Ask McIntosh: The inside scoop!

[ChrisMikeSmith]

All,

After responding to several threads I decided maybe it would be nice to start an "Ask McIntosh" thread. Feel free to pose general questions about products, the brand, technologies, etc. There may be instances where I am unable to share information (for various reasons) but I will try my best to provide a timely response to as many posts as possible. For very technical questions I will check with our engineering team and I'm sure Ron Cornelius will be helping out as well.

10/29/12 UPDATE: Things have definitely been busy around McIntosh. After returning from vacation in August I got buried at work - All good things but it took me away from having any spare time. I was asked to be a part of the transaction where we eventually became acquired by Fine Sounds - We are really excited with the new relationship. On top of that I am in the process of selling/buying a home and that has eaten up whatever spare time I had. The bottom line is that I want to keep the lines of communication between McIntosh and our faithful fans as open as possible. I will try my best to reengage (and catch-up) so please bear with me!

Additional Resources (just in case!)
I want to make sure the McIntosh fans have a resource in my absence so here are two options. For those on Twitter we have @AskMcIntosh. If that's not your thing we have "Ask an Expert" on our website and that goes to Chuck Hinton and/or Ron Cornelius who are amazing when it comes to their McIntosh knowledge. You can find that here: http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/us/Pages...rt.aspx?cond=1

Happy Listening!

Cheers,
Chris Smith
McIntosh Labs

[gtubes]

Very cool, thanks Chris. A Mcquestion then.

If I am planning to use 2 mc275s in mono, and already know a single mc275 is not a truly balanced design in the traditional McIntosh sense, when in mono are the mc275s the same as two dedicated monoblock single channel amps? How does that work internally?

[thebeatles67]

Hi Chris,

I currently own 2-MC601's and I'm thinking of moving to the 1200 watt mono block but wanted to know a forum often asked question--Does McIntosh intend to offer a newer version of the MC1201 anytime soon? Thanks.

Mike

[HiFiGuy528]

this is AWESOME! Thank you!

On the C2300/C22 60th. Does the headphones output run through the tubes stage or is it just a solid state chip? Do any of the tube preamps use the tubes for headphones output too? Perhaps the schematics will show, but I don't have one.

[Whatever]

On the C50 is there a way to enable the headphone jack short of shutting off the power amps ?

[ChrisMikeSmith]

Originally Posted by mc602

Very cool, thanks Chris. A Mcquestion then.

If I am planning to use 2 mc275s in mono, and already know a single mc275 is not a truly balanced design in the traditional McIntosh sense, when in mono are the mc275s the same as two dedicated monoblock single channel amps? How does that work internally?

When you flip the switch to go between 2x75 vs 1x150 they call it "Monaural Parallel Mode". It does create a monoblock when switched to that position by connecting the left and right positive terminals as well as the left and right negative terminals. I have attached the manual for the MC275LE (50th Anniversary Edition) but it will be the same for the latest MC275 (v6).

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/35959634/Ow...MC275LE-OM.pdf

Cheers,
Chris

[ChrisMikeSmith]

Originally Posted by thebeatles67

Hi Chris,

I currently own 2-MC601's and I'm thinking of moving to the 1200 watt mono block but wanted to know a forum often asked question--Does McIntosh intend to offer a newer version of the MC1201 anytime soon? Thanks.

Mike

You are looking at more than a year out. Can you delay gratification for that long?

Cheers,
Chris

[gtubes]

Originally Posted by ChrisMikeSmith

When you flip the switch to go between 2x75 vs 1x150 they call it "Monaural Parallel Mode". It does create a monoblock when switched to that position by connecting the left and right positive terminals as well as the left and right negative terminals. I have attached the manual for the MC275LE (50th Anniversary Edition) but it will be the same for the latest MC275 (v6).

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/35959634/Ow...MC275LE-OM.pdf

Cheers,
Chris

Thanks so much Chris, this is great

[thebeatles67]

Originally Posted by ChrisMikeSmith

You are looking at more than a year out. Can you delay gratification for that long?

Cheers,
Chris

It will be worth the wait I'm sure--I guess I can make do with MC601's--thanks for answering.

Mike

[GaryProtein]

Chris, that is a wonderful and gracious offer to have an "Ask McIntosh" thread. Thank you.