2. amps-preamps
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I finally got a Mcintosh amp

Hi All,

Well, after all the yearning & anticipation of getting My first Mcintosh piece. I have to say that my impressions of the MC 2505 were that of disappointment. The Amp itself was in excellent cosmetic shape for it's vintage. No Rust pitting, about two or three very minor dings, and a hint of of the common Bubble around the headphone jack (the VU meters were more a washed out green then Blue - could be from age??).

After the inital inspections, I preceeded to hook up my preamp, Cd Player & Paradigm Mini's. I then got out a few of my reference CD's and started my little work out....... Where's The "Airy highs and or midrange", where's the "inticingly broader soundstage" or transparency? Lastly, where the hell is the bass response (these where all the question I was asking myself)?

Per reviewers of these Vintage Mcintosh pieces. They're supposed to be "Tube-like" in sound. I don't think so...(Never hearing tubes before, I was under the impression that Tube sound is all those things and flat out more musical). Anyway, if this MC2505 is "tube-like", then My Rotel RB 976 is as well. Only My Rotel has better bass & Dynamics, even in it's 60watt X 2 capacity.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to diss Mcintosh or their costumers. I still Lust after that sound of the Mc122+Mc15+Mini Monitors, that I heard at My dealers showroom about a year and a half ago. I guess Mcintosh has gotten better in the later years of production. So, needless to say that the MC2505 went back. I'll have to save up a few more dollars to get the Mc amp I really could live with (Namely One from at least the late 90's or above).

Cheers,
Jalen
jalen01

Showing 1 response by ballanf336

ballanf336
1 posts
 
Hi , Your amp and its brother the MC-250 (which looks the same as the earlier tube amps like the MC-240 & 275) were the first solid state amps McIntosh built. The 2505 is, I beleive, the first Mac amp with the blue meters and is quite collectible for both those reasons. To compare it properly you have to listen to solid state amps of the day (it was introduced in 1967). Your Rotel is a fairly decent modern amp but I suspect your reaction may be colored by the quality of the signal you are feeding it. Neither amp will sound fabulous with a mediocre signal. If you are starting to upgrade your system you should start at the front end. I am running a pair of bridged MC-250's with an Arcam FMJ CD-23 and a McIntosh C-40 pre. They sound very good although they probably don't have the last word in resolution etc. The other neat thing about your amp is that you can take the line level output from CD player directly to the amp and control it with the gain controls. This way the amp is getting a much purer signal.
Bill
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