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To monoblock or not to monoblock McIntosh MC275's

Hi everyone,

I'd appreciate your opinions on the matter. I currently own an MC275 MK IV, running McIntosh XRT 28's. It sounds great - even though the XRT's can handle up 1200W and the MC275's output 80-90W.

I got my hands on a NOS (still sealed) MK IV, and I'm debating whether I should keep it and run as them monoblocks. The reason I'm not trying it personally, is because I don't want to open that new one that's still sealed.

So my dilemma is -  would running 2 MC275 as monoblocks make a BIG difference in sound quality?

I'm sure it will be louder, but for the sake of the argument, if my sound is now 100% - in your opinion
(hypothetically speaking) will it improve it to say 103% or 120%? Will I notice a big enough difference?

Thank you!
yyman23
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,532 posts
 

What is the impedance of your speakers, not the average but the low points?  I think that the taps on the 275 are 16, 8 and 4 ohms when used in stereo mode but 8, 4 and 2 ohms in monoblock  mode. So, if you have speakers like mine that have a very low impedance at certain points the monoblocks might be the way to go.  If your speakers do not dip down to 2 ohms or so, that's one less reason to go the monoblock route.

Give McIntosh a call and see what they think.

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,741 posts
 
90%
some amps sound worse strapped for mono
i would do same with a 240 but in my vintage system strapped 240 sounded worse
...... but... the only way to really know is do it.
you could of course do a mono test
some excellent mono recordings out there...

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,408 posts
 
Monoblocks are cool in that you can place each amp right behind it’s own speaker, using long balanced interconnects and short speaker cables, the best way to hook things up, feel some people.
yyman23 OP
145 posts
 
Thank you everyone. These are some good tips. However, someone offered me a really good price for the second one and apparently it was a MK V, not a MK IV, so I decided to sell it.

dentdog's avatar
dentdog
469 posts
 
I strapped a pair of MC 275s onto some JBl 250 Pyramids thirty or so years ago. Didn't really help. 
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