MC275 club

[SL1800]

I am loving my two MC275's. I had a hard time spending that much money but they really are worth it.

[Carloski]

Hello from Spain.
Great idea to have a MC275 Club.
Yesterday I bought a MC275 MKV.
I have a C50 preamp and MC452. I wanted to have something more than legend Mcintosh.
Two years ago I had another MC275 and missed.

[arien]

Congrats Carloski!!!

275s are awesome amps, you will enjoy it...

[crwilli]

Lurker thinking about a 275....

There are multiple versions / generations of 275s with prices to match. Can anyone create a cheat sheet for those trying to figure out how to jump in? What are the differences?

[SL1800]

If you are looking at new amps I'm fairly sure you will mostly find the version 6 which is what I recently bought. The limited 50th model is the same as the 6, I believe, except for the gold top case. As for the older models maybe someone else can chime in.

[PHC1]

I do miss my MC275MKIV I owned a few years back...

[McPlanar]

Originally Posted by crwilli

Lurker thinking about a 275....

There are multiple versions / generations of 275s with prices to match. Can anyone create a cheat sheet for those trying to figure out how to jump in? What are the differences?

Here's a link to a couple of sites with lots of info.
Berner's Site

Roger Russell's McIntosh History Page

I'm also thinking about getting a MC275 so I'm in research mode now too. If you just Google McIntosh MC275 you'll get an information overload of pages. The sites I provided the links to above are a really good place to start for all things Mac.

[wpascoe]

I just lifted the following from another web site re: a comparison of the various versions of the MC275 -- I found if to be very helpful when I was choosing my various 275's: I don't remember where I got this, but it is from someone who contacted Frank Gow himself at Audioclassics, and I remembered that I thought it was important enough to archive in my file. It might even be from here? somewhere in the threads. I cannot take any credit for this, but it is very useful and an important letter of McIntosh history.

"As I have been going back and forth between purchasing an MC275 or MC2102, I've ask serveral folks who are knowledgeable about the various iterations. Here is a concise history I received from Frank Gow @ Audio Classics (son Gordon Gow of McIntosh fame), which I hope he does not mind my posting:

The Commerative version is an updated adaptation of the original MC275 with balanced inputs as well as single ended inputs, PC board design vs. point-to-point wiring used in the original mc275 and built on a chrome plated chassis. These were limited production which caused considerable annoyance with customers who were not aware of the limited offering.

Subsequently, the factory introduced the MC275-SS Stainless Steel chassis version of the MC275-II without the Gordon Gow commerative badge. This was offered for a few years to pacify customers who missed out on the limited production Gordon Gow Commerative Edition. This was the same product design as the Commerative Edition MC275. They also made a very, very limited production in gold for approximately 200 units, of which most went to Japan.

As a result of the better than anticipated success of the tube product, McIntosh decided to make the 50th Anniversary MC2000 130 wpc dual mono designed by Sidney Corderman, one of the founders and long-time VP of Engineering @ McIntosh. This also was a limited production design with less than 800 units made. This was priced @ $15k and not everybody was able to purchase such a high priced tribute to McIntosh history. This was followed by the MC2102, a cost reduced version of the MC2000 using a common mode power supply @ 130 wpc which found incredible success.

At this point, McIntosh realized there was a need to commit to tube designs as the demand was continuing to grow by significant amounts. We had also pressured them to make a companion preamp better than the C22-II Frank McIntosh Commerative, an updated version of the original C22. This was offered during the time of the MC275-SS.

Finally they introduced the C2200 current model preamp with meters, remote control, etc. to far exceed the performance of the C22 & C22-II Commerative models.

Demand still persisted for the MC275 to be available which lead to a redesign of the MC275-II & -SS versions.

The current MC275-MK-IV, V or MK-V as now referred to, offered a major improvement with a 490 v power supply vs. 450 in the Commerative and Stainless editions. McIntosh also added more laminations in the output transformers which increased the bass performance over the original designs. All shiny chassis units are now highly polished stainless steel which eliminates the cracking and corrosion problems associated with chrome. The power supply improvements contributed to better dynamic expression and a more robust bass character. So far, this has proved to be the best sounding and compares very favorably against the MC2000 & MC2102 despite their having higher power.

Today, the best results seem to be provided by using the C2200 preamp and MC275-MK-IV, V or VI.

