Hi guys, I am enjoying beautiful sounds of MC275 and LS340 speaker for more than a year now.
But sometimes I feel bass lacks punch when I listen to music like Miles Davis Tatu where bass guitar is playing quite loudly. Is this a limit of MC275 driving 350W speaker?
Bob
NZ

Welcome Bob,
I use the LS340 speakers for my main speakers and I love everything about them but I have always thought their biggest weakness is in the bass department. At the stereo shop there are 2 MC275 amps and we have hooked them up to B&W 803Ds as a single amp and as 2 mono blocks and the bass was always fine. So unless you are in a huge room or you listen at HIGH levels I would say the bass weakness is from the LS340s and not the MC275.

I was just at the shop listening to a pair of XLS360s and they were great. The bass was much better, more controled, more accurate, and a little more punch than my LS340s. The bass on the XLS360s still did not go all the way down and it did not have the punch of a subwoffer but I liked it much better than my LS340s.

Victor

Hi Victor,
I auditioned B&W 804 + Plinius amp before and bass wasn't so impressive to me, so I went McIntosh amp + speaker without even listening to them! No dealer here yet.. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Bob

Bob,
One other thing is, I have compaired the MC275 to the MC501s and I did not hear a major difference in the bass. The MC275 is one of the most neutral tube amps I have ever heard. Just so we are on the same page what version is your MC275, all of my comparisons were with a new MC275 IV.

Victor

I agree, I have both the 275 IV and 501 and as long as the speakers allow the 275 to drive them well, mine are fairly easy to drive, the bass is very close. Amazing for a tube amp! :yes:

Hi Victor, no idea about the version of my amp. I bought it from Australian dealer so probably made at 2005. Anyway until my pocket allows upgrade, I will enjoy my audio. Jazz/classic has no problem.
Bob

Bob,
That would be the newest version MC275 IV. The easy way to tell if you have the newest version of the MC275 is it has a power switch on it.

Victor

This post is a little late but I also have a set of LS340s in addition to a PS112 powered subwoofer. They are hooked up to a MA6500 integrated amp. I let the LS340s run full range and have the sub low pass filter set at 60Hz. The resulting sound is absolutely wonderful. The low bass is there in spades but the sub does not call attention to itself in anyway. I can move anywhere around the room and the low bass seems to come from all directions. The engineers at McIntosh did a great job designing their main speakers and sub to work together flawlessly in producing an almost magical sound.