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Speaker Recomendation for MC2102 tube amp

jupiterfx

jupiterfx

Active Member
I just bought the MC2102 (100w/ch) tube amp and am using the MX119 as the pre-amp. can anyone highly recommend a speaker pair for a 2-channel listening room via this amp. I have tried B&W's Nautilus 802's which were nice but too big, power hungry, and am now considering the McIntosh XLS340's. thanks, Michael
 
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Michael,
Welcome, congrats on your MC2102.

I'm surprised this went all day with no responces. I don't have a MC2102 but my dealer is trying to sell his demo and I spent a lot of time listening to it. My thoughts are this amp is very neutral and works well with any speakers, this may be why no responces.

The speakers I listened to threw the MC2102 were:
Dynaudio Contour S5.4 and S3.4, B&W 800 line speakers, Magneplanar MG3.6, McIntosh LS340 and my old KEF C95s. The MC2102 worked well with all of these (it was pushing close to 100 watts on the Magneplaners). I guess the moral of the story is find a speaker you like and I'm sure the MC2102 will like them too.

Victor
 
What he said.....

About the only consideration I'd make with a 2102 would be the size of the room and the efficiency of the speaker that fits your needs. Since you can match almost any speaker to this amp, you'll be in pretty good shape no matter what sizzles your ears.

I'm eyeing a 2102 myself but find that the older MC-225s I use now are quite acceptable with the Quad ESL 988s, JBL 4425s and Altec Valencias I rotate through my system.

Cheers,

David
 
Magnepan vs. Martin Logan vs. a Navajo mud toy

thanks for your input Victor. i have not heard the Magneplanar 3.6 yet. i have heard the martin logan's, are they similar in sound. i was told that the logans required alot of power to run them and since the tube amp was low on this it might not be the best choice. i thought the sound was amazing though. very etherial and larger than life, kinda thing you might cry in front of when you heard a moving sonata. i was also trying to get away from having to sit in one chair and have flexibility to move around the room to get the on-stage effect. i liked the XLS340's but they did lack in brightness, seemed a little warm, although i feel the urge to stay with mcintosh since i have a whole system built using them already (home theater), perhaps that's me just being supersticious.
 
Sir David

dshoaf said:
About the only consideration I'd make with a 2102 would be the size of the room and the efficiency of the speaker that fits your needs. Since you can match almost any speaker to this amp, you'll be in pretty good shape no matter what sizzles your ears.

I'm eyeing a 2102 myself but find that the older MC-225s I use now are quite acceptable with the Quad ESL 988s, JBL 4425s and Altec Valencias I rotate through my system.

Cheers,

David
Click to expand...
yes i will check those out. the room is about 20x20 and has vaulted ceilings. i dont any dealers for those speakers around here but i will check out sacramento or san francisco which are the biggest cities around here.
 
And now for something completely different...

Here's a completely different idea. If you liked the MLs that much, you could buy a used pair of their CLS IIs, which IMHO are the best MLs. They have little bass, but with the cost savings you can also buy a pair of subs (cheap now and upgrade later).

Electrostatics get hard to drive mostly in the bass region. The 2102 should sound great on the top. I can't remember any more, but CLS IIs with some particular sub were at one time an A rated system.

All that, and the CLSs are fantastic looking speakers!

PS: I'm in Incline, where at Tahoe are you?
 
sub therapy

if i used the logan clsII's with a sub can that be ran thru my MX119 if it already uses a sub for the home theater in the next room.
ps. yes, we live in Brockway but just sold and are moving out on Old County Rd, as we will now have a garage, but lost the lake view... I work in Incline, it will be a nice drive..
 
the sensitivity of the McIntosh XLS340's seems low in specs. would this have an effect on the sharpness and imaging of the speaker. some of the other speaker sof there are rated at 92 and 94. is this not like wine?
 
The 340s would be 91 or 92 Db if they were measured like most speakers are. This is an anechoic chamber measurement. Compared to say an 803 B&W the 340s would be the same sensitivity. The XLS 340s are 8 ohm where the previous McIntosh LS speakers were 4 ohm.

Ron-C
 
OHm mani padme ohmmm...

does the change in ohms change the sound. what is the anechoic chamber measurement and why don't others use it?
 
Eight ohm speakers are not so wire critical. 8 ohms is the next design trend where this is a request from the Export market.
Ohmage has nothing to do with the sound as long as the designer uses unique driver designs which we do. Very few speaker companies have an anechoic chamber. The trick to get better efficiency numbers is to rate a speaker 8 ohms while it is 4 or less and measure in room using a fast pulse. This is when the advertising department trumps the engineers..Ha!

Ron-C
 
XLS vs. LS 360's

Ron, can you briefly say what sound difference i might experience b/t the LS and XLS 360's. I really appreciate your input.
 
ss pre-amp with tube amp

Ron also am i going to lose the tube sound by using my existing MX119 as the pre-amp on the MC2102? do i need to use balanced RCA's for over a 1m run. and can you recommend any that are worth the money.
 
Dali

My vote is with Lindstrom. The Dali MS5s are magnificent. If you can get about 10 feet away from them, there are no speakers, only music.
 
Jupiter,

Are you running the MC2102 off of the B-Zone stereo outputs of the MX119? If so this is unballanced only. I use Canare RCA cables for long runs which use their quad mic cable which is designed for long runs.

Ron-C
 
yes i am running it off the zone-b. will i lose anything with this and should i keep the run short then since its unbalanced only? also can you briefly say what sound difference i might experience b/t the LS and XLS 360's. I really appreciate your input.
 
jupiter,

The new XLS360 uses a new version of the 5 tweeter array which is slightly airier than the the one in the LS360. The LS360 will go slightly lower than the XLS360 but the XLS has a slightly warmer balance.
The weight of the XLS360 is just over half the weight of the LS360 due to the advanced alumunum enclosure on the XLS.

Ron-C
 
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