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Selling a Macintosh Amplier MC-352

My audiophile husband died last year. Now the audio system he lovingly crafted and tweaked over a number of years is in the hands of a terrible mother who has no idea what to do with it. He'd be horrified, but I just want something simple to use that I can control via my computer. He was an enthusiastic user of Audiogon, so I'm coming to those of you in "The Club" with the hope that you can help me figure out what to keep and what to pass along to someone who will appreciate it better than I can.

My first question is about the amp and preamp. The amp is a Macintosh MC-352. The preamp is a Macintosh C2200 Tube Preamp. (He also has a Macintosh MCD 205 compact disk changer, but my question is really about the amps.)  Sonos tells me that I can plug my turntable WITH a preamp into the Sonos device. (The CAPS are mine, for emphasis.) What I don't understand is whether this means I can use the preamp I have, or if I have to have a turntable that has a built-in preamp (not even sure if there is such a thing). Do I need to keep my preamp?

The second question is about the amp MC-352. I notice that there are none for sale on Audiogone. I don't know if that's because there's no real market for them, or if it's simply rare to see them for sale. I do find a price in the Bluebook for them.  So, is there a market for the MC-352?

Can any of you help?

Elise
emham
12 responses Add your response
pc997
50 posts
 

Hi Elise,

If SONOS doesn't provide phono stage, you will have to use your preamp.  Turntable -> C2200 Preamp -> Sonos

How old is the MC352?  There is one for sale in Audigon.

I am actually looking for one (depends on the price).

emham OP
3 posts
 
Hmmm. The first thing I did was to look to see if I could find any on sale at Audiogon. Couldn't find it with any combo of the search-words Macintosh/MC352 and variations. But it could be the way I'm searching. 

I have no idea how old the MC352 is. Tom kept tweaking his system, so bought various pieces as he upgraded. But we moved from Chicago to Palm Springs in 2012 and quite sure it was one of the components that came with us rather than it being bought after we moved here. I could pull everything out (it's racked) to find the serial number if that would tell you anything. Bluebook says $3500. I haven't listed it yet.

Thank you for the response about SONOS. Not sure what a "phono stage" is. However, I think I went down a rabbit hole. The message I got from SONOS that started me asking the question was, I just realized, about the SONOS:5. I have the SONOS ONE. I just went to look at the speaker to find the "line-in port" it referred to and found nothing. So I looked back at the email and noticed that it referred to the SONOS:5. It didn't occur to me that it didn't mean all SONOS devices. (I have much to learn about this stuff, it would seem.)
brianportugal's avatar
brianportugal
130 posts
 
Elise, sorry to hear about your husband. The 352 is a very sought after amp. Call Audio classics in Ny . They are the Mac knowledge center.
ericsch
751 posts
 
http://www.audioclassics.com/


emham OP
3 posts
 
brianportugal and ericsch - Thanks to both of you for the Audio Classics information. I'll contact them.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
Mcintosh probably have close to the best resale value of anything in used audio. Reliable and desirable. Kind of the Rolex of high end audio. 
czarivey
5,753 posts
 
this amp will be sold at very good $ even out of new ebay account when you start from buck.
you will sell it real GOOD.
tomcarr
1,473 posts
 
My condolences regarding your husband.
I hope you will find the answers you seek.

Tom
elevick
2,636 posts
 
Hi Elise,
These are much easier to sell if you have the boxes.  It's scary to pack these up and sell them.  Like the folks above said, don't get lowballed.  This is really nice gear.  Manuals, remote controls and boxes all add value.
1-I don't think you will want to bother using any of this through your Sonos.  They are big and cumbersome-which Sonos is not.  If you want a turntable hooked into the Sonos, it should work.  You can use any turntable and you will need a phono preamp.  This is a box that will convert the sound properly.  You can get them from anywhere from $50 to $5000.  Keep things in perspective.  Walmart has a Music Hall for $75 that will work fine.
2-Selling the gear.  You can list it on Audiogon and say "local sale only" if you are scared of shipping.  Or, you could sell it through a dealer.  I agree that Audioclassics.com is great.  Since you are from Chicago, Saturday Audio is another great store that you may have come across.  USAudiomart.com is good too.
3-Craigslist is awful-stay away.
4-Ebay can be scary unless you are experienced there.
vahes
47 posts
 
The biggest single obstacle to selling Mac power amps is the potential shipping damage even if the amp is boxed properly using Mac deigned shipping boxes, the problem is the sheer weight/mass of these little monsters and also the very fragile glass faceplates, I have seen too many shattered faceplates curtesy UPS/FedEx rough handling of these amps..
If it were me I would advertise it as local pick up only, who knows you may be lucky and find someone within reasonable driving distance
czarivey
5,753 posts
 
Use cargo airlines to ship Mac 
advice buyer to pick up directly from cargo airlines 
that is what I arrange on large and heavy units 
emham OP
3 posts
 
Thank you to all of you who've responded with advice about shipping and the Sonos hook-up. I see why Tom was so appreciative of Audiogon. Its users are a very helpful and kind bunch. It's really a wonderful little (well, perhaps not so little) community.

Tom kept the original boxes for all the equipment. And we had everything crated, anyway, when we moved from Chicago to Palm Springs. The "local pick-up only" advice is good, though I supposed it will limit the pool of buyers. But it's not as if I have to get rid of things right away. They can wait for the right buyer.

And speaking of breakage during shipping. Yes, when we moved, despite them being in original boxes and being crated, the movers actually broke the glass on the front of the preamp. Tom looked into getting it repaired, but I don't remember why that didn't happen. Perhaps because he'd have had to ship it to Macintosh, and there's the Catch-22. Anyway, the preamp has a crack in the glass. Not sure how that affects selling it, though if I can use it for the turntable I won't be selling it anyway. 

Again, many thanks to all of you who've responded. I very much appreciate your kindness and help.

Elise
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