Solid state vs tube Mac amps

[Gibson 2021]

The solid state is cheaper, you can get a MC152 for $5,000 or around the same wattage for a tube MC1502 for $11,000. What is your thoughts on the tube vs solid state Mac's and how much power when you recommend for B&W or Focal tower speakers if your getting one of the Mac tube amps?

 

[twiiii]

Well having owned both types since the early 60's with the speakers I have chosen and being a natural penny pincher I'll stick with SS. Though with some current speakers and previous speakers out there the little 275 and the 2301 sound mighty nice and better than 601's and and 301's. But thats a matter of the speakers chosen. As I tri amp to get the best woofer control removing the passive networks and using electronic crossovers. I use direct coupled MAC amps in addition. Two 207's. for the HT speakers. For the stereo speakers which are 4 ohms using passive crossovers I chose the MC 830's because though rated at 300 for 8 ohms and 480 for 4 ohms they can put out over 600 watts at 4 ohms. I have seen the meters above 600 watts with out the power guard coming on yet. Though I very seldom listen at levels approaching 100 watts each. Amps sound better when not pushed to their limits. I also prefer mono amps most of the time versus Stereo amps be they tube running mono or SS running mono. My favorite MAC amp for a very long time was a 3500. It sounded much better than the early SS stuff. I guess it was a MC 2500 was the first SS Mac amp that sounded as good or better than two 3500's. It was much cheaper to maintain, too. I wanted to bi amp at the time and purchasing 4 3500's was just to much for me in 1969 as a college student. Though I installed two systems with 3500's in homes and the amps made the same speakers I owned sound so alive and dynamic which my 275's just could not equal at any power level with in their capabilities. (under 90 watts)

 

[SaturationPt]

Solid state is cheaper to buy and own, tubes are prettier.

Some like the sound of tubes, many of those people are looking for more of a vintage tube sound than modern tubes, it's all about taste and what you want to hear.

If you're lucky enough to be somewhere that you can audition both that is what you should do first.

 

[62caddy]

The solid state is cheaper, you can get a MC152 for $5,000 or around the same wattage for a tube MC1502 for $11,000. What is your thoughts on the tube vs solid state Mac's and how much power when you recommend for B&W or Focal tower speakers if your getting one of the Mac tube amps?

In a nutshell, the price difference is due to the extra cost of keeping older technology going that also has a much smaller market. From a watts-to-dollar standpoint, SS is far less expensive. Whether one sounds better than the other is a matter of lively debate.