MC2300 vs MC7300 vs MC300 vs MC302

Well, I can say that the more senior members of this forum have been a big help to me. They may be a bit older but, they are young at heart. There is a lot of knowledge here and a lot of good people willing to share it.

Old thread but I thought I'd add my 2 cents worth. I have a 3Y MC2300 and I use a C47 preamp, lol. A few years between the two but the sound is magic. The speakers are Paradigm Signature S8 v.3 with two SVS SB2000. It's in the basement and I can shake the house and you can hear it from the street and still not annoy the MC2300. The SB2000's are there for low levels to fill in the bass. An MC2300 really has to be experienced to be appreciated.

AndyPrice44 said:

I am thinking about a C29 and a MC2255 to go with my JBL L112. The speakers and the Pre/Amp combination were all made in 1983 which happens to be the year I was born. I think that would make a nice vintage system. Haha, I'm beginning to be vintage myself....

Thanks again guys for all the help. I enjoy reading what you all have to say. Hope everyone has a good day.

Andy

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I suspect you will enjoy a system with MC2255 amp, C29 preamp, and JBL 112 speakers. I recently put together similar system with MC2255 amp, C33 preamp, and JBL 4430 monitors. I enjoy it very much.

OldMcintosh said:

Old thread but I thought I'd add my 2 cents worth. I have a 3Y MC2300 and I use a C47 preamp, lol. A few years between the two but the sound is magic. The speakers are Paradigm Signature S8 v.3 with two SVS SB2000. It's in the basement and I can shake the house and you can hear it from the street and still not annoy the MC2300. The SB2000's are there for low levels to fill in the bass. An MC2300 really has to be experienced to be appreciated.View attachment 2172818 View attachment 2172818

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Still use my pair every day.

Look at an owners manual on this website for a MC 7300 and see how much power it will put out driving a 2 ohm load from the 8 ohms tap. Or How much power it will put out with a 1 ohm load on the 4 ohm taps. Both very close or exceeding 900 watts. But then you have to have ample power from your wall AC jacks. Wow! Only the direct coupled 7200 can exceed those output to load ratios. The newer the amps have less margin. But then the newer amps are so much better in other ways. Lower distortion, higher damping factors, and much better signal to noise if you are using speakers with higher efficiencies. If I were using speakers with higher sensitivities I would want more signal to noise. But in my case 113 to 118 db signal to noise is all I will ever need. So if all the amps were performing as new I would choose the 302 first. Then the 7300 second and the 2300 last. I'd pass on the MC300. Thats just me. I am using MC 830's with my stereo pushing the 4 ohm load of XRT 28's. I seldom go over 60 watts unless its a direc to disc LP or a CD from Telarc or Reference Recordings. Some peaks can be out of sight almost pegging the meters. but no power guard lights thus far. My favorite amps to tri-amp with were 7300's, for mids and another for tweeters. If I were using MID bass speakers I would use 2 7300's. The subs would get pushed by either two or 4 or 2500's or 2600's. After later models came along we had tried Crown with out much success and switched to QSC because they had their own form of Power Guard that worked as well as Mac's did for commercial and entertainment systems. They weighed less, were smaller in size with low distortion and much cheaper. Never had one fail either. In that respect they were much better than the 7300's and 2255/2250 Mac amps. The 2500's and 2600's were almost perfect. One 2500 gave us issues but it was covered by almost a half inch of dust and dirt. I cleaned it up on site and it was still running when I retired years later. Remember no matter which model you choose keep them cool as you can.

Opinions are like . . . well . . .

I currently own an MC7300, (2)MC2300s, (2)MC2500s, and (2)MC2600s . . . among others. I love 'em all. But, my MC2300s are parked next to me in the rack in my office and are used every single day. In fact, for 25 years, I've been using an MC2300 daily. These are great amplifiers by any measure. I don't ever feel like - ya' know, I wonder what a XXX would sound like in this system.

I think it's safe to say that the MC2300 has the largest cult following of any solid state McIntosh amplifier to date. There is a reason for that.

twiiii said:

......... So if all the amps were performing as new I would choose the 302 first. Then the 7300 second and the 2300 last. I'd pass on the MC300. That's just me.

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So the lack of front panel level controls on an MC300 is a deal breaker? It's the same as a 7300. If you had an MC2300 and MC300 sitting in front of you, you would pick the MC2300? The MC300 gets no respect.

According to the Mcintosh Compendium.....

Amp 302 7300/300 2300

Power 300wpc 300wpc 300wpc

Headroom 1.8dB ? ?

THD .005% .005% .25%

H&N -95dBA -105dBA -90dBA The MC302 manual says 95dB Balanced (120dB below rated output) How does the 120 compare with the -105 and -90 numbers?

Damping >40 >40 >14

PG PG PG No PG

Wt 98 lb 79 lb 128 lb

Nothing wrong with the MC300. You seem to be the one that has done the most research on it. From that info, I've gleaned that it's really nothing more than an updated MC7300 with rear mounted gain controls and a 12V trigger (which is nice!). McIntosh seems to support that. Quite an attractive amp as well.

There are a few pieces in the McIntosh line where there just aren't many authorities - the MC2002 being another. To me, that adds to the allure of a piece - not subtracts.

I have a MC300 that I've done a little messaging to. In addition to changing out ALL electrolytic caps and upgrading all the caps in the signal path with film caps, I replaced the input board and driver boards Op Amps with Sparkos Labs SS3602's. These are simple plug in replacements. It takes longer to get the cover off than the swap out. Sound wise it was like lifting a blanket off the speakers, very well worth it. I also upgraded the voltage regulators with the Sparkos Labs SS7812 & SS7912.

A little while ago the left channel stop working. I found the collector insulating paper, that's right paper, failed on Q26 causing the collector with 87 volts on it to go to ground.This took out Q26 and after quite a bit of searching found it also damaged Q11 and Q12 on the left driver board. I assumed that the insulating material was mica and was a little shocked to find it was paper. I've replaced all of the Q18 thru Q29 transistors with silicone ones.

Still a fun read this one ...

damacman said:

Opinions are like . . . well . . .

I currently own an MC7300, (2)MC2300s, (2)MC2500s, and (2)MC2600s . . . among others. I love 'em all. But, my MC2300s are parked next to me in the rack in my office and are used every single day. In fact, for 25 years, I've been using an MC2300 daily. These are great amplifiers by any measure. I don't ever feel like - ya' know, I wonder what a XXX would sound like in this system.

I think it's safe to say that the MC2300 has the largest cult following of any solid state McIntosh amplifier to date. There is a reason for that.

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I miss my Mc2300's. The bottom end, was superb!

damacman said:

One thing to consider that you may have not already. The MC2300, MC7300, and MC300 can all be used in mono. So, if you decide that you need more horsepower or would like to try McIntosh mono blocks it's a simple as purchasing a second MC7300. That's FAR cheaper than buying a pair of MC501s or MC601s on the used market. Back in about 1995, I ran MC2300s mono to my Altecs and had a blast with that set up. I liked it so much, I ran it for a few years until I moved into a house that had a much smaller listening space. Honestly, I'm not sure if a pair of MC1000s would have been much of an upgrade, but who knows. Not many folks then were in a position to purchase the MC1000s so I always considered myself a bit on the cutting edge if you will.

To me, McIntosh amplifiers have a special something I've just not found in other amplifiers that I've owned. I'm sure in a few months, you'll be able to identify with this.

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I bought my first Mc2300, from an Electrical Engineer, in New Jersey. I paid $1300 for it.
In pointing out the .5 ohm tap, he said to me: " I could Weld with this amp, if I wanted to"!