McIntosh Guy Going Tubes? (Maybe?)

MC275 old or new, either, old school if you can get them, I believe the output transformers could have been better.
To me the best and only good Mac, especially on Quad 57 ESL’s. The s/s stuff, for glitz queens.

Cheers George

MC30s .... Particulary ones restored by Yves Beauvais at Vintage Vacuum Audio have a much better sound than any of the other McIntosh Tube Amps IMO. You would need to have fairly efficient speakers .. like 92db-98db.
i am currently using a pair of MC30s with MX151 pre/pro (has men220 or Lyngdorf Room Correction built in ).
I am using Purist Audio Cables Dominus (Fluid ) Interconnect and Domius (Fluid) Power Cables. Purist Audio HDMI into the MX151 from my sources (OPPO-203,JRiver Media Center PC, Roku Ultra into the OPPO) Speaker cables are the Starsound Sonoran Desert Plateau.
Speakers are Tekton Double Impact (96db).
I have never in my lifetime had better sound !
I am finished wanting to change any component in the System.
We all know that most of us audio types are NEVER completely satisfied.
I AM COMPLETELY SATISFIED
My past amps have been :
Rogue Audio ST-100
McIntosh Mc2205
McIntosh MC2255
McIntosh Mc240
McIntosh MC225
McIntosh Mc275
Aric Audio Transcend Push/Pull
Emotiva XPA-1
Nad 218THX
This is just my opinion of course .

C2600 preamp with a good quality SS power amp is the way to go, IMHO. You can roll tubes taste...

I agree with ^
Keep the 601s and get the C2600.
I have the C2500 with an MC 452 and the MEN 220. Very happy with this combination 

I agree with tlong1958,
I have a C2500 with Genalex Gold Lion tubes and an MC452 and would not change.  I used to enjoy a C50 and when I received the C2500, there was a small, but noticeable change in the "musicality", especially voices and acoustic instruments; when I swapped out the stock tubes for the Genalex, those qualities improved even more.
The MC601's are such great amplifiers!  I personally would not change those out.