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McIntosh and "hard" music?

I've been interested in Mac gear lately, and am considering picking up a piece - I'm MC150, MC202, MC252, MC275, or MA6900 at this point. I've only had the chance to hear the MC275 monos, MA6900, MA6300, and MC302 very briefly in showrooms. I found they have a really smooth, easy to listen to sound, and I can see the appeal, but maybe lacking too much in detail/focus/separation for me. I might be able to get past that, but every time I hear this gear or read a review the associated music is somewhat soft and romantic -- classical, jazz, opera, acoustic/vocal oriented stuff. I like a warm, emotive sound (Sonus Faber fan), but I also listen to a lot of rock, electronica, R&B, hip-hop (*gasp*).
eugene81
nmmusicman
276 posts
 
I have the MC275 mk V and the best thing one can do is swap out the stock tubes as these are what are mainly contributing to the soft detail/focus/seperation you have heard.

With judicious tube rolling, this amp combined with my Nola Viper 1X's and a dual REL sub setup totally rock the house at any sane/clean level one would ever desire.
lewinskih01
907 posts
 
It's a matter of taste and synergy with other components, as it has been said. I feed my MC275 from a Lamm LL2 and drive B&W 804S with it, plus a Rel sub. I listen to all sorts of music, including Motorhead, Rob Zombie, AC/DC...you get the picture, and also jazz, vocal, and classical. I enjoy it all round. Should I drive my speakers with a Krell amp, my system would likely have more slam. Yet at the time I was deciding I preferred the 275 vs others, including the 252. Changing the tubes made a huge difference, as has been said. I don't know if I would call it polite...there are some CDs I cannot listen to because they are so poorly recorded.

My two cents!
face
516 posts
 
Go with Mac solid state.
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,191 posts
 
MC275 MKV has plenty of guts and drive, especially for an amp rated @ 75wpc. Upgrading the driver and signal tubes to quality NOS is worthwhile.
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