The MK-IV came with gold small spade screw terminals, no gain control with balanced and single ended connections and power on/off switch. The MK-V changed the speaker terminals to 5-way plastic binding posts. The MK-VI changed the plastic binding posts to gold metal WBT style connectors. Circuits for all these are the same. McIntosh still lists this as the MC275 and makes no model distinction regarding the production changes implemented with the speaker terminals.

I realize this was lengthy but thought it might be helpful to have the evolution as well as technical changes and benefits associated with them. Let me know if you have more questions or need additional information. Thank you for the opportunity to be of service.

Best wishes, Frank Gow - Sr. Sales Consultant"

Sent from my iPad using A.Aficionado

[enit]

Originally Posted by wpascoe

I just lifted the following from another web site re: a comparison of the various versions of the MC275 -- I found if to be very helpful when I was choosing my various 275's: I don't remember where I got this, but it is from someone who contacted Frank Gow himself at Audioclassics, and I remembered that I thought it was important enough to archive in my file. It might even be from here? somewhere in the threads. I cannot take any credit for this, but it is very useful and an important letter of McIntosh history. "As I have been going back and forth between purchasing an MC275 or MC2102, I've ask serveral folks who are knowledgeable about the various iterations. Here is a concise history I received from Frank Gow @ Audio Classics (son Gordon Gow of McIntosh fame), which I hope he does not mind my posting: The Commerative version is an updated adaptation of the original MC275 with balanced inputs as well as single ended inputs, PC board design vs. point-to-point wiring used in the original mc275 and built on a chrome plated chassis. These were limited production which caused considerable annoyance with customers who were not aware of the limited offering. Subsequently, the factory introduced the MC275-SS Stainless Steel chassis version of the MC275-II without the Gordon Gow commerative badge. This was offered for a few years to pacify customers who missed out on the limited production Gordon Gow Commerative Edition. This was the same product design as the Commerative Edition MC275. They also made a very, very limited production in gold for approximately 200 units, of which most went to Japan. As a result of the better than anticipated success of the tube product, McIntosh decided to make the 50th Anniversary MC2000 130 wpc dual mono designed by Sidney Corderman, one of the founders and long-time VP of Engineering @ McIntosh. This also was a limited production design with less than 800 units made. This was priced @ $15k and not everybody was able to purchase such a high priced tribute to McIntosh history. This was followed by the MC2102, a cost reduced version of the MC2000 using a common mode power supply @ 130 wpc which found incredible success. At this point, McIntosh realized there was a need to commit to tube designs as the demand was continuing to grow by significant amounts. We had also pressured them to make a companion preamp better than the C22-II Frank McIntosh Commerative, an updated version of the original C22. This was offered during the time of the MC275-SS. Finally they introduced the C2200 current model preamp with meters, remote control, etc. to far exceed the performance of the C22 & C22-II Commerative models. Demand still persisted for the MC275 to be available which lead to a redesign of the MC275-II & -SS versions. The current MC275-MK-IV, V or MK-V as now referred to, offered a major improvement with a 490 v power supply vs. 450 in the Commerative and Stainless editions. McIntosh also added more laminations in the output transformers which increased the bass performance over the original designs. All shiny chassis units are now highly polished stainless steel which eliminates the cracking and corrosion problems associated with chrome. The power supply improvements contributed to better dynamic expression and a more robust bass character. So far, this has proved to be the best sounding and compares very favorably against the MC2000 & MC2102 despite their having higher power. Today, the best results seem to be provided by using the C2200 preamp and MC275-MK-IV, V or VI. The MK-IV came with gold small spade screw terminals, no gain control with balanced and single ended connections and power on/off switch. The MK-V changed the speaker terminals to 5-way plastic binding posts. The MK-VI changed the plastic binding posts to gold metal WBT style connectors. Circuits for all these are the same. McIntosh still lists this as the MC275 and makes no model distinction regarding the production changes implemented with the speaker terminals. I realize this was lengthy but thought it might be helpful to have the evolution as well as technical changes and benefits associated with them. Let me know if you have more questions or need additional information. Thank you for the opportunity to be of service. Best wishes, Frank Gow - Sr. Sales Consultant" Sent from my iPad using A.Aficionado

Most interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Sent from my iPhone using A.Aficionado

[crwilli]

Great input!!! Very much appreciated and my apologies for the slight excursion of this thread.