tidmack Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 (edited) I've had my Mac MC2105 and MX113 for just under 20 years. The AM tuner has been giving me grief for a while and a noisy phono channel recently gave me enough reason to send the MX113 to Terry. Knowing the history of my MC2105 back to the 80s, I knew it never had been serviced, so I knew the caps were overdue for replacement in it, too. My gear arrived at Terry's house on March 1st and I picked it up at FedEx today. Everything you've read about Terry is spot on: he's kind, thorough, incredibly good at his craft, and reasonably priced. Both pieces were treated to his audio path upgrade and Terry includes some personalized notes with his work. He noted that a previous FM tuner repair to my 113 was done incorrectly (this repair was done by a WELL known Milwaukee-area McIntosh guy), which plagued my tuning capabilities for the last 8-9 years. He also pinpointed the problem with my phono channel, which now is dead quiet. After updates, my 2105 benched at 140 WPC in Terry's shop. It's a completely different sounding amp, which is taking a little bit to get used to. It's like a veil has been taken off my speakers, but it's more pronounced than the improvement from crossover recapping. I've dreamed of having my McIntosh equipment gone through by Terry for YEARS, but held off out of fear of the equipment breaking in transit and thinking the cost would be more than I could afford. FedEx handled my factory boxes with care and the trip to TN and back to WI was completed without issue. On the cost side of things, even with shipping, Terry is competitive with local Milwaukee-area shops. AND IT'S TERRY EFFING DEWICK DOING THE WORK! Three things to beware of: I caught Terry at the best time, coming off his winter vacation. I coordinated the date to have my gear arrive with his back to work date, so my gear was on the bench within a few weeks. When I called last summer, Terry was 120 days out, which is much more common. For me, the time away from the McIntosh was time for me to play with a Marantz unit I've had in a closet. Two, Terry has at least one cat. If a few stray cat hairs in your box will give you fits, just pretend they're not there. Lastly, I think Terry or his wife might be a smoker. I have a good nose and noticed a faint, but noticeable, scent of smoke on my gear when it returned. It's nothing like the stink of some of the gear I've purchased from estates over the years, but it needs to be mentioned. Would it stop me from sending gear to Terry? Absolutely not, as I know it'll diminish quickly. So, friends, the bottom line is if you have some Mac gear that hasn't been recapped or professionally gone through, do not hesitate to send it to Terry DeWick. I think you'll be blown away by how reasonable it is to have this stuff gone through. I don't want to talk prices in a post, but feel free to PM and I'll share both invoices if it'll convince you to have some work done. Enough typing, I have music to listen to Jeff Edited April 8, 2016 by tidmack 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockhound Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Good to know I need to get my 2105 to him soon. Where did you get your shipping boxes? I couldn't find anything on his site detailing the audio path upgrade you mentioned what does that cover? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidmack Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 Rockhound, I purchased boxes right from McIntosh. I thought that would be overkill, but in hindsight, it's the only way I'd ship McIntosh again. To give an example of their robust-ness, the 2105 BOX weighs almost 25 lbs. My understanding from my email from Terry is the audio path upgrade includes the recapping (Nichicon Muse (sp?) caps), checking resistors, and checking response paths. I'm not super technical, so I might not have all of this 100% correct. As Terry finds noise, he replaces the bad resistors. When specifications meet or exceed McIntosh standards, he stops. I hope this helps. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 I've had my Mac MC2105 and MX113 for just under 20 years. The AM tuner has been giving me grief for a while and a noisy phono channel recently gave me enough reason to send the MX113 to Terry. Knowing the history of my MC2105 back to the 80s, I knew it never had been serviced, so I knew the caps were overdue for replacement in it, too. My gear arrived at Terry's house on March 1st and I picked it up at FedEx today. Everything you've read about Terry is spot on: he's kind, thorough, incredibly good at his craft, and reasonably priced. Both pieces were treated to his audio path upgrade and Terry includes some personalized notes with his work. He noted that a previous FM tuner repair to my 113 was done incorrectly (this repair was done by a WELL known Milwaukee-area McIntosh guy), which plagued my tuning capabilities for the last 8-9 years. He also pinpointed the problem with my phono channel, which now is dead quiet. After updates, my 2105 benched at 140 WPC in Terry's shop. It's a completely different sounding amp, which is taking a little bit to get used to. It's like a veil has been taken off my speakers, but it's more pronounced than the improvement from crossover recapping. I've dreamed of having my McIntosh equipment gone through by Terry for YEARS, but held off out of fear of the equipment breaking in transit and thinking the cost would be more than I could afford. FedEx handled my factory boxes with care and the trip to TN and back to WI was completed without issue. On the cost side of things, even with shipping, Terry is competitive with local Milwaukee-area shops. AND IT'S TERRY EFFING DEWICK DOING THE WORK! Three things to beware of: I caught Terry at the best time, coming off his winter vacation. I coordinated the date to have my gear arrive with his back to work date, so my gear was on the bench within a few weeks. When I called last summer, Terry was 120 days out, which is much more common. For me, the time away from the McIntosh was time for me to play with a Marantz unit I've had in a closet. Two, Terry has at least one cat. If a few stray cat hairs in your box will give you fits, just pretend they're not there. Lastly, I think Terry or his wife might be a smoker. I have a good nose and noticed a faint, but noticeable, scent of smoke on my gear when it returned. It's nothing like the stink of some of the gear I've purchased from estates over the years, but it needs to be mentioned. Would it stop me from sending gear to Terry? Absolutely not, as I know it'll diminish quickly. So, friends, the bottom line is if you have some Mac gear that hasn't been recapped or professionally gone through, do not hesitate to send it to Terry DeWick. I think you'll be blown away by how reasonable it is to have this stuff gone through. I don't want to talk prices in a post, but feel free to PM and I'll share both invoices if it'll convince you to have some work done. Enough typing, I have music to listen to Jeff Terry is top notch and someone I'm proud to call a friend. He has helped me a number of times find a proper schematic for a piece of Mac gear. One of the only tube techs I will recommend without reservation. Enjoy your gear! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockhound Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Jeff thanks I'll give him a call Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfbane Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 SNIP: 'Lastly, I think Terry or his wife might be a smoker. I have a good nose and noticed a faint, but noticeable, scent of smoke on my gear when it returned. It's nothing like the stink of some of the gear I've purchased from estates over the years, but it needs to be mentioned. Would it stop me from sending gear to Terry? Absolutely not, as I know it'll diminish quickly' If you were in Canada you could buy an odor absorbing rock and bag the unit with the rock inside overnight. Another trick is to bag the equipment with a couple of scented dryer sheets for a couple of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 If I recall, Terry smokes a pipe. (Like a number of people, I've been to his house a couple times and he's been to mine as well) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Oh, and he's got several cats, including one that I think he calls Hitler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbkirsch Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 He does smoke a pipe and he has very pretty and friendly cats. When my Mac pieces are finished, my wife and I will no doubt visit the cats for a bit before we load up my gear and head for home. All good!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivernuggets Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Excellent review Jeff, thanks for posting. Enjoy your 'new' gear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwc Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 He is awesome, but is moving very slow now. The last gear I had there, he had over months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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