MC2301 - What tubes are you rolling?
 

To all those who own or are familiar with the beloved 2301 - please share your experiences with what brand of tubes you are using and your thoughts on sonic performance vs. the "OEM" Mac tubes.

As for myself, I am currently using the OEM Mac-branded tubes, as my pair of 2301's were purchased new about 3 months ago. I have no idea who actually makes the most recent iterations of these tubes for Mac, or even what country they are from (I doubt in North America, but perhaps Asia or Eastern Europe?) Regardless, I must admit that I love the sound of these amps. I gravitated towards them based on their beautiful iconic design, coupled with the invaluable reviews/impressions of other members on this forum. And not to mention a little bit of blind faith... Upon bringing them home, and warming up the tubes, within about 20 seconds of hearing them for the very first time ever, I knew there was something amazing and special about what I was hearing. My favorite quote about these amplifiers comes from the late Harry Pearson of The Absolute Sound. My understanding is that he bought a pair and said:"As far as I’m concerned, this 300-watter is the state of the art in tubed amplifiers. A masterpiece of the design art. It is so pellucid in its freedom from an identity of its own as to be extremely difficult to evaluate using contemporary audio terminology. Review in progress."

My understanding is that he unfortunately never had the chance to complete or publish his review, but I believe his quote above is still as relevant -
and prescient as ever, as to this day, I am not aware of any formally published reviews of this amplifier in the major audiophile publications (please correct me if I'm wrong!).

So getting back to the original question: Which brand of tubes have you rolled in this this amplifier and why do you like them? Also - please mention any that you did not like! Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Andrew.......In case you missed it, here is my McIntosh MC2301 Power Amp Review

Harry never did an official review - according to Ron Evans, designer of the MC2301's. They were expecting it - but for whatever the reason, never made it to paper. Harry kept those amps until passing.

Gold Lion KT88's and Gold Pin 12AT7's for the MC2301's are on sale to AA Subscribers.

Best Sir & congratulations from a 9 year old MC2301 owner

Bob

Actually he did write a review for his webzine High Fidelity Report. It wasn't long but he described the 2301s as the best amps he's ever heard. Did not know how to pin them down, but the 2301s raised the game so much it might take competitors years to catch up.

The Webzine is still up but most of his reviews have been taken down

http://thehighfidelityreport.com/author/harry-pearson/

It's nice to see that the MC crowd is getting younger.....

Yes, you are absolutely correct and I reported on it here on AA during that time (it's in the AA file cabinet somewhere). More of a synopsis, not a thorough review as expected.

Best Sir,

Bob

Tubes for the MC 2301.....I've found that changing out the KT-88's make a subtle difference, the 12AT7's much more so. I am currently running Gold Lion re-issues (thanks Bob!) in my amps. I also like the vintage Mullard CV4024 in this application but haven't done an a/b test.
Tom

Touché Sir,:tiphat:

Best

Bob

Dan - I did indeed read your review before I bought mine :thumbsup:

Tom.......That is a fine combination of tubes in the MC2301's. I currently have my pair of 2301's loaded with Gold Lion KT88 power tubes and Siemens ECC801S driver tubes. I have compared the Siemens driver tubes against the Gold Lion B739/ECC81/12AT7 tubes, the Mullard CV4024, the Telefunken 12AT7/ECC81, and the Tung-Sol 12AT7/6201 tubes. All of these tubes sound excellent with only minor differences in the upper midrage presentation. I kept returning to the Siemens ECC801S tubes because they seemed to present the most balanced presentation across the full frequency spectrum. About three months ago I swapped the Siemens tubes for the Gold Lion tubes for a week, then returned to the Siemens ECC801S. To my ears the Siemens delivers the cleanest, most resolved presentation of all the above mentioned tubes. TubeMonger.com sells the Seimens ECC801S. I also have a quad of Siemens E81CC/12AT7 tubes but haven't rolled them into the MC2301's yet. The Siemens ECC801S tubes sound so good I don't want to mess with perfection.

Contrast my current impressions to my 12AT7 tube rolling review and you will notice that four years ago I had a preference for the Telefunken ECC801S and the Gold Lion 12AT7 driver tubes over the Siemens ECC801S. Since that time I have changed DAC's twice, now using the Esoteric K-01X, and replaced the Olive 04HD music server with the Aurender N10. In addition, I have replaced some of the studio's absorption panels with Vicoustic Wavewood diffusion panels that improved the room's acoustic signature. As the sound system is presently configured the Siemens ECC801S driver tube in my MC2301's are delivering outstanding sound.