C'mon Caddy, that's no Cimarron in your pic!
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MC2301 - Still a good buy ? or shall I go 611 ?
- Thread starter NullMind
- Start date
Well...people buy all sorts of items that have "capabilities" which are never used. I love the new Corvette and would get one, even though I'd never use it to its full capability...that and my wife would kill me. Several years ago my wife wanted a new stove. The one she wanted (and I purchased) can do many things which she hasn't used and probably never will. So if either of those amp choices floats your boat, I say go for it!
It's not a 30' stretch limo either!
So: MC225 (for tubes) or MC2505 (for SS).
I couldn't agree more. The compulsion to spend $$$ on oversized, back-breaking gear with capability that will never be used (with a given set of speakers in a given setup) is beyond my ability to comprehend. Professional audio reviewers never advocated it (back in the days before snake oil and all sorts of panaceas replaced integrity). My eyes roll whenever I see it done. The "headroom" arguments typically made to justify it are often grossly exaggerated. Sensibly matched equipment wins the most points with me.
End of rant.
I went through a phases in this hobby where I was absolutely convinced in my mind that more boxes equaled better sound. If a component didn’t come with some kind of esoteric quirk like dual volume controls, external power supplies, or better yet two external power supplies there was a strong change I wouldn't give it much consideration. Monoblocks weren’t just an option, they were a requirement. It wasn’t “high‑end” enough unless more than one person was needed to move it.
Somewhere along the way I convinced myself that complexity was the same thing as refinement, and that the real magic only happened once you crossed some arbitrary threshold of boxes, cables, and complexity.
These days…I’ve mellowed out. I don’t hyper focus on stuff like that anymore.
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I bought dual-mono for bragging rights, biamped and triamped to try it out, even have tubes and vinyl because it's cool, but somehow my all-day music comes from streaming into a stereo amp and it makes me very happy.
Leaves a lot of other gear collecting dust and nobody is impressed around here unless it floats.
Leaves a lot of other gear collecting dust and nobody is impressed around here unless it floats.
NullMind
New Member
I decided to change to monoblocks to get a more balanced setup for the speakers, I figured they were worth it, I was indeed planning to get the 275 .. but then the 2301 came to light, and I won’t lie, the style, size, blue dials and presence did won me over
I was just unsure if they were still a good bet when you can get the 611 .. but all I read on my speakers say the tubes will pair nicely, so I will go with the 2301
Thanks everyone for their comments, I do appreciate
twiiii
Lunatic Member
If you have the coin, then I would choose the new MC 3500 M II. I auditioned a pair driving a friend of mine XRT 28s he was picking up to take home from Audio Classics. The new 3500's were well defined with clear clean highs that weren't edgy and the bass was well controlled and very dynamic. Up until then the MC 3500 original had always been my favorite tube amp for my speakers. I also used original 3500's for driving very large Altec Theatre Systems for live concerts and they did a fantastic job. But I'm a SS person now and have been since the middle 70's. I use a MC 207 to tri-amp my L&R HT speakers currently. It does a great job when combined with Urei Crossovers and room Equalizers driven by a MX 151. The other 207 drives the center, rear, and side speakers and helps bi amp the center speaker with the first 207. That gives me two spare channels in case something goes wrong. I use MC 830's driving my pair of 4 ohm XRT 28's. I love the combination of Direct coupled SS mono amps, driving 4 ohm loads giving over 600 watts per channel of continuous out put. Plus I can lift them. 611 would make that almost impossible. One time while auditioning Magico S5 speakers in Portland Oregon I tried a pair of 2301's, 601's and the winner a pre-owned MC 275 mk IV. It got the midrange and lower midrange just right and the highs were nice and smooth with the Magico using the Diamond coated tweeters and the little 275. The 601's sounded a bit edgy and we did not like the lower midrange sound with the 601 amps. I have heard 601's and 611's with other speakers and found no real faults. The 2301's sounded a bit anemic. We used a D-150 as a pre-amp with music from my Apple Mac book at the time. I could have used the EQ function on the Mac Book if I wanted. But with everything set flat the little 275 won. Which was quite surprising to both of us. The main problem was it ran out of steam with only 90 watts or so of power. The new 3500 wasn't available back then, so I would have needed a pair of the original 3500's. So I passed. I don't like the metal dome tweeters Mac uses with it latest line arrays and thats why have XRT 28's. XR 290s were just to big for my application.
