leeputmanjr
New Member
I recently got the hankering to upgrade my main system. Purchased with lawn-mowing money back in '79 or so, my JVC receiver and Turntable were still perfectly functional, but I've been looking for a vintage McIntosh setup for a few years. Recently I found a deal, and I just "had to" pull the trigger!
I got a C-26 pre-amp, with a 250 amp, and a Marantz 6170 turntable with a nice Ortofon cartridge. I'm still running my old Sansui S-930 speakers, which sound damn nice on this setup.
My old JVC setup will get demoted to garage duty, and this new setup in my home office will get a fair bit of use!
Being new to McIntosh equipment, I have many questions...and compared to more modern systems, the setup seemed kind of odd. The 250 is supposed to feed back into the C-26 to power both the main & remote speaker circuits (?), as well as the headphone jack. When I set it up this way, I got a whole lotta nuthin'...but if I just run the output off the 250, it seems to work fine. How sensitive to correct polarity are these old systems? Did I reverse some wires, or am I hoping for too easy of a fix? The wood case is missing it's feet, are there replacements available? If I want to have this stuff serviced, can I still send it into McIntosh? If not, can anyone recommend a shop in Chicagoland?
The 250 seems like a really good amp. It doesn't have the "look" of the C-26, which I think is astoundingly beautiful; nor does it have tubes, which I was kinda groovin for...but darned if this one doesn't work really well! It's got some dings & rust and it's missing it's rubber feet, but it seems like a real trooper.
The C-26 has a case in pretty good condition, the glass front has a few small bubbles around the PanLoc buttons, but is otherwise clear & in good condition. It lights up beautifully, and I get zero static from any knobs or switches. It has a bit of a "thunk" on start up, but otherwise the sound feels really clear & deep.
I'm in love with the look, feel, and sound, and I fear I may have done nothing more than set myself on a long & expensive journey...but at least I'll enjoy the music along the way!
Thanks for reading my first post,
-Lee
