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McIntosh MC275

Hi all. I recently purchased a used MC275 in very good condition. The original owner said he had it service not too long ago. The amp appears to work fine but the tubes are very dim. I had them tested and they are fine with about 1/2 life still on them. Not sure what to do. Do I need new tubes or is there an adjustment I need to make? If I need new tubes then could someone give me an idea what to get and where to place them on the amp (which slots)? I want quality tubes so please, ANY guidance would be appreciated. Thank you
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Showing 2 responses by jbeckley42

jbeckley42
5 posts
 
I own the mc275 vi version and love it.  Mine has the LED tube indicators, but I don’t believe yours does.  Ron Cornelius at Mcintosh told me that on average the 275 tubes last between 5,000-10,000 hours...so if you like the sounds of the tubes you have, they should still have lots of life.  

As as far as tubes, I’ve swapped out a few tubes.  I really like the golden lion kt-88, they seem to have more body and bass.  I tried the newer tung-sols in the 12ax7 spots, but didn’t care for them.  They sound thin.  My current setup (that I like the best so far), 1 Golden lion 12ax7 inverter spot, with 2 RCA 12ax7 followed by rca blackplates 12at7.  However, everyone’s ears and stereo is different. Good luck!
jbeckley42
5 posts
 
If you really want to see the tubes glow, you can turn up your preamp as loud as it can go, and the power tubes do tend to glow a little brighter.

Seriously though, there are many amps and preamp out there that the tubes barely glow.  I have a Berning TF-10 that you can barely tell the tubes are on.  Tube brightness is no indication if they are "good" or not.  

2112oracle:  Have you tried any other KT-88's?  I was curious about the black treasures, but the cost at the time was a little steep for me.
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