McIntosh MA2275 - opinions

I own both the MA 2275 and the PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium.  The MA2275 is head and shoulders above the PrimaLuna.  I’m not knocking the PrimaLuna in the least.  It’s excellent.  If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t own it.   I’ve had some amazing listening sessions on both.  As for the MA2275 being veiled, nope.  It’s simply not.  It’s big.  It’s refined.  It’s  smooth.   As for the MA2275 phono preamp: it’s excellent but it’s MM or HOMC only.  I’ve used the reproduction SUT from Audio Classics for MC carts.  It’s very good but it’s not as good as a dedicated pre.  I’ve settled on the Manley Chinook and use one on both the Mac and PL systems.  

@bikesandguitars

No offense intended but reading your impressions of your MA2275 makes me wonder which one of our experiences was formed on a baseline MA2275. Even those in the know internally at McIntosh look away when discussing this amp. McIntosh rarely discontinues a good product, they evolve it, which wasn’t the case for the 2275.

its a beautiful piece of gear, I only wish it sounded as good as it looked. The damping factor of a run of the mill consumer grade receiver and a veil that would never lift were hallmarks of my ownership experience many years ago. It wasn’t terrible, it just didn’t fulfill its potential. If the OP were to sell a C22/275 combo and purchase a 2275 he/she would take a handfull of pills immediately.

I’ve never heard the 2275, but having owned a ton of Mac gear, I do concur that your 22/275 set up would satisfy most anyone.  It’s an absolutely stunning combo.  
I have a large collection of gear and rotate in and out all the time. There are a few Mac pieces I’d wish I’d kept.  If I had a 22/275 set, I certainly wouldn’t let go of it.  
You might kick yourself if you do. 

The Cayin A88T integrated tube amp was mentioned. I own/love one.

Interestingly, design goal was to sound like McIntosh 275. Designed in Germany, made in China, I took the bottom off, incredibly beautiful layout/construction/quality. 
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review by John Potis
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/cayin/a88t.html

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also found this:

Cayin A-88T MK 3 Integrated Amplifier

Another gorgeous, hand-crafted tube piece from Cayin, this one designed to deliver the sound of the classic McIntosh MC-275. Like it's brothers the A-50T and A-70T, this amp includes remote control switching between ultralinear and triode operation. The craftsmanship is absolutely first-rate, featuring point-to-point wiring, and each unit is hand-numbered and signed by an inspector.

This piece was hand-built with extreme attention to detail, including point-to-point wiring. Point-to-point was the way that amps used to be wired back in the 1950s and '60s when cost was not the primary objective. Nowadays, most everything contains circuit boards instead of this point-to-point wiring, which is much more dependable and better performing. The bottom line is that point-to-point wiring sounds better.

It's one of the main reasons why these Cayin pieces sound like the classic tube gear from Marantz and McIntosh. Anymore, products that feature point-to-point wiring cost a fortune, or they feature sub-par workmanship. You simply are not going to find craftsmanship like with this Cayin gear for anywhere close to this price.

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I needed 16 ohm taps, so got MK1, unfortunately bias adj is internal. MK2,3 omit 16 ohm taps but add easy external bias adj. which I would love to have. I'm about to go back/forth 6550/KT88's just for fun.

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I sold my SS McIntosh 2250 amp and SS McIntosh C28 preamp to get the Cayin for remote volume/tubes/direct line level inputs, and for phono and FM via neew to me McIntosh tube tuner/preamp mx110z.