Does anyone own these or heard them? I am very curious to know how they sound. They are very reasonably priced as well. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.
http://www.mcalisteraudio.com
http://www.mcalisteraudio.com
Mcalister Audio products???
- Thread starter jtwrace
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stereoman
Well-known member
Hi:
Peter McAlister was the guest speaker at a recent meeting of the Toronto Area Audio Society (http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?board=92.0). He talked for 2 hours about tube amplifier design theory without putting me to sleep, an impressive feat in itself
. He said that by far the most important aspect of an amplifier design is the circuit, and that upgraded wires, capacitors, fuses, etc. have relatively little effect on the quality of sound reproduction. We hope he will bring an operational unit to a future meeting so we can judge it for ourselves.
Bill.
Peter McAlister was the guest speaker at a recent meeting of the Toronto Area Audio Society (http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?board=92.0). He talked for 2 hours about tube amplifier design theory without putting me to sleep, an impressive feat in itself
. He said that by far the most important aspect of an amplifier design is the circuit, and that upgraded wires, capacitors, fuses, etc. have relatively little effect on the quality of sound reproduction. We hope he will bring an operational unit to a future meeting so we can judge it for ourselves.Bill.
Joey_V
Well-known member
I have a local audiophile acqaintance who bought a MCalister amp and he had so much trouble with it. Not only did it take an absurd amount of time to build it, but problems forced my local guy to ship it to another local audiophile to do repairs (who was commissioned by Peter).... until the repair guy stopped repairing the MCalister products due to too many problems.
My advice, dont get it. Peter, I hear, is a great guy.... but there's a difference between being passionate about something and being a good businessman.
Joey
My advice, dont get it. Peter, I hear, is a great guy.... but there's a difference between being passionate about something and being a good businessman.
Joey
SCompRacer
Active member
I figured I would weigh in here as I am the repair guy Joey is referring to. Hi Joey. I have had many lengthy conversations with Peter about his design and have some background in electronics so he was confident in allowing me to make some repairs locally instead of shipping the amps back to him. Peter is terrific to speak with and is very knowledgeable. I have no bad feelings toward Peter and wish him success. I will just relate my past experiences with him.
The McAlister PP150 was my first tube amp and I had it for a year. Other than shipping with the wrong binding posts, I had no problems with it. Sonically, the top end was extended and smooth. Mids were very natural, lower mids were nicely balanced, and the vocals had a warm tube presence. The bass was extended, tight, fast and articulate. Overall it was a very musical amp. I ended up selling my Rotel RB1090 after hearing the PP150. Now I had the first design amp, but the second (and current) design sound the same as I have heard two of them. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I had reactions of it is ugly, it looks home built, and it has a manly look to it.
What Joey said is accurate. The only thing I can add is one of the problems my friend experienced was due to a ground loop type hum which I did not have at my house. There was a problem with one tube socket that would result in intermittent contact and cause crackling from the left channel. A resistor blew and he could not bias that tube, which we thought may have been caused by the loose socket. I replaced the resistor, tube, and tightened up the socket terminals and it worked fine here. I gave it back to him and it happened again, so that is when I ceased doing any further repairs on it.
There were three of us in the Chicago area that had PP150 tube amps. Along with delayed delivery dates, packaging was an issue. One of the amps arrived with broken binding posts. The other two did not have 5 way binding posts, so I agreed to swap them out rather than ship the amps back to Canada. Other than that, two of us were pleased with the amps when we owned them. Two of us ordered ML33 pre amps and waited months after the promised delivery date. I had to return mine for a larger power transformer (it would get very hot), and upon return it was fine.
If you decided to order an amp, I would suggest asking for a picture of the completed amp before it is shipped to make sure it is what you expect. I understand he has one or more techs working with him now, and maybe he has went with different packaging , so perhaps the things I have mentioned are no longer an issue.
The McAlister PP150 was my first tube amp and I had it for a year. Other than shipping with the wrong binding posts, I had no problems with it. Sonically, the top end was extended and smooth. Mids were very natural, lower mids were nicely balanced, and the vocals had a warm tube presence. The bass was extended, tight, fast and articulate. Overall it was a very musical amp. I ended up selling my Rotel RB1090 after hearing the PP150. Now I had the first design amp, but the second (and current) design sound the same as I have heard two of them. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I had reactions of it is ugly, it looks home built, and it has a manly look to it.
What Joey said is accurate. The only thing I can add is one of the problems my friend experienced was due to a ground loop type hum which I did not have at my house. There was a problem with one tube socket that would result in intermittent contact and cause crackling from the left channel. A resistor blew and he could not bias that tube, which we thought may have been caused by the loose socket. I replaced the resistor, tube, and tightened up the socket terminals and it worked fine here. I gave it back to him and it happened again, so that is when I ceased doing any further repairs on it.
There were three of us in the Chicago area that had PP150 tube amps. Along with delayed delivery dates, packaging was an issue. One of the amps arrived with broken binding posts. The other two did not have 5 way binding posts, so I agreed to swap them out rather than ship the amps back to Canada. Other than that, two of us were pleased with the amps when we owned them. Two of us ordered ML33 pre amps and waited months after the promised delivery date. I had to return mine for a larger power transformer (it would get very hot), and upon return it was fine.
If you decided to order an amp, I would suggest asking for a picture of the completed amp before it is shipped to make sure it is what you expect. I understand he has one or more techs working with him now, and maybe he has went with different packaging , so perhaps the things I have mentioned are no longer an issue.
Last edited:
Joey_V
Well-known member
Rich... nice to see you here!
Glad to know that I was accurate with my description. I've heard that the Mcalister products sound good, no doubt... I even thought of getting one myself. But even Victor told me not to.... due to the reliability issues.
Anyway, do you still fix for Peter or not?
Joey
SCompRacer
Active member
Thanks! It is good to be here.
No, I do not. It was just done to avoid sending the gear back. Victor's experience was the least best so I can understand his recommendation to you or anyone else not to order one.
