Thread: MC 3500 Mark II
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Old 11-26-2021, 11:31 PM
Charles Charles is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by audioquest4life View Post
Holy cow, that’s a lot more tube watts than the MC2301s. Glad you were able to obtain some information from McIntosh, of course, more is better. Will be interesting to see power output curves matrixed against THD at various power levels. The German magazine Audio did a review of the MC2301 years ago and said it was most powerful quiet tube amp they ever tested. I recall that they were getting somewhere around 450 watts in some specific ohm range that escape me. But, wow, McIntosh build some powerful tube amps.

Although I do not necessarily need more tube watts (yeah right, why turn down more, LoL), I am very curious as to how the lower THD, dynamic range, headroom, and S/N will factor in the overall sound of the MC3500s. Specs alone indicate that the MC3500s should sound better and be more dynamic. That’s what I am really interested in.
audioquest, I would not be in the market for a 3500, if I owned a 2301. I did not bring up the 2301 for a comparison. I was interested in the power of the 3500 because of the size of my XVX. He volunteered with the 2301 you got 300 watts and no more. He said it had to do with the output tubes which I know little about. He wasn't talking about headroom. If you read the description Mac says "conservatively rated" 350 watts. Apparently, the output tubes of the 3500 are significantly more powerful than those of the 2301.

Best

Charles
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