SPEC2man
Are we there yet?
This story is pretty good so I thought I would throw it out there.
I was looking through various threads here on AK but I keep catching myself looking at vintage gear posts. I have secretly lusted McIntosh tube gear for years but I had a less than favorable experience with a newer model MC-275. The thing was beautiful and built like an Abrams tank but I couldn't quite get the sound I was looking for. If I would have stuck it out and did a bit of tube swapping, I'm sure I could have found happiness. Still, it wasn't quite the "vintage" piece I was looking for, so I let it go and made a little cash. A couple weeks ago I saw a very special set of MC-75's come up used (local) and they had been virtually untouched. I emailed back and forth with the salesman but he was a tough nut to crack. It was last Friday when I and a friend decided to cut out of work early and take a two hour lunch to check them out. I have done a fair amount of business in this establishment over the years, so I figured I could get them to budge a bit on the price. When I got there, the place was pretty empty. There was one tall gentleman standing at the tech bench and next to him were my soon to be "new twins". I noticed the guy was picking up a McIntosh 4100 receiver so we chatted a bit. I asked him how he liked his 4100, to which he responded he liked it very much. I told him about my experience with the 4100 and told him he had a hell of a gem. It put a smile on his face and he asked me if I was there to check out the 75's. I said "sure enough" so we both had a look. The tech, who had been standing there took me through the finer details. Meanwhile the gentleman and I shared pleasantries and chatted about audio equipment. I looked at the tech and this dude and asked them both "what do you guys think?" They both gave me the thumbs up; at that moment the friend who I came with stepped in and introduced himself to the gentleman. He mentioned the two had met up in Seattle around 1991 at Hawthorn Stereo. I thought this was quite odd, but just then the salesman approached and we started "hard negotiations" which ended up with him telling me I was getting a hell of a deal already and me pulling out my credit card. I didn't even get a nickel out of the guy but when he told me they were the owner's prized MC-75's and it was with great reservation that he was selling them. They had NOS driver tubes (Telefunken) and a new set of Gold Lion KT-88s. They were in amazing shape given their age and had remained unmolested. All the caps had been replaced and several of the resistors but it was as close to original as possible. They were 100% functional and sounded amazing. The technician I have known and trusted for years, he knows Mac gear and wouldn't BS me, he advised me to jump on it. Pretty much everyone agreed, so I pulled the trigger. Just then the tall gentleman's phone rang and he bid us all a polite farewell.
Nice guy I thought ...
It was only when we were loading the amps into my truck that my friend told me I was talking to one of the former members of Nirvana. I'm not much of a boot licker but I thought it was cool to have chatted with him and I pretty much took it as a sign from God ... How could I not pull the trigger?
First track played through them: "Come as you are"
Classic .... best lunch hour EVER! I have NO remorse, even though I dropped almost $2000 which is a hell of a lot for me.
I was looking through various threads here on AK but I keep catching myself looking at vintage gear posts. I have secretly lusted McIntosh tube gear for years but I had a less than favorable experience with a newer model MC-275. The thing was beautiful and built like an Abrams tank but I couldn't quite get the sound I was looking for. If I would have stuck it out and did a bit of tube swapping, I'm sure I could have found happiness. Still, it wasn't quite the "vintage" piece I was looking for, so I let it go and made a little cash. A couple weeks ago I saw a very special set of MC-75's come up used (local) and they had been virtually untouched. I emailed back and forth with the salesman but he was a tough nut to crack. It was last Friday when I and a friend decided to cut out of work early and take a two hour lunch to check them out. I have done a fair amount of business in this establishment over the years, so I figured I could get them to budge a bit on the price. When I got there, the place was pretty empty. There was one tall gentleman standing at the tech bench and next to him were my soon to be "new twins". I noticed the guy was picking up a McIntosh 4100 receiver so we chatted a bit. I asked him how he liked his 4100, to which he responded he liked it very much. I told him about my experience with the 4100 and told him he had a hell of a gem. It put a smile on his face and he asked me if I was there to check out the 75's. I said "sure enough" so we both had a look. The tech, who had been standing there took me through the finer details. Meanwhile the gentleman and I shared pleasantries and chatted about audio equipment. I looked at the tech and this dude and asked them both "what do you guys think?" They both gave me the thumbs up; at that moment the friend who I came with stepped in and introduced himself to the gentleman. He mentioned the two had met up in Seattle around 1991 at Hawthorn Stereo. I thought this was quite odd, but just then the salesman approached and we started "hard negotiations" which ended up with him telling me I was getting a hell of a deal already and me pulling out my credit card. I didn't even get a nickel out of the guy but when he told me they were the owner's prized MC-75's and it was with great reservation that he was selling them. They had NOS driver tubes (Telefunken) and a new set of Gold Lion KT-88s. They were in amazing shape given their age and had remained unmolested. All the caps had been replaced and several of the resistors but it was as close to original as possible. They were 100% functional and sounded amazing. The technician I have known and trusted for years, he knows Mac gear and wouldn't BS me, he advised me to jump on it. Pretty much everyone agreed, so I pulled the trigger. Just then the tall gentleman's phone rang and he bid us all a polite farewell.
Nice guy I thought ...
It was only when we were loading the amps into my truck that my friend told me I was talking to one of the former members of Nirvana. I'm not much of a boot licker but I thought it was cool to have chatted with him and I pretty much took it as a sign from God ... How could I not pull the trigger?
First track played through them: "Come as you are"
Classic .... best lunch hour EVER! I have NO remorse, even though I dropped almost $2000 which is a hell of a lot for me.