I have been toying with the idea of changing my amps to give my Legacy's more power too. I also am considering the 2301's and the 611's. I spoke to Ryan up at Audio Classics and he recommended the 611's. He thought they would be more reliable than the 2301's. Just an FYI.
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the 2301's are my dream amps, since i have become enamored with the tube sound, if you love that too, I have read that people who had heard the 1.2K actually preferred the sound of the 2301's more often than you might believe. BUT KT88's are not cheap these days, and if you should have a tube brand preference, even the recent current production Gold lions can cost $1400 for the 16 you will need to make the amps uniform. KT88's do not last as long as say 12ax7's. If you are in the market for 2301's you could also consider 1.2K's. Next time I go to listen to gear, I am going to out those two amps up against each other to see who wins the battle because both of those amps are about the same cost.
and if you think that is expensive.... I like Telefunken tubes, ( the vintage ones, ) even the 12ax7's arent cheap. now if you wanted vintage telefunken KT88's if you can even find 16 of them, they would cost around 5k for NOS. Crazy huh? sure makes 1.2K mono blocks look like the deal of the century by comparison.....
Beautiful
I'm jealous!
I had 2301s for a while. I loved the sound. LOVED the sound. Enough power for days, anyone who says otherwise is fooling themselves or listening in a concert hall.
The reasons I no longer own the 2301s:
-The cost of new tubes... mentioned above just doing the math at, I dreaded the day of rolling or replacing a full set
-The heat of the tubes in my space. My system is on for 8+ hrs a day, 5+ days a week. It became noticeable and honestly unbearable
-Add the first 2 together, 2,000+ hrs a year
-The binding posts on the back of the amps, absolutely terrible if you are not using banana plugs. I hated them on the MC303, I hated them on the 2301s. It's a shame they have not replaced them by now with something better.
-I must be getting old, but after having larger monos... I was annoyed at the size of the "small" meters
-The same current retail price with poor 2nd hand market price of the 1.25KW. (if you can find a deal used, not bad, if you are paying full retail the 1.25 is a better investment)
Other than that, I don't see how anyone could ever say the 2301s sound bad or don't have enough power. What an awesome amp!
Back to the original question at had. I enjoyed my 601s I had on a daily basis more, easier to live with, quiet all around, bigger meters, at just under 100 lbs each still manageable. I really consider the 600 watt monos from McIntosh their "perfect" amp for reasonable use. Who needs more power, who needs bigger meters, who needs heavier amps, who needs more heat? That's also part of the reason I now have have a pair of 611s stashed for a future system
Finally I think everyone here is in agreement, that "perfect" is never good enough. You always have to go to 11.
So my current daily drivers these days are the pain in the ass to move, overly excessive, hardly ever use more than 5-6 watts SIX MC1.25KWs
Enjoy the 2301s. They are special!
The reasons I no longer own the 2301s:
-The cost of new tubes... mentioned above just doing the math at, I dreaded the day of rolling or replacing a full set
-The heat of the tubes in my space. My system is on for 8+ hrs a day, 5+ days a week. It became noticeable and honestly unbearable
-Add the first 2 together, 2,000+ hrs a year
-The binding posts on the back of the amps, absolutely terrible if you are not using banana plugs. I hated them on the MC303, I hated them on the 2301s. It's a shame they have not replaced them by now with something better.
-I must be getting old, but after having larger monos... I was annoyed at the size of the "small" meters
-The same current retail price with poor 2nd hand market price of the 1.25KW. (if you can find a deal used, not bad, if you are paying full retail the 1.25 is a better investment)
Other than that, I don't see how anyone could ever say the 2301s sound bad or don't have enough power. What an awesome amp!
Back to the original question at had. I enjoyed my 601s I had on a daily basis more, easier to live with, quiet all around, bigger meters, at just under 100 lbs each still manageable. I really consider the 600 watt monos from McIntosh their "perfect" amp for reasonable use. Who needs more power, who needs bigger meters, who needs heavier amps, who needs more heat? That's also part of the reason I now have have a pair of 611s stashed for a future system
Finally I think everyone here is in agreement, that "perfect" is never good enough. You always have to go to 11.
So my current daily drivers these days are the pain in the ass to move, overly excessive, hardly ever use more than 5-6 watts SIX MC1.25KWs
Enjoy the 2301s. They are special!