|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
Just bought a used, original spec McIntosh MC225 and all I can say is wow....the sound blew me away.....so much smoother and more real sounding than my Aragon 4004mkII that I have had for 15 years! I am just sorry I did not know this back then*!@%#^)_ I think I have been bitten by the "Tube Bug"....lol...now I am already looking to tweak it to improve it's sound. Any suggestions would be welcome. I am sure new ouput tubes, (Electro Harmonix?)would be good? What about the other tubes...also, would there be any sonic improvement if I had another 225 and bi amped it into my preamp? It has the rca's for 2 preamps.Another question....would 2 mc30's improve on the sound of the 225 or 2 bi amped 225's? (def. have been bitten!!)
thanks,ssam
Follow Ups:
The 225 is considered Macs best sounding tube amp, and the fact it uses one of the best sounding audio tubes period, the 7591 makes it a perfect match, the problem is finding NOS or even good strong vintage 7591's NOS are costly, and you have to be carefull who you buy used from, a lot of vintage used 7591's were run hot and brutalised in the early gear, so they have to be well tested, the getter flashing's condition can also give you some idea of how strongthey are, but i have tested 7591's with pale or brownish looking getter flashing's that showed strong on my tester, and 7591's with good silver getters that tested bad. If you have vintage 7591 tubes in your 225, test them or get them tested, cause a great amp like the 225 deserves great vintage 7591's The EH (sovteks are good from what i heard) but i have never heard anyone say they are as good as the vintage ones, and i feel with good reason. Also test your small signal tubes, they are as important as the output tubes.
Frank
Yes tubes are the real deal - Now as for your other suggestions - You're just going to have to try it and see what you think. My advice is to spend some time listening to your new found love and get a real feel for what it sounds like before messing with it.In other words listen to all of your albums about 10 times.
Cut-Throat
> > In other words listen to all of your albums about 10 times.Good LORD!!! That would take me a LONG time. Heck, I'm sure some people in this asylum wouldn't live long enough to hear all their albums 10 times.
-Mike...
He is right. Lay back and enjoy what you have. Down the road, if you decide you may want to improve....no, that's not the right word....CHANGE the sound of what you have, you will have a better idea of which direction you want to go in.Nice choice for introduction into tubes by-the-way.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: