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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

Showing 1 response by tomcy6

tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,612 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.

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