Hi Andrew,

I have consciously moved away from audio a bit, not that I don't use my system, I do every day, but I don't spend a lot of time sitting and listening to music and I have strayed away from these forums, it was consuming too much of me.

Not sure where that came from, but I will try to address your question(s). Let me say up front that I have very little experience with tube gear, but as I believe I posted above, I can understand everyones affection with tubes after owning the 2275, but for me I did (do) not miss the tubes once I switched to the Mac combo. The key in that statement is, "for me". I have a friend that is very much a tube guy and he really likes the 2275; I had him over once again after I purchased the 402 and was using the 2275 as a preamp and he prefered the 2275 by itself, I did not. He has yet to make it over to hear my system with the C46.

While I was very pleased with the 2275, the 402/46 works best for me and this includes sonically.

The setup you suggest, with 2 MC275's and the C2200 I will speculate would sound wonderful, the MC275's are very well reported, but I don't see that as an avenue for me; if I wanted to stay with tubes I would keep my 2275. That said, if I was looking to purchase a tube amp, the 275 would be at the top of my list.

As already mentioned, I am pleased, very pleased, with the Mac gear, this includes looks, function and sound. With that in mind, and not spending much time here, hopefully I can finally settle down in regards to my stereo.

brianmgrarcom August 02, 2006 13:51

Hey Brian,

You should get a job with Stereophile, you have tested so much equipment. lol. I'm all ears, I would like to hear your opinions on the C-46/MC-402 combo? I know TAS raved over these two products. I am sure they sound great(especially with the B&W's) but I am wondering if you miss the tube sound? I used to have the McIntosh C2200 Tube pre with 275 tube amp and I changed my system around and got the McIntosh C45 and MC-352 amp with B&W 802's. I thought I lost something going back to Solid State; especially with vocals. I wanted to know if you felt the same? Maybe for the next set-up you could do (2) MC-275's and a C2200 (or the newer pre-tube one C-201?) All the best, Andrew

musicaudio July 31, 2006 22:42

Hi Brian,
I've been considering the MA2275 or the 402 setup you have now.
Big improvements with the new gear?

jeffjarvis July 20, 2006 00:09

I have indeed had my share Arthur. This is a great combination and it suits my use of my system very well; let's see if I can stick with this for awhile!

brianmgrarcom July 19, 2006 18:04

Hey! You ended up with the very amps I want! The C46 and MC402 have been my favorite combo I have heard so far. I am getting close though with the C42 and MC202. It's awesome to see you end up with this pair after trying so much other gear. Arthur

aball July 19, 2006 17:41

Thanks Chad. The Luxman tuner is a nice tuner, I have been very pleased with it. Not only does it perform nice sonically, I like its function and small size.

brianmgrarcom July 19, 2006 14:44

Wow great gear....great room! well atleast we have a tuner in common, I was pleased to see that fmTunerinfo.com
rated the Luxman as 16 out of all the shoot outs done.

chadnliz July 19, 2006 03:44

System edited: I have been using the MC402 and C46 for about two months now.

brianmgrarcom July 18, 2006 15:43

Agree with Ellery. The Mac looks fantastic in your cabin, Brian!

gunbei May 29, 2006 22:04

LOL, thanks Ellery...stay tuned!

brianmgrarcom May 29, 2006 21:23

Just as I suspected...you couldn't leave well enough alone...hahahaha.

Looks great as usual and I'm sure it sounds even better!

Ellery

ellery911 May 29, 2006 20:12

Hi Terry,

I concur, if you can't run the SS amp very loud during the day, I question how much it would accomplish. If you both are going to be gone for a good amount of time, hook it up and crank it up.

Thanks for the tip on the tube cover, and further explaination, I'll give it a try.

brianmgrarcom April 12, 2006 13:32

One other thing about my post on the tube grill. Take it off!

The theory I was told the other day was that the tubes pick up more noise with the shield on and then tubes amplify the sound.

Not sure I did the explaination I received justice, but that is why most tube amps leave the tubes exposed.

A little tweak might make your sound even better and it doesn't cost anything ;) These are the best kind of tweaks.

Terry

tmhill April 12, 2006 05:06

I did hook them up to SS gear for a week, but since my wife is at home, and there is not a dedicated listening room, the volume was very low and not sure it helped. I listen in the evening with the tubes.

Sounding better and better...tonight was the ah ha moment, where I really enjoyed the overall sound as the best I've heard under $100K.

Terry

tmhill April 12, 2006 05:02

Thanks Gunbei.

Terry, I take it you couldn't locate some SS gear to break in the speakers?

brianmgrarcom April 07, 2006 20:00

Brian, I always enjoy checking in on your virtual system. Your personal gear evolution is fun to watch and always informative. Plus the house is just plain awesome! That big MAC looks fantastic sitting in your cabin.

gunbei April 07, 2006 14:42

Brian,

I hope you got your amp back.

Something I tried after looking at pictures of Velo's system. You should try running your MA2775 without the tube grill on. I removed mine and think it sounds better. I may be a hallucinating, but it seems to sound better without the grill. Would there be any rational explanation for that? Someone smarter than me will know.

Thanks,

Terry

PS - I hit the 200 hour mark on the speakers tonight. They are sounding listenable now.

tmhill April 07, 2006 04:15

Hi Terry,

I am not a big fan of the supplied jumpers. I agree with your logic in not introducing too many changes at once, if there are issues you don't like you will not know where to start. I do suggest though that your stranded wire be at least 12 guage and if there is any way to shorten that 25 foot length, take advantage of it.

