I'm one of those people who so swears, but with one very important (and unfortunate, for McIntosh) caveat: If you only ever heard a 275 with the stock Russian/Chinese tubes, then you have no idea what it can do! But short of actually hearing one properly tubed, I direct you to Steve Hoffman's very eloquent description of the difference, in his tone mag review, issue 9, I think.
Auditioned CJ's ~ LP-140 Mono-Blocks and then a Pair of ~ VTL 450 Tubed Mono-Blocks..
- Thread starter Robin
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No argument from me. I only heard a stock MC275. Also a pair of 275's (150 watts bridged!) may be a totally different story with Summits...
... and you have to acknowledge McIntosh's VERY high retained value and reliability.
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I just think it's a shame Mac is still using such crappy OEM tubes. As little as five years ago, they really hadn't much choice, but today there are some excellent current manufacture tubes, which are in good supply, and would at most only add $100 to the price. Heck, in the 'good old days' McIntosh used the the best: Telefunken, Genalex, etc. Of course back then, those great tubes only cost them a dollar or three more than average sounding ones. Anyway, there are a lot of new 275 owners that feel as I do, so it's just a matter of time I'm sure. McIntosh has traditionally been slow to make changes. On the other hand, they are launching a new $7K turntable, complete w/ arm, cartridge and a big blue meter (the MT-10) along with two new tubed preamps that feature separate MC and MM phonostages!
