McIntosh MC75 amplifiers in the house

jdandy

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My McIntosh MC75 amplifiers finally arrived about 1:30 PM. It was like seeing Santa Claus come up the driveway. Happy days. Huge grin. Two big burly guys carried the amps upstairs, packed the MC452, and were gone in less than 30 minutes. It did not take long for me to have the shipping cartons opened and the MC75 amplifiers displaying their charms. These are beautiful amplifiers, built like a Sherman tank, typical McIntosh attention to detail. Both amplifiers are in absolute mint condition, not a blemish or a scratch to be found anywhere. I couldn't be happier.


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It took me about an hour to get both amplifiers installed after retubing them with Gold Lion KT-88 and ECC83/12AX7, and Siemens ECC801S/12AT7 tubes. It was suggested I install the amps stock and then incrementally change tubes, add Wireworld Silver Electra power cables, and then the Furutech Flux 50's. My enthusiasm overruled that idea as soon as I had them out of their cartons. Both MC75's are sporting the full enchillada. I couldn't hold myself back. I installed the two MC75's sideways in the rack, one in front of the other. There are two Cooler Guys fans installed on the back of the rack to pull warm air out of the rack cavity so the amps should have a long and healthy lifespan. In the future I may try orienting the amps 90 degrees so that the power cords and Flux 50's go directly out the back of the rack. It was a tight squeeze to get the Flux 50's and the Wireworld Silver Electra power cable installed as they presently sit. I do like looking at the tubes, but this arrangement obscures viewing the second amplifier. Time will determine what installation angle I eventually settle on.


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The sound, goodness gracious, the sound. The system has been playing for two hours now and I am already thoroughly bonded with the MC75's. The sound is delicious, flowing, liquid gold to my ears, and the new tubes aren't broken in yet. No complaints with what I am hearing, only a big smile. The MC75's are wonderful. I should have bought a pair two years ago before McIntosh ended production. Being late to the party is still very cool. Color me starstruck.
 
Nice, Dan! Time to update the signature.


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Decided tonight to rotate the amps so that I could see both of them, and get more efficient cooling through that shelf cavity with the Cooler Guys fans mounted on the back of the rack.


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I finally turned off the living room sound system at 11:30 last night. I listened to the new amplifiers for 9 hours, well actually about 8 hours because it took me about an hour to reorient the amplifier positions and cabling once I decided to turn them 90 degrees from their initial position. The sound of the MC75 amplifiers is glorious. They offer effortless performance on par with the sound I get from my MC2301 amplifiers in the studio system. The PMC EB1i speakers love these amplifiers and respond accordingly. The sound is highly addicting, literally keeping me glued to the sweet spot with no desire to turn the system off.
 
I finally turned off the living room sound system at 11:30 last night. I listened to the new amplifiers for 9 hours, well actually about 8 hours because it took me about an hour to reorient the amplifier positions and cabling once I decided to turn them 90 degrees from their initial position. The sound of the MC75 amplifiers is glorious. They offer effortless performance on par with the sound I get from my MC2301 amplifiers in the studio system. The PMC EB1i speakers love these amplifiers and respond accordingly. The sound is highly addicting, literally keeping me glued to the sweet spot with no desire to turn the system off.

So it took you 8 hours of staring to change the orientation [emoji851]


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Congrats Dan, glad everything met your expectations

Brian.......Truth be known, the McIntosh MC75's have exceeded my expectations. I knew they would be good, but they are so much more. The MC75's are truly outstanding amplifiers. They have some valuable special features, too. The McIntosh Sentry Monitor circuit senses short circuits at the speaker terminals, as well as a power tube failure. If either happens the amplifier immediately shuts off. This is saves the amplifier from dangerous voltages damaging internal circuits. Another feature I like is Power Control. This allows the amplifiers to be remotely triggered by the preamplifier for turn on and turn off. A single press of the power button on the preamp or remote and the entire system energizes. No more need to flip a power switch to turn on each amp. These useful and important features add safety and pleasure to an already tremendous value.
 
Ed.......LOL. I guess that's about right. I wanted to be able to see both amplifiers. The original installation had the front amp blocking the view of the rear amp. I like it better this way.


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Dan, congrats!!

I like the amps more when they're positioned like this.
They are too nice to hide one.
 
Dan, congrats!!

I like the amps more when they're positioned like this.
They are too nice to hide one.

Bart.......I agree, being able to view both amps is a plus. The key to a nice view is cable management. I wouldn't want a rat's nest of cables wrapped around the side of the amps and hanging out the front of my rack. Fortunately the feet on the MC75's lift the amps high enough to be able to route the cables under the amps which allowed me to make the cable terminations efficiently while remaining visually attractive. I am pleased with the look.
 
Ed.......LOL. I guess that's about right. I wanted to be able to see both amplifiers. The original installation had the front amp blocking the view of the rear amp. I like it better this way.


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These look awesome Dan. Definitely like the look seeing both amps better!
 
A month or so ago I decided to purchase McIntosh branded stereo mini plug connector cables for use as amplifier power control cables between my McIntosh C2300 preamplifier and the two McIntosh MC75 MkIII mono tube power amplifiers. The cheap Radio Shack mini jack connector cables were working just fine but since they are visible in my current amplifier installation configuration I decided the gold plated McIntosh branded mini jack connector cables would look better. Spending $110.00 for one 2 meter and one 1 meter stereo mini jack connector cables seemed a bit ridiculous since my two $4.00 cables were doing the job just fine but aesthetics is important to me. I think the result is worth it. The gold plated McIntosh branded connector cables fit right in with the look of the exposed gold plated speaker and RCA connector terminals. I think the new McIntosh power control cables add a nice finishing touch.


Old power control cables

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New power control cables

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