McIntosh going Mainstream

Where do you get this information?

 

Do they make tuners?

 

no damnit..hopefully in the future. they said never to having a turntable, and voila they now have 1, which is made by gold note in italy to bryston's specs.

so, never say never...

 

Not necessarily but I would be extra leery of buying anything that runs on firmware. Those seem to have the most issues.

Basic amplifiers should never be a problem.

 

Of course without firmware you can't have a DAC and any number of other modern conveniences. I do like my MC275, but it needs a preamp to go with it, and the C2500 has a ton of nice features that require a bit more technology baked in.

 

Personally I much prefer individual controls rather than one or two multifunction controls, any day of the week. The chronic problems with firmware-dependent equipment is a great concern.

Once again, the old guard at McIntosh would never allow new technology out the door before it had been deemed 100% fail safe - and even then, a few quirks still made it out into the field. At least the McIntosh Clinics helped tremendously getting feedback directly from the user and the few issues that were brought to light and promptly addressed - right back to the production line from that point forward.

 

I agree to some extent. I'd considered the C22, but then I wanted to integrate it into a home theater AVR, which I couldn't even do with that preamp (at least not easily) because it doesn't have a passthru. Then I'd need the separate DAC as well. It just wasn't cost-effective, for me. For what it's worth mine had the latest firmware out-of-the-box and everything has worked perfectly for me.

 

I'm always amazed at how some people go out of their minds after watching this video I posted on my YouTube channel showing the assembly of a Mac 275 tube amp. If anybody says ANYTHING about tube components, the trolls trundle their way from under the bridge and the poop storm ensues. Wish I could monetize this stuff as it's the most watched video on my channel to date. Enjoy the LED light show:

 

Such vitriol! Go figure. Look at the comments on any YouTube video Michael Fremer posts.

The owner of a local shop pointed out this video to me as an example of how low-quality these are, citing the machine-wound transformers and plug-in bindings posts (as opposed to soldered) as examples. He's also a big fan of vintage gear, but frankly I doubt amps manufactured in the 60s were built to a higher standard than this. And this is probably a lot more reliable. To each his own.

And, by the way, these sound really good. Which is what matters to me.

 

I would say the trolls don't know what they are talking about but the narrator of the video mentions "warm" tube sound.
Tubes are at their best when they are neutral yet bring about a more natural spacious sound with midrange bloom. Hardly warm.

 

Actually there is plenty of stupidity from both sides in the comments. The Value Police always feel the need to crap on any thread praising anything that they believe they can do at a lesser cost. Then there are the "tubes are always better" folks that are almost as silly. I have heard tube power amps that are truly special - I believe the latest ARC Reference amps are among them and the 275 certainly holds that distinction with many.

Only think I can unilaterally agree with is that the green LED's are obnoxious as hell and need a dimmer that can go to zero. I wonder if the little dimmer stickers could be applied to them

 

The LEDs can be turned off.

 

I saw them in person and they aren't that bad.
I wonder if the LEDs would light up on other amplfiers?

 

Probably. They're controlled by a 3.5mm trigger cable. A mono cable and they'll be off, stereo they'll be on. The McIntosh preamps can control them with the meter light function as well. Meter lights off, LEDs also off and vice-versa.

 

That would make them a lot easier to live with.