McIntosh Tube or Solid State - what way to go?

The cliche is that Mac tubes sound SS and vice versa, though I'm not sure how true that is: I have no experience with Mac tube amps. I do have SS MC501 monos and I really like them--they remind me in some ways of my 2A3 tube system in midrange bloom and emotive communication, and they provide an amazing grip and bass foundation that's hard to find in tubes. I can't say they're as resolving in the HF or as 3-D as the best tube amps I've heard (or the best class A SS), but the sound is very rich, coherent, and satisfying.

Thanks for this. Interesting what you say re the sound of the 501's SS, I am trying the MC7000 and as it is burning in the sound character is changing to what you describe with your 501s. It looks like these amps need lots of burn in before they come alive. How long did your 501's take to burn in? What pre are you using?

I've only had them for a few weeks and bought them used so they were well broken in. As a preamp I've been using a Bent TAP-X passive with Slagle autoformers, which is a terrific unit though not ideal for the MC501. A brand new C2300 arrives this week, which I expect to be wonderful with these amps in my system and supply that last bit of HF resolution that I feel is their one weakness right now. A friend has this combo absolutely loves it...and he's owned a ridiculous amount of excellent gear. Good luck with your MC7000. I've not heard it but I'd guess it'll be terrific.

Hi, how did the 2300 workout?

I've owned a 275 tube, 402 SS and C2300 preamp all at the same time. In my system the tube amp was more transparent than the solid state. Although the 402 had much better control over the speakers (Quads & Wilsons), it sounded a little veiled especially at the frequency extremes.

Regardless of the amp, the C2300 was excellent with a very good internal phono stage. The preamp was extremely quiet and transparent with no tube noise.

Overall my preference was for the tube amp, but it just couldn't drive my new speakers appropriately.

Once you break in the C2300, try rolling the tubes. If you are not using vinyl, you only need to change out the 2 line stage tubes. If you will use the built in phono stage, you will want to change those tubes as well. I particularly like Telefunken.