I currently have the MC-2105 hooked to the L/R of my Denon driving the Era D5's. Not to stoke the fires of controversy, but I do find a difference in tone versus the Denon especially at high levels. I find it hard to describe the difference in tone, but I find the highs to be not nearly as bright. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that perhaps this is the way things are supposed to sound, vs an overworked multichannel amp kicking out harsh high frequency tones at high volume levels. It is also less fatiguing. I just watched an entire Star Wars episode quite loud without the urge to turn the volume down due to harshness or distortion.
Anyway, I thought it was a neat little score that was worth experimenting with.
Hi Dave,i too hope your thread dont stoke any fires because you heard a difference,that gets old.
Congrats on your new vintage system,and yes its a score,so you know any part/switch you might need (including a new glass face) can still be ordered directly from Mcintosh if a good cleaning dont help the problem,if you end up using a spray contact cleaner to clean the switches be carefull,keep in mind that the black on the glass face of Mac gear is silk screened on the back of the glass,excessive cleaners that are allowed to sit on the silk screen can bubble the silk screen,also,on the MC2105 if you have any burned out bulbs in the meters or panel illumination they are a snap to replace,no soldiering needed,the bulbs are like mini car blinker bulbs & pop right in & twist to lock,these can also be ordered from Mcintosh or you can take out a bulb & go to a good electrical supply or lighting store & score them cheaply.
Anyhow more about your gear,more than likely the preamp that came with the system will be a C-26 or a C-28, both are nice sounding units,if its the C-26 check out the center channel feature it has on the top of the case,its a blended stereo signal of L&R & it sounds excellent,ive based my whole modern 5 channel stereo rig around the same principal of the C-26.
The matching tuners for that set up should be either the MR-74 or MR-75,both are excellent analog tuners,if your SUPER LUCKY the tuner will be a MR-78 which is the undisputed king of all analog tuners & still worth $1,000
The SCOPE you speak of will either be a MI-2, MI-3 or MI-4,they are called(Maximum Performance Indicators) & they have alot of functions & you will need a manual for it,both the MI-2 & MI-3 are tube units & the MI-4 is a solid state unit,the osciliscopes in these units are ran from a tube that is expensive & hard to find so its best not to leave the unit turned on when not in use.
A great resource for information on vintage Mcintosh gear is Roger Russell,he was the head of accoustic research at Mcintosh & helps people with first hand info if you email him.
Here is his web site.
http://www.roger-russell.com/aboutmc.htm
BTW,if the gear still has the factory boxes & packing be very carefull with handeling/storing it,most of the origional packing materials for those vintage peices have gone the way of the wind & are extremely rare & quite valueable.
