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Compare vintage vs reissue tube amps.

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Posted on October 14, 2014 at 20:01:45
tesla
Audiophile

Posts: 3180
Location: San Diego County, California
Joined: October 25, 2000
 Let me explain:

I have a pair of the original Quad II's, my brother has an original MacIntosh MC 275. Neither one of us has seen or heard the modern reissues.

Anyone compared?

Any other comparisons?
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RE: Compare vintage vs reissue tube amps., posted on October 15, 2014 at 08:57:05
JamesNW
Audiophile

Posts: 40
Location: North West USA
Joined: June 29, 2003
 A comparison, if not directly answering the question:

I have two MC240's; one of which is as stock as the day it was made and has been used very very little; almost a museum piece. The other showing obvious heavy wear and use and totally 'rebuild' several years ago with all caps replaced etc. These sound very slightly different, the rebuild having slightly tighter bass while the 'original' has slightly more pristine highs (at least to my ears and in my setup and environment.

Both sound very good indeed to me.

My take away: I doubt the re-issue sounds 'exactly' like the original but I would expect both to perform very well when in a complementary system. The system and environment are (opinion again) far and away more contributory to any difference than those in the new/ old equipment.

$0.02 worth
JamesNW

 

RE: Compare vintage vs reissue tube amps., posted on October 15, 2014 at 10:28:48
unclestu
Dealer

Posts: 5851
Joined: April 13, 2010
 IIRC, the reissue 275 uses a. circuit board not hard wired as original. For me difference was.not subtle
Reissue tube Marantz used teflon silver plated wire: not close to the warmth of original.
FWIW and YMMV

 

RE: Compare vintage vs reissue tube amps., posted on October 15, 2014 at 11:39:29
petercapo
Audiophile

Posts: 665
Joined: December 29, 2012
 If your original MC275 has the original parts inside, I suspect the reissue will sound "better." If you were to rebuild your original with new parts, the gap would close. Of course, you may prefer the vintage sound as it is. I would suggest not altering the original, though, if you value its originality in any way, including resale potential.

 

You are correct, sir!, posted on October 15, 2014 at 15:52:34
caffeinator
Audiophile

Posts: 1729
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: August 22, 2003
 I saw, on a recent-ish "How It's Made" the process to build the new MC275, and you are quite right. There are circuit boards inside, very little point to point wiring, and things look much different.

 

RE: Ken Kessler compares vintage vs reissue MC275, posted on October 15, 2014 at 16:06:42
FRG7SWL
Audiophile

Posts: 2109
Location: NorCali
Joined: March 26, 2003
 Tesla, here are some differences Ken Kessler noted on Macintosh's Gordon J. Gow Commemorative MC275, compared to original, in November 1993's Hi-Fi News & Record Review: 1) "Gold-plated XLR inputs for balanced operation, fixed at 2.0V for rated output, have been fitted to allow for use with modern pre-amps; 2) An increase in gain to accommodate the balanced inputs, and a resultant change in the valve complement, were necessary. The 12AU7 tubes were replaced with 12AX7s and the 12BH7s were replaced with 12AZ7s. Power, though, is still derived from KT88s/6550s; 3) Alongside the unbalanced RCA type phono inputs, positioned as per the original on the vertical section below the sloped panel, are switches for choosing between balanced and unbalanced operation and mono or stereo operation. The level controls for the unit remain in the same position as per the original; 4) Screw tags for the speaker connections (4, 8, or 16ohms stereo or 2, 4, and 8ohms mono) were retained out of some sense of purist, anachrophilic masochism, but they now run horizontally instead of vertically. They still suck; 5) Removed during the updating process were the octal output socket connected to the high impedance transformer taps, the three-position mode switch, the balance control and the mono control (the left/right level controls deal with balance, while the right channel becomes the mono channel in single-channel operation; 6) Internal upgrades include close tolerance film resistors, polypropylene coupling capacitors and fiberglass printed circuit boards". Kessler refrained from differentiating between auld vs new because "... the 1993 version of the MC275 contains far too many updates in the signal path to allow for valid comparisons - the tube changes alone are enough to alter the performance substantially". 73s para Sactown

 

RE: Compare vintage vs reissue tube amps., posted on October 19, 2014 at 01:07:46
Michael Samra
Dealer

Posts: 36118
Location: saginaw michigan
Joined: January 30, 2005



Peter
When you rebuild a vintage Mc275,they are much better than original reissues because the original reissues didn't even make their rated power because of the lower B+..The Mc275 Mk4,MK5,and MK6 especially,are wonderful amps.
As far as it hurting the value,here is an Mc240 which I have done quite a few of with Jim McSHane's upgrades and if you notice,we don't make any physical alterations to the amp and the filter caps are put in with Goop so you can reverse any upgrade back to original should you want to sell it..The thing is,most buyers don't want it put back to original parts because they are all worn out and with these upgrades,the amp sounds better than it ever did because of the quality of the new parts.The amp brings the same price as all original because it doesn't alter the sonic behavior and reliability goes way up..
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

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