New glass not as black!

Searing75

Active Member
I received a new glass face plate for my 2105 from Audio Classics about two months or so ago. I installed it, and comparing it to my C32’s glass, and the old 2105 glass, I found it to be not as black. Also, the lettering, when lit, is not as green. Ryan assured me it was from McIntosh directly after I called him about it. He said they are using a new production method at the factory, and that he would inquire with them, and get back to me if he finds anything out. That was, maybe, two months ago, and no word as of yet. I am going to call again this week. Anyone else notice this with their new glass? The new glass has a white backing just to be sure for comparison purposes. Thanks!
 
Hello Searing75

It is difficult to compare two front glasses with minimum of 25 years between them . Ink are not the same .
When you compare the new front glass of MR78 and the new one , MCD7005, and many other models the panels are different . New production with new process .
The problem regarding "clear black " and " deep black " is new for me but I will not be surprised if there is some difference because of age
I don't understand what you mean by " white backing "
 
Apparently they're being made differently than in the past.

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Yes , apparently

here is a picture of MCD7005 old and new front glasses side by side . We can see all differences . The new is above .
None front glass I may received these last years was like yours. (Your panel miss two thermal shield on the left )

MCD7005-front-glass.JPG
 
Yeah ... maybe one of them thar tropical delusions due to the contrast between the yellow and black. That said, there's about a billion shades of black, and you may find variations between batches even with the best of QC ...

Bout time they did something about the process though. Are they still using that fer shite foam tape that peels the paint off the glass?

PS - I cheated here ... just scraped the bad spots and repainted the areas I stripped. Secret is to feather the paint around the edges of the patches so you don't get any hard lines. I also reguilded the stripes and end caps. Notice the difference?

blue-meters-off.jpg
 
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New excuse to buy new.......Honey the colors just don't match anymore I have to buy a new amp and preamp.....stamping your feet and pouting probably wont help though.......
 
Be an expensive proposition for someone with a big ol' Rack o' Mac ...

Wonder if playing with the lighting temp would change the overall look and make it more like it was?
 
Nice job on this MC2205 front glass !
"stereo power " disapear because the double adhesive tape is pulling the black ink behind !
 
Nice job on this MC2205 front glass !
"stereo power " disapear because the double adhesive tape is pulling the black ink behind !

Give the man a ceegar!

Also patched around the edges where that silly foam was, and around the headphone jack. Most of those I've seen have a telltale ring around them where the paint has cracked away around the retention ring. Sorry I didn't get any before pics - it was truly sad ...

All told, about four bucks and a couple hours of my time.
 
I don't know about the paint situation, but you mentioned that the lettering was not the same green between the two units. In my own experience, even an all original vintage equipment with incandescent lighting there will still be a difference. Especially with the c32 since it uses different type of bulb than the 2105. Things like that can put your OCD in to overdrive. Hours of trial and error with some different shades of filter paper between the plastic diffuser and glass may help. My c32 had the original bulbs that were very weak compared to my other vintage pieces. The brightness of the bulbs will change the shade of green. I ended up doing an LED conversion on the c32 that opened up a whole 'nother can of worms.
 
I agree my MX 151, MVP 891 and 861 aren't as black as my MR-80, 78, C-34,MC 2505 and MPI-4. Now the MC 206 and 207's still look pretty good. I haven't made up my mind on the MR-7084. I don't remember about the MX 119 and MAC-3. I know for sure the MCD 7005 was darker, but its gone now too. There has to be a point in time when things changed. Maybe when Clarion bought them their glass cutting machine???? What do the new just released unts look like? And remember LED lamps have a totally different color temp than quartz halogen or incandescent lamps. And yes if you decrease the voltage to lamps their color temperature will change. Incandescent can go from 3400 deg K down to 2000 quite easily turning from a yel /pink white to almost an orange. Where Quartz stays pretty close to 3200 degrees K. Led is pretty much set as determine by the manufacturer as I remember. Remember noon day sun is over 6000 degrees Kelvin. I set my digital Nikons a 5200 degrees to simulate the touch of blue old E-6 Ektachrome had.

One reason my newer amps look all right is the lighting is from directly over head, where the lighting for the 151 and MVP's strikes the glass at 30 degrees from vertical and that may be part of the issue. The amps are in the shade during daylight hour with the drapes opened. So direct light never strikes the glass. Call Mac and ask?
 
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Could be the paints used are exactly the same, but the glass is different ... who knows?

Short version - get over it, eh. Couple months down the road, you won't even notice it anymore.
 
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