No doubt 2 MC275's would drive them to greater levels, I can run the MA2275 out of steam.

You are not alone in this pairing, as I stated above, others told me about it. Enjoy and drop me a note when you get it all hooked up. (As I also stated above, be patient with your new speakers, they will change.)

brianmgrarcom March 14, 2006 14:52

Brian,

I missed the obvious on your posted system - sorry for asking when you had posted the details above. I noticed it after I had already posted my questions.

The David biwire speaker cables are interesting to me. I did not run biwire on the 804S's. I used a relatively inexpensive high quality copper speaker cable (about $500 total for 25 ft runs on both sides made by Cobalt Cable - Their Ultimate Speaker Cable line - which I've been pretty happy with). I used the B&W jumper cables (or whatever they are called) since my cables are not biwired.

I'm thinking about changing the speaker cable in the future to get something higher quality and more transparent, but I don't want to introduce more than one change at a time. The change of the speakers is an obvious and big change so it seems enough for now.

So the delivery date of my 802D's is now up to Thursday or Friday this week due to all the snowstorms this weekend and this week. I shipped my 804S's to the new owner late last week. I'm speakerless while I wait.

Great idea on the break in using an SS amp, I'll see if I can borrow a SS amp from the dealer to do the break in. You are right there is no reason to waste tube time.

I'm expecting that this is going to be an amazing improvement to my system's sound. Lastly, thanks for the encouragement. It is helpful to know my idea was not unique and there are others with similar ideas on what might work well. Someone else posted the C2200 with the Mac 275 amp (or amps). The dealer I bought the 802D's from lugged them in and hooked up the 802D's to the C2200 paired with the Mac 275 amp (close to what we have). It was lucious sounding. I'm sure the MA2275 will be as good or possibly better. No technical reason why except it's what we've got so might as well pretend it sounds better. If not, there you go, it's your next improvement - trade your MA2275 in for a C2200 pre with 2 Mac 275 Amps to run at 150 in bridged mono - hehe! Then you would never run out of power! Enjoy your system - it won't sound any better - hehe!

Terry

tmhill March 14, 2006 05:03

Hi Terry,

Congratulations on your new purchase. I would like to comment that your new speakers will need a lot of break in, in my opinion. I feel the first four days (assuming their running 24 hours) will make the biggest (huge) difference but I feel mine continued to settle in for over 6 onths, with a lot of playing. If you have a SS amp you could get your hands on so you can run those speakers for 7 days 24 hours a day, I recommend doing so; if you don't mind running your tubes, go that route.

I am using a Virtual Dynamics David power cord on the Mac; Virtual Dynamics David speaker cables and they are bi-wire; I am using Audio Note AN-Vx interconnects. (See my sytem above.)

Brian

brianmgrarcom March 13, 2006 14:11

I've been running my Mcintosh MA2275 with B&W 804S's. I just broke down and bought new 802D's from my local dealer. They are being delivered on Tuesday this week. I'm really excited to get a bigger speaker paired with the MA2275.

I'm glad to see someone else with the same idea. Maybe I'm not the only crazy out there powering the 802D with a 75 watt per channel tube amp.

What power cord and interconnects are you using? What speaker cables are you using? Are you bi-wiring your speaker cable?

Terry

tmhill March 12, 2006 23:57

Hi Andrew,

Thank you for the kind words. The (75 watt) Mac took me by a bit of surprise as well. I will try and replay how it transpired. If you look back in a previous reply from Beemer (Paul), he mentioned a friend using the Mac MC275 amp with 802D's and that it sounded very good; I always remembered that, although that isn't what led me to the MA2275. I have been interested in trying some Mac gear for a number of years and I was talking with a salesman that carries Mac and B&W and he happened to mention a few comments about the MA2275 and the 802D's being a great pairing, even though I was asking about SS gear. The gentleman I purchased the Mac from lives near me so I was able to try the Mac in my system, so it wasn't just a whim. That is the short version.

While I agree that B&W's are known for liking a lot of power, IMO the 2275 and 802D's is a very nice match and in my system the 2275 was clearly better than the kW500. There is no doubt that the MF could drive the 802D's endlessly and I can max out the Mac, but the Mac is better (at least in my system).

As far as "thinking" about the speakers you have mentioned, I thought about trying some Sonus Fabers at one time a few years ago, but ruled them out as I felt they may be great on some types of music and not so on others; I haven't thought about JMF's.

brianmgrarcom March 05, 2006 20:02

Hi Brian,

I have been admiring and respecting your choices in hi-end gear through the past year. I think your last change really shocked me. You went from a Musical Fidelity Kw-500 to a McIntosh MA-2275. Don't get me wrong, I love the MA-2275 but I would expect that the 802D's would require so much more power than the 75 watts to come alive. Have you ever thought about JM Focal Labs or Sonus's? What do you think your next move will be? Best Wishes, Andrew

musicaudio March 05, 2006 15:24

Hi Brian,

Was wondering when you would head towards Mac with the B&W's. The B&W's are quite similar to the TDL Ref studio monitors when paired to a Mac (SS) & tube pre. Only thing the TDL's reqired quite a bit of power as i noticed when moving up from a 200 watt mac to a 350 watt. I am sure your system must be sounding great. Enjoy !

Dilhan

dilly February 05, 2006 13:17

Actually I don't know if the PC cords were stock. I think there is a good chance they were but can't say for sure. Glad you changed it out before dismissing the amp as one of the "worst ever nightmares," or something like that. lol

aball January 31, 2006 04:27