Ron, my thanks again for your participation in this thread.
I do hear what you are saying. However, in my experience the new McIntosh tube amplifiers did not produce the sweet tube sound that I crave and have heard from older Mac products. Maybe it was the room, the speakers, the newer parts, I am not sure. Your stating that the MC2102 being sort of a goosed up MC275 is encouraging. For whatever reason, I was not able to hear the magic of the 275 in the newer product. Sid Corderman has and will always retain the respect due his long and illustrious career.
I am a fan of the 240, and that is the McIntosh amp I have most often been fortunate enough to be around most. I would not hesitate recommending it or the MC275 were they in production today, which is probably what a great number of us on Audiogon would love to see.
Personally, I am on record as being a fan of the KT88. I have no quarrel with McIntosh embracing the tube, as it offers a pretty full picture of the audio spectrum. While the EL34 is also a great tube, I can understand that McIntosh may not be interested in it. Most companies are not able to have an amplifier based on this tube produce the top and bottom octaves with the same verve as the larger tubes. In my mind, McIntosh would not really face this problem. The 6550 does not, and has never done much for me. Just a personal thing, but I prefer the KT88 or KT90 in any situation I can imagine. You may feel otherwise...
If Mac did produce a smaller amp, I believe the audiophile community has enough knowledge to make good use of it, and possibley even place it in the same exalted status as the MC240. Again, maybe the MC240 is an amp that the world wants to have another go 'round with. Perhaps a reissue? Might serve as a barometer for the company, as did the MC275 Reissue.
Twl, again your comments are on point. The transistor allowed a lot of speaker ideas and dreams to come to fruition from the 1960's through the 1980's. A lot of interesting development was put forth, and in no way do I demean any of it. Many of these designs offered loads which could only be described in generous terms as "difficult".
Jim Thiel, in particular, has often made the statement that he has no regard for the amplifier manufacturers. Thiel will build the best loudspeaker he can, and it is up to the amplifier people to design something capable of mating with it. There is something to be said for that, seeking excellence, all else be damned is a means of advancing the craft.
The early Apogees, also, were a good example of this. I have often heard that the ribbon was little more than a short circuit.
However, that was then, this is now. Loudspeaker manufacturers were in the driver seat for a long time. Their designs, creative or otherwise, dictated the direction of the hobby. They called the shots. Today, the field is more level than it was.
In the mid - 90's, a small but determined, some would say fanatical, following sought out a different path. The renaissance of tubes has only flowered further. More so than any business person would have ever believed or predicted. This, in an industry whose health has not flourished, is only more remarkable. These people, me among them, embraced the sound and culture of the vacuum tube amplifier. Along the lines of the rebirth in popularity of the Harley - Davidson motorcycle, this group was fiercely loyal and ready and willing to spend their money on a technology most had long written off. It was more than a purchase of an appliance, it was buying into a way of thinking. A way of listening. A culture. A way of life.
This movement led to people seeking out loudspeakers which flew in the face of that which had all but owned the high end for so long. Simpler, rather than more complex. Low tech, where measurement and wow factor had so recently been the ultimate. Less drivers. Less parts in the crossovers. More archaic crossover topologies, no longer requiring a phD in something or other to design or even understand. And a rebirth of horns.
Right or wrong, the numbers of this crowd have only swelled, drowning out more "modern" ideals in the high end community. Speaker companies meeting the new paradigm rose up and flourished. Some of the other companies, Thiel(not my intention to single this fine company out) is even now turning its direction, producing a higher sensitivity speaker(wonder if this will be a trend). In this age of mp3 and satellite radio, how could this ever happen?
I often read about the death of high end audio. Reason upon reason as to how the hobby has already been killed. Staring down the road called the future, these sages only see even darker skies ahead.
Me, I see another vision. One of audio as it has always been. A small, dedicated group of people pursuing a hobby they have always been into. The people are often quirky, and hold on to ideals thought to be ludicrous by most, but never wavering. No, it may not be a place where snake oil salesmen can make millions slapping a name and some pretty braiding on a cheaper wire, and creating a cable. The dot - com 90's are over. But, companies producing gear like the McIntosh and Marantz products of old can survive and live the lives they always have. And, us, we'll keep doing what we have always done. Listen, tweak, coax, strain, buy, sell, enjoy, and maybe even talk about it on Audiogon.
