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Bought an MC250. Great sounding amp


avguytx

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Just got a call from the Mac tech in Little Rock...my amp should be ready by Friday. Says it's singing like a bird and commended me on what soldering work I'd done thus far. One set of output transistors had been replaced in the past but were Mac units so all good. He's setting up the bias now through some testing and it'll be good to go. Awesome. Guess I'm making a trip to Little Rock on Friday. :)

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16 hours ago, avguytx said:

 

We have one of those, too, in Little Rock that snags everything Klipsch and Mac and flips them. 

 

I ended up taking my MC250 to a tech in Little Rock that's worked on Mac since about 1973 or so. I'd rather pay them to do it right. 

 

We have more than one flipper in Little Rock more like 3 or 4. I'm in LR as well. The one running all the repeat ads is the one that has done the most damage.

 

I'm currently trying to find a pair of Heresy for a friends girlfriend. They are even selling beaters for close to $500. I'll have to score something in Memphis or Tulsa to get a decent price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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That's true. There's definitely more than one in LR. Finding anything reasonably priced anymore on CL just hardly happens. Yard sales, estate sales and thrift stores are about the last there is but that's almost gone too. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted those years. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I didn't get the amp back last Friday but tech called and MC250 is ready to roll. He added on bias control as the older Macs were a fixed bias and finicky at that (he said). Based on some of the date codes on the capacitors I left with him and other tidbits of information, the amp was made the last week of 1967. How ironic that almost 50 years to the date it was made, it's gotten a new lease on life. He also tested out the 9300uf main filter caps and they were fine so back in they went. Looks like I'll have some 22,000uf caps for sale soon! I'll be picking it up Friday morning most likely and will hopefully get to listen to it on "my Belle's" sometime over the holiday weekend. They are being partially taken apart tonight, top sections anyway, so the oil and sealer finish can go on and be done by hopefully Sunday.

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" I had MC2100 in mind here, 2W rating.  Going to higher power is fine. "

 

I guess I have had to fix the solder joints when they crystallize (after many years) and stop conducting.

 

Sometimes I just wick out the old solder and apply new, depends on if the board is baked (badly discolored).

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I believe the stock 9300uf caps are back in and the tech didn't believe they needed to be changed out. I'm pretty sure they were tested under load from knowing his reputation as having been a Mac tech for 44 years. But if the new ones should go back in being that the others are 50 years old, I can do that. I just want it to be right if I do after spending the money to get it gone completely through by him. 

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With these types of speaker terminals that they use, what's the general way everyone is hooking up larger wire to these? Just soldering on new spade connectors on the wire that fit and calling it good? I have banana connections on both ends of the speaker cables currently and have thought about getting some of these connectors for amp terminals and at the crossovers since both use similar terminal strips. The other two amps I have, Dynaco VTA ST-70 & Carver M-1.0t MkII, both have banana jacks and will get rotated in on occasion and possibly swapping around speakers between my Klipsch CF-3's and the Belle's. I guess I could make a dedicated set of speaker cables for each setup which would't be too bad. It's just wire... 

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Yep.  Those are the ones like what I've looked at from this seller on Amazon.  I'll pay a little more for them but they'll be here in 2 days on Prime.  ha  Like anything, reviews will always be all over the place and for the minimal I do actually swap things, I believe they'll work fine.  Thanks for the info, Jim.

 

Edit:  Found an 8 pack that can be here by Saturday.  ha

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I've got the amp back now.  Bad thing is (if there is one), is that I can't play it on the Belle's tonight as they're taken apart and being finished out.  It will be maybe Sunday before they're back together.  I guess I can drag the CF-3's over for the time being so I can listen to it.  Not the worst thing ever...

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  • 1 month later...
On 12/21/2017 at 3:32 PM, avguytx said:

I've got the amp back now.  Bad thing is (if there is one), is that I can't play it on the Belle's tonight as they're taken apart and being finished out.  It will be maybe Sunday before they're back together.  I guess I can drag the CF-3's over for the time being so I can listen to it.  Not the worst thing ever...

So what ever happened?   Your 250 up and running?

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I guess I updated things in other threads but never back here.  Yes, MC250 is up and running and sounds great.  I can't say it's any better or worse than the VTA ST-70 that I've also had hooked to the Belle's.  With my tinnitus, any major to mid-level discernible and subtle differences are pretty much a moot point, I've decided.  But it's a great sounding amp and I wish I could really say I could hear a difference in it over the others but I really can't.  Both amps sound great and I doubt I really buy any more amps.  Maybe I'll hear more changes of sound quality after I get the Type AA crossovers built that have all new parts in them; caps, coils, autoformers, etc.  Who knows...

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9 minutes ago, avguytx said:

I guess I updated things in other threads but never back here.  Yes, MC250 is up and running and sounds great.  I can't say it's any better or worse than the VTA ST-70 that I've also had hooked to the Belle's.  With my tinnitus, any major to mid-level discernible and subtle differences are pretty much a moot point, I've decided.  But it's a great sounding amp and I wish I could really say I could hear a difference in it over the others but I really can't.  Both amps sound great and I doubt I really buy any more amps.  Maybe I'll hear more changes of sound quality after I get the Type AA crossovers built that have all new parts in them; caps, coils, autoformers, etc.  Who knows...

Do I remember correctly that you also purchased CT120 tweeters and A55G mids?  Have you considered a Type A crossover rather than the AA since you have the CT120's?  Just a thought....

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3 minutes ago, jimjimbo said:

Do I remember correctly that you also purchased CT120 tweeters and A55G mids?  Have you considered a Type A crossover rather than the AA since you have the CT120's?  Just a thought....

 

Yes, I've got all new speakers...K-33, A-55g's and CT120's.  I'd mentioned the same thing to Dean and he still recommended the AA.  I guess I could just alter the original set that I put the Russian PIO caps on and convert those to Type A since the Audyn caps are pretty much mounted and wired on the new set of AA's I'm building.

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3 minutes ago, jimjimbo said:

Hmmmm.....I wonder why?  He must have been liquored up.....

 

Maybe he thought I was one of those "volume throttlers" that gave the knob too much of a twist.  haha.  I don't plan on running the 450wpc Carver amp on them but, even if I hooked it up to them, I'm not going to want to blow everything I just bought.  I have common sense.  I may just try it with the other AA crossovers because I'm really not thrilled with those caps.  Seems like a phasing issue; some songs sound completely out of phase to the point where I get up and check balance, connection, etc.  I may have to buy a couple of those caps you're selling off.

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