McIntosh MC275 vs Conrad Johnson Premier 11A


Hello
I have a pair of Gallo Nucleus Reference speakers (the original version not the reference 3). I have been driving them with a Spectron Digital one amplifier. Last week I had the chance to try an old Mcintosh MC240 with my speakers and I think the sound was very sweet. Now I am considering get a tube amplifier. Any suggestions for a tube amp no more than $2K in the used market. I was looking at the McIntosh MC275 and the Conrad Johnson premier 11A. They are around 75 watts and are within my price range. The speakers are 4 ohms 90db/W/m. The rest of the system: Audible Illusions M3A preamp, Sony SACD/CD player and Sota Turntable. I listen mostly classical music and Jazz. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
fernando68

Showing 2 responses by s23chang

I think the MC275 is over-kill. Stick with MC240. Too much power is more grain and less involving sound.
Get a MC step up device. Because of my low sensitivity amp,
I had similar issue with SP-11 MKII with VDH MC cartridge ( 0.5mv )
Are you using dual mono mode on the MC240? The gain is much higher than stereo mode.