2. amps-preamps
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Why does this old tube gear sound so good?

I have a realtively modest system...Rotel cdp feeding an MSB Link dac, Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 Sig preamp with Telefunken 12at7 tube, Classe 10 amplifier driving North Creek Music Borealis speakers....Kimber and Cardas cables.

Every once in a while I pull out some vintage tube gear that I have collected...in this case a McIntosh C-11 tube preamp and a pair of McIntosh MC-60 tube amps.

I carefully insert the Mac stuff, make sure connections are good and everything fires up OK, and then.....magic.

The normal gear doesn't sound bad by any means, but with the Mac gear it just sounds more like music, more alive, robust and palpable. I know this has been discussed hundreds of times before on this forum, but I am always surprised by how good this 50 year old, original condition gear sounds.
stuartbmw3
salectric
768 posts
 
I am not surprised at all by your preference for the Mac gear. My question is why do you use your "normal" gear when the vintage eqpt sounds better?

Dave
jax2
3,031 posts
 
I'm sure the Mac gear you mention sounds very nice. In contrast to your SS Classe system it is certain to provide a markedly different sound. I wonder if that difference might be more a matter of tubes vs ss, as opposed to 'old' tube gear sounding best. Have you tried other, more modern tube kits and compared them to the Mac stuff? You might like a whole variety of 'newer' tube gear as well, perhaps even more than the vintage Mac stuff. I guess my question is, on what basis are you concluding the that it's just "old" tube gear...what else have you compared it to?

Marco
markphd
667 posts
 
Tubes are an old and mature technology. As a result, tube based technology has been good for a long time, if implemented properly. And I believe it is generally accepted that early Mac equipment was well engineered for its time. I don't think it would be as good as state of the art modern tube gear, but it should stand up very well to lesser, modern gear. You should use it and enjoy it.
fatparrot
1,314 posts
 
I have been told that the old tube output x-formers are "better" than the newer ones. Same thing with the older oil capacitors, which, I believe, contained PCB's...now banned.

I'm not sure if this is true, but hobbyists will pay BIG BUCKS for these parts...much like for NOS tubes. I have experience with NOS tubes, and I can assure you that modern tubes do not have the fidelity or the longevity of NOS tubes.
chazzbo
1,007 posts
 
Everybody's on the mark hear but wonder what you'd think of the newer tube gear say newer mac tube stuff?Would it have advantages in lack of distortion yet still have that "good" upper harmonic distortion which is essentially what we like about tubes?You should go listen and see what you think.And maybe you sell this primary set up and your classic stuff and get one set up of updated classic gear.
Chazz
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