MC275VI for 2 channel and HT

[Snommisbor]

So wanting to add a second amp to my system I keep going back and forth between the 275 and the 452. I went today to demo them and was very surprised at my findings.

I did the MC275 which had Martin Logan’s hooked up to it but seemed to be comparable to my BW 804S. Cranked up the music was smooth, rich, and flowed very well. Preamp was the C2600.

Then went to the 452 and the C47 put BW 805D onit figured it would be comparable to mine and the sound was very crisp yet still had a nice flow to it. I noticed on the meter it wasn’t even working that hard. Never got to 450 on the meter but still sounded powerful.

Then for the heck of it we turned the C52 with two 601s and BW802D. Cranked it up and it actually sounded very shrill and sharp to me. I had to turn it down. Was surprised at this.

I feel the MC275 is calling my name for music. I listen to Jazz, Rock, Classic stuff via vinyl as well as CDs and Tidal, but mostly vinyl. Everything tends to be just listen but not really listen when cooking or doing stuff around the house so I put on a playlist. But this will also be apart of my 5.1 HT setup. How will these tubes handle everyday use of watching Netflix or Amazon. I don’t have cable. As well as The Avengers on BluRay or other good action type movies?

My system now is the MX121, MC205, Oppo, BW 804S and HTM3, and some in ceiling surrounds that are Yamaha that came with the house.

Second question is how would the two channels I free up on the MC205 handle 8 speakers throughout the house just for listening to music in a background way. These are the Yamaha’s I do t know which ones but I doubt they are high end. Plus I can control volume on 3 locations, which one pair is in my garage so usually that one is turned down to zero. The others are the Master, Kitchen, and what could be used as the LR channels in my living area above my screen.

[SAPHANA]

I own a pair of MC275VI, but only for music listening. I have two HT systems, one uses MC402+MC207 the other uses multiple Parasound Halo amps. I don’t want MC275 in my HT systems because first I worried about the life of the tubes, second the power is not enough. Even in mono mode, MC275 is lack of the power for many movie scenarios.

[trponhunter]

I'm not sure how good of an idea you really got on the amplifiers. It sounds like you listened to 3 different systems and most likely in 3 different room positions - those differences are most likely at least as big or bigger than the differences in the amplifiers. The only way to get any type of real idea would be to substitute the amps into the same system and play the same tracks over - then it would only be valid for your impression on that particular pair of speakers.

[Snommisbor]

Yeah I ordered the MC275 today, should be here Thursday so I am just gonna test it out for up to 14 days before I could return for no problem. If I do I may go ahead and get the 452 if the 275 doesn't do it for me. I'm sure musically it will be great, but I'll giver here a dance with some BluRay explosive goodness, may even pop in my WOW disc as well.

[Lockheed Martin]

I have two mc275 driving JBL K2 speaker, listen to music as good as watching movie.

[Snommisbor]

Thats a big speaker. I just found some Ohm Walsh 4's off of Craigslist for a great price and am listening to them now. But I talked to Evan at Ohm and they will offer a trade-in or an upgrade program for their speakers. I think I'm going to send them in and upgrade them to the 4.4012. Then possibly getting rid of my BW 804's. I'm looking forward to running the amp and testing it out.

[W9TR]

IMG_2069.jpg

MC 275V and my restored Ohm F’s play well together in a combined 2 channel and 2.0 HT System.

[kamiraa]

I would do an MC452 for daily use, I wouldn't want to use up tube life. How often are you watching tv though? If its not often then maybe this moot point.

For music the MC275 will be fine, but when I'm watching movies my MC207 often peaks at 150 watts (listening -10 down). You may be starving it for movies.

As an alternative, if you are really set on a tube you can find a way to run a tube pre to the MC452 through a bypass on the MX121.

[Msegal]

I had a home theatre with Nautilus 802’s front, Nautilus center and CDM1nt for surrounds. I used 3 Cary Audio V12’s in Jaguar red across the front and a Classe 25 for the rears. My processor was an Anthem before switching to a McIntosh Prepro.

The tube amplifiers provided incredible detail, believable voices and micro dynamics which provided a jump factor I had never before experienced. The added bonus was enjoying multichannel SACD which was still in vogue at the time.

The main drawback unfortunately was the heat of 60 tubes plus the projector. I had to place a clean room AC in the room or else watch in my underwear.

If I were redoing a HT and needed it to double as a stereo system I would not hesitate to use tube amplifiers across the front stage.

Mike S.

[Snommisbor]

So after running this amp over the weekend, I think it is a keeper. I am still breaking it in but so far Ive gotten probably 40 plus hours of run time. Ive left it on while I go out running music through it. So over at least 3 days it has been on for over 12 hours just running, sometimes cranked up other times as background music.

When running in 5.1 DTS with BluRay of Gladiator or Saving Private Ryan I was able to get a great sound. I tested with my db meter and was peaking at 103 db. I know 105 db is considered reference but honestly 103 is loud enough. Most of the loud action was more around 96 db, with soft speaking parts or just quiet parts of the soundtrack at 60 db range. The WOW disc did Wow! It has been a while since I have watched that but it really performed.

Then I put on some different vinyl, Miles Davis, David Gilmour, Van Halen, Thealonious Monk. All gave some really nice warm tones. When adding the sub through the MX121 it increased the low end but muffled the mid range and top end. So I ran it as Pure Direct which gave the sound a much more dimensional sound. Running some Deadmou5 radio through the MX121 (I actually have no idea how it got on there) But it was a good test to see how the bass driven music would sound. The MC275 really pumped it out of the 804s. You could see the woofers really pumping. The sound through the Pandora radio on the MX121 was really impressive, I don't use it that much but I may start using it more just for when I don't want to flip vinyl every 15-20 minutes.

I then threw on some Tool Lateralus via CD and it really pumped out a nice clean sound, the warmth that the MC275 produced was great. Im sure it will only get better. I then put in Queensryche Empire DVD audio with 5.1 and went to Silent Lucidity. The softness of the acoustic guitar was beautiful and then once the whole band came in through the powerful chorus the bass through the sub and all the speakers surrounding you with music was really nice.

Finished up yesterday with Godzilla, and The Incredibles. The roar of the monsters was room shaking and actually I think The Incredibles would be a great movie to show off your system. The soundtrack was dynamic and gives a great range from soft sounds to explosive.


For those who may be on the fence about adding the MC275 over something more powerful like a MC302 or MC452 I think for a room like mine 17x22x9 and the speakers BW 804S type you can't go wrong. I do plan on someday adding the 452 to my system and perhaps moving the MC275 to a vintage setup with a tube preamp and some Ohm Walsh 4 speakers I picked up. But for now the MC275 will be running the mains for HT as well music for the foreseeable future.