I knew my Magnapans 1.7's needed some real muscle to drive them. I added a Mcintosh C2300 tube preamp to the mix, and I couldn't be happier. This is by far the greatest sound I have ever heard. These amps are so rich sounding that I just can't get enough of them. I have had then on and running over the past 2 years and they have never had one single performance issue.

Excellent Build Quality. Beautiful Glass Front with Blue Power Meters. Lots & lots of headroom.

NONE!

By far the Best Pair of Mono Blocks I have ever had the good fortune to own. When driven by the C100/P100 one could not hope for a more detailed open airy sound with wonderful bass presence. Very neutral accurate reproduction of the source. Throw in a Mc CD Player and to me there simply is nothing better at any price. Maybe it is the Autoformer output but these MC1000's have a warmer more tube like sound than any other solid state amplifiers I have taken the time to listen to. The power meters are a very nice feature as you will never over drive your speakers unless you intend to do so.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom GFA-565's & GFA-555. Harman Kardon HK-870. McIntosh MC7150.

Natural non colored sound Awesome imagining Detailed sound stage High end clarity Real wood cabinents McIntosh quality Good design Still supported by McIntosh

Size and weight May require amp upgrade of optimum performance Foam surronds may require replacemant, typical for 70s and 80s speakers

The XRT20s exhibit awesome imaging and a well defined sound stage. Designed in the late 70s they use a column of 24 1" soft dome tweeters in conjunction with a cabinet containing an 8" midrange and a pair of 12" woofers. Their paper cones provide a natural soft and well detailed sound. This approach may not satisify those searching for bright metallic sounding highs, airy sounding midrange and the thump of newer designed subs. The XRT20s are very capable of showcasing almost any stereo system. They will require a serious power amplifier such as a McIntosh MC2500 or larger for optimum performance. Very comfortable listening levels can be achieved with less than 1 watt of power. Rated at 300 watts and fused for protection they are capable of creating lease breaking sound levels.

Similar Products Used:

Focal, Polk and other McIntosh speakers

Power as much as you want.

Weight (a joke)

Price was for both monos. I bought them to drive my MBL 101d (for this speakers a amp. cannot have too much power). I never had the feeling, that they would not feed my speakers adequate. To me it seems the MC-1000s behave like a (very good) piece of wire, which amplifies. In cannot imagine, that any other amp can “sound better”, and so I have to say it is cheap, if you compare with Levinson, Burmester, etc. Sorry, but I cannot say anything more about the sound, because to my ears it seems they do not “sound” but are absolutely neutral with enormous reserves in power. The big watt meters are undisturbing, especially if you use the hold function. The blue light is very attractive at night. Excellent workmanship!

This is one of the great amps. To bad for the 1 star review guy below. The amp has been in production since 1992 so maybe he was lied to by the guy he bought it from at the auction. The warranty is for the original owner anyway. Maybe UPS even had a hand in this, but no, this guy decides to slam the product and the company. Hardly fair, but freedom of press etc. He says in another review that the mac 250 is a terrible tube amp. BUSTED. It is solid state. I wonder where he thought the tubes were. Or maybe he never actually dealt with it, like the other stuff he slammed. Kind of thought that anyway. Some people couldn't pour the water out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. I love Mac along with other stuff too. Buy what you think sounds good, otherwise you are a loser.

Similar Products Used:

krell pass threshold

none

The review prior to mine was part of a group of anti mac reviews all posted within 10 minutes of one another. Hmm?
Does someone have an agenda.
This amp is probably within a whisker of any solid state amp on the planet in terms of resolution. Plus it is built extremely well. The only problem I've ever heard of were meters (supplied by an outside vendor) and mine was replaced quickly.



jwgorman

Flicker, and power problems.

Flicker and power problems. Supposedly time left on the warranty.. McIntosh would not fix it without charging me a ridiculous fee, just because I bought it on an auction.

Power rating is completely off base.. I bought this because I heard the company was great. They are going to hell in a handbasket.

Similar Products Used:

Krell, etc.

Top to bottom coherence, iron fisted control of bass, delicate midrange, sweet, transparant, lightning fast, runs cool, hell, everything you can think of, including price!

Are you kidding?

Like the Cello Performance 2? It costs $25,000, and it's wonderful! It's the best amp I've ever heard, but here's the scoop: the Mac is just as good, in every possible way, and only costs $13,000. There are times I swear I'm listening to the finest single-ended tubes. Down at the lower frequencies, it's as authorative as a Krell, but from the midrange on up, it's no contest!

The best, and still the heavyweight champ of the world!

Similar Products Used:

Cello Performance, VTL Wotans, Audio Research Reference 300, Halcro, BAT, Krells, etc.