I know nothing about the Moscode amps but I've had an MC2200 for a while, driving a pair of Martin Logan Aerius i speakers and I find it very warm sounding and quite detailed. It also has a decent soundstage. My sources are exclusively digital. A couple of things to keep in mind with any vintage amp in general and the MC2200 in particular; make sure the components like the capacitors and transistors are checked (or replaced) and are in spec, and try the different speaker taps - 2 ohm, 4ohm, 8 ohm, etc. The output impedance and the damping factors vary quite a bit across those taps and that affects the sound more than you'd expect. I'm quite happy with mine especially since the amp appears to have the ability to handle the very demanding impedance characteristics of the electrostatic speakers with ease and can drive them at ear bleeding volumes without breaking a sweat. You don't hear much about the MC2200 model because they didn't make/sell in large numbers and they don't have the sexy meters that most people look for in the McIntosh products. Enjoy.
McIntosh Solid State MC2200 Vs Moscode 300 Hybrid tube amp
First off I’m about one year into my audiophile adventure and still just getting my feet wet. My setup is Klipsch Fortes powered by a Moscode 300 I scored for $150. I’m listening to lots of vinyl and I’ve been very happy with this, but, probably due to too much internet perusing, been lusting after McIntosh gear. Last week I found a deal on an McIntosh MC2200 I couldn’t resist (though I paid 4x more for it). Well... after a week I reconnected the Moscode tonight to confirm my suspicions, I prefer the cheap tubes. The difference is so subtle, it could certainly be purely psychological, I hesitate to try to quantify it; but if I were I’d say the Moscode was more lively, more dimensional, more engaging, and perhaps a bit brighter. I know McIntosh is often described as transparent and honestly I only hear the difference on vinyl, on CDs they sound pretty similar. So maybe it’s just that my ear is more accustom to the Moscode flavor and if I gave the MC2200 more time I’d get use to it? Or maybe that particular McIntosh model doesn’t have as good a sound as some others? Or maybe I’m underestimating the value of the Moscode just because I paid so little for it? (I’ve also read in places that the Moscode, being a hybrid, didn’t have a true tube sound.) Am I crazy? Spending too much time reading vintage audio blogs? :-p
One more thing, the Moscode has a very slight buzz coming from the amp that I can’t get rid of. I’ve got it hooked up to a fancy "fuzzbuster" power source which helped a lot, but it still bugs me. Mostly I can only hear it when no music is playing, but I think it is having a kind of psychological effect. The McIntosh is dead silent.
One more thing, the Moscode has a very slight buzz coming from the amp that I can’t get rid of. I’ve got it hooked up to a fancy "fuzzbuster" power source which helped a lot, but it still bugs me. Mostly I can only hear it when no music is playing, but I think it is having a kind of psychological effect. The McIntosh is dead silent.
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