re: Audiophile/Vinyl Thread - Post Pics, Advice, Questions, Setups, etc.

Love Bobby Bland



Some Saturday listening...

Love it.





Taking it way back this evening! Reminds me that I haven't watched Diner in awhile, I need to fix that.

quote:

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Dion

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You are going back a bit! Good stuff.

Speaking of going back a few years, I did just that this evening...


...I powered up one of my old McIntosh MC 2105 amps (I have 2 of them) for the first time in a at least 4 years. I let it sit powered up for 24 hours to let the caps fully charge after sitting for so long (I really should have used a variac to slowly bring them back up)---but so far, so good!!

This amp was built in 1968, making it approximately 48 years old. It retailed for $750 back then ($5100 in 2016 dollars). It's power rating is 105W per channel, and it weighs near 80 lbs.

The glass faceplate was replaced on it about 6 years ago with a new one from McIntosh after I accidentally cracked the original face while moving it. (Yes--they still had a few in stock--after 42 years!--one of the many reasons why Mac hold its value so well).

I connected the Magneplanars up to the amp and am using the Peachtree Pre amp, and it is doing a pretty darn good job playing "Synchronicity"--The Police from a CD.

Here are a couple pics--they are a little dark as I was trying to capture the "blue glow" from the meters. These old pieces just don't have the meter light output of the newer pieces of gear.

It is sitting on 4 Nordost isolation feet, thus raising it about an inch off the floor.

hey marco.... this is something that got recommended on stereophile.

Onkyo TX-NR838 --> $700
(supports FLAC/WAV/DSD, phono, and DLNA)
LINK

Polk Audio RTi A7 --> $500 each
(3-way)
LINK

Pro Ject Debut Carbon --> $400
LINK

Total cost is $2100 + tax and shipping (probably free).

not sure i'm liking what i'm reading on the polks and i'm not sure about that amp. seems to be good money for something that isn't necessarily the best for the money... the polks seem to need some power due to inefficiency. seems to be other things out there that are close in cost. like the focal 714s and a couple others... but what do i know.

I haven't forg about you--just got busy. I wouldn't do the Onkyo or Polks--but that is me. The Onkyo is a home theater receiver, not an integrated amp. The Focals are good, but are bookshelf speakers...let me do some looking over the next few days.

And keep in mind, you can usually negotiate about 20% off when purchasing from one of the big online stores.

You can get a pair of Magneplanar MMG for $600, but will need a powerful amp--like 100-150 Wpc. They are power hungry and also are a 4 ohm speaker--meaning they present a difficult load for many amplifiers. They don't get to the low notes, but you can add a $500-600 subwoofer later when you get more $$, and the combo makes a great "large" speaker.

That would be a smaller version of the Magneplanar 1.7 that is in some of my system pictures. I use a 10 year old Paradigm SW-1000 sub...it has a 10" woofer and will shake the walls if I want it to. You could actually get away with a smaller sub, like an 8" sub, with the Magneplanar .7 speaker.

Again, the nice part is that you can add the sub at a later date.

Listened to "Disintegration" by The Cure in its entirety for the first time on vinyl yesterday. Such a damn good album and it sounds amazing. Even on the outside of the album it says, "This music was mixed to be played loudly...turn it up."

It's terrific. Same Hoffman/Gray mastering as the original.