's mentioned some where else on this site. Thats why the more powerful amps at one time had to keep the out put speaker terminals covered. Commercial amps with 70,7 volt outputs had to keep their outputs covered, too. The old MC 3500 with terminals on the front would never pass in todays world. I am surprised my MC 830 doesn't have covered output terminals.
 
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