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Critic's Corner Discuss a review. Provide constructive feedback. Talk to the industry. |
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Critic's Corner Discuss a review. Provide constructive feedback. Talk to the industry. |
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Gotta hand it to Alex H and SP editors. Who would have thunk it ? SP publishing reviews of long discontinued audio equipment from the earliest days of HiFi ! First the Fairchild 225 and now the McIntosh 225 (is there something special about "225" ?). Alex is correct in stating that many believe the 225 to be the best sounding Mac tube amp. However, some would give the nod to the MC30 monoblocks. Just 5wpc more power than the 225, but a completely different sound; not as lush and with more low end drive, combined many of the positive attributes of the 225. Is it the monoblock configuration, different tubes (6L6GC vs 7591) or something else ? In a broader sense, Alex is continuing the path blazed by AD by using carefully chosen vintage components in the context of a current system. Not all vintage components are suitable, and credit must be given to AD and now Alex for seeking out viable examples. One point that was not clear in his review of the 225 was the partnering speakers. Vintage tube amps can be speaker sensitive and an amp that sounds warm or even anemic with one pr of speakers, may come alive with another. Hint- the 225 sounds sublime driving 15ohm ls3/5a speakers ! Alex's recent explorations opens the door for consideration of other vintage components. Perhaps an investigation into excellent sounding Williamson amplifiers (Heath W5, Sound Craftsman C500 and others) ? This design is credited with bringing true high-fidelity sound to the masses in the early to mid 50's and it would be interesting to see just how far we have come in 70 odd years. My personal opinion is we may be surprised by how little we have actually advanced. Another avenue to investigate may be vintage EL84 amplifiers (Fisher, Eico, Acrosound). All would require careful speaker matching because of limited output power, but the listener is rewarded with sublime sound. Many believe the EL84 is the best sounding general use output tube, in contrast to more esoteric triode tubes. If Alex has listened to a Leben 300 or Luxman SQ-N150 then he will understand. And again, it would be interesting to see how much we have (or have not) advanced.
Keep up the good work !
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Topic - Mac 225 - Ross 06:32:49 06/14/25 (2)
- RE: Mac 225 - Steve O 15:41:50 06/20/25 (0)
- MC-225: my favorite Mac power amplifier of them all (FWIW) -- nt - mhardy6647 12:48:39 06/19/25 (0)
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