Poll: What Was Your First McIntosh?
- Thread starter Victor
- Start date
TD166_MKII
New Member
MAC4100 Beautiful piece of machinery (purchased used, $600)
MC 152
As a kid, I had several friends whose dad's had Mcintosh and other high end systems and was always amazed at the sound but I just couldn't justify spending the cost of new Mac gear... Then in the mid 1990s my wife had a consignment store and she used to travel from thrift shop to thrift shop looking for like-new clothing for her shop. There was a thrift shop south of Baltimore, MD that used to commonly get decent gear and typically they would price everything at $35 if they couldn't test it. I found a MR77 tuner with broken glass for the customary $35 and once I replaced the glass, fell in love with the look and sound of it. I got a lot of $35 bargains from that shop including Sansui TU-717, Tandberg receiver, Pioneer receiver among others.
MRL_Audio
RIP 2022
Always looked at Mac gear like this. Looks nice. Sounds great. Too much money for me. Move along to something more within my budget. Fast forward 30 years and I am back at it. Lusting after Mac gear. Bought a C32 from a member here. It was originally to mate with a pair of NOSValves VRD mono-blocks. Sounded fabulous. Marriage made in heaven as they say. That sat for a month and I thought I should get a nice Mac tuner. Again, turned to AK and picked up a nice MR74. Another month goes along and what do I see on CL? A very nice, fully recapped, ready to go MC2205. The VRD's have been sitting since then and I am a happy McIntosh user now.
MC-2505 & C-28 purchased New in1975. Still in use today! Mc-2505 all Original while the C-28 has had Terry D. do some upgrade/maintenance work on it a few years ago.
. Also, I have had the Vol. Control replaced once by Macintosh 2yrs. after purchase & again in 2017 by Terry & it is starting to act up again! This has always been a downfall of the C-28.
. Also, I have had the Vol. Control replaced once by Macintosh 2yrs. after purchase & again in 2017 by Terry & it is starting to act up again! This has always been a downfall of the C-28.
Here are a couple of work-arounds you might try (if you have not already) to preserve your volume control.
One is to use a power strip to turn the preamp on and off so that you don't need to rotate the volume control every time you switch on and off.
The other is to lower the sensitivity of the MC2505 with the gain controls to force you to use the C28 volume control in a generally more clockwise position where channel tracking is (may be) better.
Logan_Nolag
Active Member
My first Mc piece was a used MC2125 about 12 years ago. Kept it for a few years eventually trading it for an MC7300 then traded that for the MC302 I'm currently using.
My second McIntosh piece was a C712 which I then traded for a C220 eventually traded that for a C47 and finally traded that one for a C2700.
I also owned a D100 and then a D150 before upgrading to the C47.
Finally I briefly owned a MC58 and then an MC7205 neither of which I still own.
Right now I only have 2 McIntosh pieces the MC302 and the C2700 and I have no huge urge to upgrade anytime soon although I'm very tempted to trade my MC302 for a MC452 or MC462.
My second McIntosh piece was a C712 which I then traded for a C220 eventually traded that for a C47 and finally traded that one for a C2700.
I also owned a D100 and then a D150 before upgrading to the C47.
Finally I briefly owned a MC58 and then an MC7205 neither of which I still own.
Right now I only have 2 McIntosh pieces the MC302 and the C2700 and I have no huge urge to upgrade anytime soon although I'm very tempted to trade my MC302 for a MC452 or MC462.
Westy56
A symphony of paradox
thanks for the advice! will try it out.
jek57
Active Member
I worked at Macintosh in the late 70s for a brief time and my mom worked there for many years I was like a kid in a candy store but could never afford one but about 10 years ago found a Mx113 on ebay for 400.00 to go with my adcom 545 then last year last year got the wife's blessing to buy a new Mc152 as a retirement gift
Found an MR-55 tuna at a yard sale back in ‘79 ... still regret selling that.
Grew up near McIntosh facility in 60’s ... like many here, didn’t have the $ though greatly admired.
Grew up near McIntosh facility in 60’s ... like many here, didn’t have the $ though greatly admired.
trainbuftony
Electron Herder
I found a MC30 In Paradise CA, and it had been left out to rust at some point, then restored by painting with a brush! They painted the chrome gray and everything else black. That was before the kid I bought it from got his grimy hands on it and began drilling holes in the chasis to convert it to a guitar amp. (Who cares if it doesn't have the gain, and doesn't actually work) it had 3 random holes blasted carelessly through the chassis for a switch, light, and 1/4" jack.
They made no effort to repair anything well during the life of the amp. What a complete disaster, humans can certainly can destroy things...
Anyway, the story gets better.
I found a mate for that amplifier and I totally and completely overhauled both of them into brand new McIntosh 30s. Boards, chassis, sockets, I replaced it all, the only original components are the proprietary transformers. I'm pretty happy with the results. They do their rated specs, and deliver 42 watts before clipping. Absolutely gorgeous!
Before
After.
They made no effort to repair anything well during the life of the amp. What a complete disaster, humans can certainly can destroy things...
Anyway, the story gets better.
I found a mate for that amplifier and I totally and completely overhauled both of them into brand new McIntosh 30s. Boards, chassis, sockets, I replaced it all, the only original components are the proprietary transformers. I'm pretty happy with the results. They do their rated specs, and deliver 42 watts before clipping. Absolutely gorgeous!
Before
After.
Take that drilled bottom panel to a sheet-metal shop to have them bend a new piece, shouldn't be very expensive. Just be sure to tell them to not duplicate the three holes, ...