dundurnish
New Member
Hi there,
I mostly read your awesome posts on here but thought I'd post about my current dilemma/good fortune.
I've been running a McIntosh MC2105 power amp with a C28 preamp, which had issues and that I've sent packing, and I have on loan a lovely Lladro Design Group tube preamp. I'm running an Harman Kardon Citation 15 tuner and a Thorens 166mkii turntable which I run through an Edwards Audio phono preamp, with Duntech Opal speakers, which I found in near mint condition at the curb, thanks to one of my neighbours. I have a Nakamichi OMS-A4 CD player. It's a pretty great set-up, but I've been noticing its limitations, especially in bass and power. A knowledgeable friend stopped by and told me my speakers, though great, are simply too small for the room, and after thinking about it I agreed.
I started shopping for bigger speakers and after a couple of weeks tripped upon a pair of local ADS 910s in 9/10 condition with stands, pristine grills, and the circuit board that lights up vertically in red on the front, from the original owner, a retiree downsizing from a big house to a cottage a third of the size. He and his wife had faced a lot of terrible offers and no-shows at their rural property for what looked to be a terrific pair of speakers that don't come up for sale around here, at least very often. I floated a respectable but much lower offer than their asking, which seemed high to me, and they accepted. I've learned to ask more questions when buying vintage items, so I asked if they had any other equipment for sale. It turns out they had an umolested Yamaha M-2 power amp, a Thorens 126mkiii turntable with the original cart and a Denon MC cart and a Denon HD-500 head amp. They gave me all of the equipment, all in spectacular condition, including high-end speaker wires, manuals, flyers, and the catalogues and magazines they used to research the equipment back in about 1980 and ephemera (original brushes, all but the boxes), all for the original price they were asking for the speakers. They wanted the units to go to a good home, not to a flipper, which I am not, though I don't know what I'll do with two Thorens, or even which is better of the two. The Thorens is the only unit that appears to require a tune-up.
Long story short I have two quite good power amps in the M-2 and 2105, an I'm going to have to decide which to (use in my main system (used 90% of the time, mainly with vinyl) and I was hoping for thoughts from someone who might have faced the same good dilemma or who has opinions. The Yamaha, my first, has what I understand is "natural sound," at 245 wpc at 8 ohms. The 910s are 4 ohms, so I don't know what kind of power they put out (math is hard). The 2105 puts out 105 wpc at 8 ohms, and again unsure at 4 ohms.
So far I've tried out the M-2 with the 910s and the Nak player, which sounds pretty phenomenal, though the set-up in the room is not ideal and I've yet to hoist them up on their stands. Note the stands aren't the original cast aluminum gimbling type but short, fat, 1-foot stands that fit the speakers well. (Any help in finding a pair of original stands much appreciated.) I just can't lift the speakers onto the speakers on my own.
I know I'm capable of gathering my own impressions by trial and error, but I can't always distinguish subtle differences in sound, likely to to my age and years of listening to rock. Almost all of these components weigh about 100 lb apiece, so there's that. I feel an obligation to the original owner to preserve this equipment as best as possible without bumping it around much.
Would anyone have an opinion or share their insights? If I've posted this in the wrong forum, please don't hesitate to move it or suggest a form where I might move it to. I posted it in Yamaha because the Yamaha is the newest and so far most impressive piece of kit, without having gone back to the Mc.
Any insights on an ideal preamp are welcome, too. The Lladro is gorgeous but expensive and I can't stack it. I'm not going back to the C28, which I've heard from all corners is not a top of the line preamp despite the McIntosh name. I've read the C-4 is the appropriate match for the M-2.
And I'll say that one of the M-2 and the 2105 will become my main setup with the ADS and I might relegate the runner up with the Duntechs to duty in a smaller but still good-sized room.
Thanks! And apologies for going on at such lenght.
I mostly read your awesome posts on here but thought I'd post about my current dilemma/good fortune.
I've been running a McIntosh MC2105 power amp with a C28 preamp, which had issues and that I've sent packing, and I have on loan a lovely Lladro Design Group tube preamp. I'm running an Harman Kardon Citation 15 tuner and a Thorens 166mkii turntable which I run through an Edwards Audio phono preamp, with Duntech Opal speakers, which I found in near mint condition at the curb, thanks to one of my neighbours. I have a Nakamichi OMS-A4 CD player. It's a pretty great set-up, but I've been noticing its limitations, especially in bass and power. A knowledgeable friend stopped by and told me my speakers, though great, are simply too small for the room, and after thinking about it I agreed.
I started shopping for bigger speakers and after a couple of weeks tripped upon a pair of local ADS 910s in 9/10 condition with stands, pristine grills, and the circuit board that lights up vertically in red on the front, from the original owner, a retiree downsizing from a big house to a cottage a third of the size. He and his wife had faced a lot of terrible offers and no-shows at their rural property for what looked to be a terrific pair of speakers that don't come up for sale around here, at least very often. I floated a respectable but much lower offer than their asking, which seemed high to me, and they accepted. I've learned to ask more questions when buying vintage items, so I asked if they had any other equipment for sale. It turns out they had an umolested Yamaha M-2 power amp, a Thorens 126mkiii turntable with the original cart and a Denon MC cart and a Denon HD-500 head amp. They gave me all of the equipment, all in spectacular condition, including high-end speaker wires, manuals, flyers, and the catalogues and magazines they used to research the equipment back in about 1980 and ephemera (original brushes, all but the boxes), all for the original price they were asking for the speakers. They wanted the units to go to a good home, not to a flipper, which I am not, though I don't know what I'll do with two Thorens, or even which is better of the two. The Thorens is the only unit that appears to require a tune-up.
Long story short I have two quite good power amps in the M-2 and 2105, an I'm going to have to decide which to (use in my main system (used 90% of the time, mainly with vinyl) and I was hoping for thoughts from someone who might have faced the same good dilemma or who has opinions. The Yamaha, my first, has what I understand is "natural sound," at 245 wpc at 8 ohms. The 910s are 4 ohms, so I don't know what kind of power they put out (math is hard). The 2105 puts out 105 wpc at 8 ohms, and again unsure at 4 ohms.
So far I've tried out the M-2 with the 910s and the Nak player, which sounds pretty phenomenal, though the set-up in the room is not ideal and I've yet to hoist them up on their stands. Note the stands aren't the original cast aluminum gimbling type but short, fat, 1-foot stands that fit the speakers well. (Any help in finding a pair of original stands much appreciated.) I just can't lift the speakers onto the speakers on my own.
I know I'm capable of gathering my own impressions by trial and error, but I can't always distinguish subtle differences in sound, likely to to my age and years of listening to rock. Almost all of these components weigh about 100 lb apiece, so there's that. I feel an obligation to the original owner to preserve this equipment as best as possible without bumping it around much.
Would anyone have an opinion or share their insights? If I've posted this in the wrong forum, please don't hesitate to move it or suggest a form where I might move it to. I posted it in Yamaha because the Yamaha is the newest and so far most impressive piece of kit, without having gone back to the Mc.
Any insights on an ideal preamp are welcome, too. The Lladro is gorgeous but expensive and I can't stack it. I'm not going back to the C28, which I've heard from all corners is not a top of the line preamp despite the McIntosh name. I've read the C-4 is the appropriate match for the M-2.
And I'll say that one of the M-2 and the 2105 will become my main setup with the ADS and I might relegate the runner up with the Duntechs to duty in a smaller but still good-sized room.
Thanks! And apologies for going on at such lenght.
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