MC 3500 Mark II

[TWInsall]

I was fortunate to have used MC 3500 for PA work driving big Altec bi-amped and have installed 3500's for people with Bozak Concert Grands in the 60's and early 70's. . The 3500 at 35 watts indicated made Concert Grands sound totally different than Concert Grands driven by a 275 at the same levels. Even my Grands bi-amped with two 275, later with two 2100's and then 2100 and a 2205, again a 2100 and with a 2250 could not compare to a concert grand driven by 3500. Only when I added super tweeters and tri amped using Crown DC300 A's with the 4 woofers wired in parallel with out the passive crossover did my Grands have the dynamics and the clarity of Grands driven by 3500's.

Friends selling updated 3500's compared them against 2301's preferred the 3500's because they were pure tube without KT88's and the 2301's have solid state components. They also say you can still hear that KT88 sound that the 3500 didn't have from the 2301. Its going to be interesting to hear what people say when they compare their 3500's to the new MK II models . The new MK II's have SS state components, too for the differential balanced input to get the desired signal to noise they were after I was told by others. It might be fun to compare my MC 830's driving my XRT 28's which are 4 ohms against 3500's MK II The same signal to noise and the same dynamic power but my 830's will put 550 watts RMS. But I will never go back to tubes. Unless I win the big lottery. Then I will want the original 3500's for nostalgia reasons.

[Stahle]

Originally Posted by JWJW

Lol, lol. Trust me…I’ve done the math (a few times). I would have to sell a bunch of gear and a kidney to make it happen.



The MC1502 I had was SO good. My new 1.2kw’s are pretty spectacular as well.

Thinking the 3500’s could be tube heaven…

Pretty sure I couldn’t sneak a pair of 3500’s purchase past my wife.

I see you just sold your mono blocks, did you decide to pull the trigger on these?

[JWJW]

Originally Posted by Stahle

I see you just sold your mono blocks, did you decide to pull the trigger on these?

Hmmm….

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by JWJW

Hmmm….

He’s so fired up, he can barely sleep.

[JWJW]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

He’s so fired up, he can barely sleep.

[Masterlu]

I crown thee “Tube King!”

[Vintage Pete]

I would love to get into tubes one day, just for fun. But, I have no idea where I could set up another system....

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by Vintage Pete

I would love to get into tubes one day, just for fun. But, I have no idea where I could set up another system....

It’s like Dorito’s; there is always room for one more.

[audioquest4life]

Posting a comparison of the mighty MC2301 and the newcomer giant MC3500. I am anxiously waiting for press, owner, and dealer reviews to see if I want to get the MC3500s and sell my lovely sounding MC2301s. The 2301s sound absolutely beautiful and I thought they would be keepers for life. Now, McIntosh offers the MC3500 and I am salivating to hear how they will sound. I am not going to do a lateral move...it has to be an upgrade in sound quality. That is the million dollar question. The specs on paper lead one to believe that the MC3500 should be quieter and somewhat more dynamic. Yet, how dynamic, and how will they mate with horns, hybrids, and normal speakers? My head is going to explode thinking of all of the things I am pondering. Lets keep posting updates as we become aware. Happy listening.


Power output
MC 2301 300watts@2, 4, or 8 ohms
MC3500 350watts @2, 4, or 8 ohms (+ 50 watts)


S/N below rated output
MC2301 117dB
mc3500 120dB (+ 3db)

Dynamic Headroom
MC2301 1.2db
MC3500 2.4dB (+1.2db)


Rated Power Band
MC2301 20Hz-20kHz
MC3500 20Hz-20kHz

Frequency response
MC2301 +0, -0.5db from 20Hz-20kHz, +0, -3db from 10Hz-100kHz (+30kHz)
MC3500 +0, 0.5db from 20Hz to 20kHz, +0, -3db from 10Hz to 70kHz

THD
MC2301 0.5% max THD at any power level from 250mw to rated power, 20Hz-20kHz, ≤ 0.25% harmonic distortion at 1kHz
MC3500 0.3% max THD at any power level from 250mw to rated power, 20Hz-20kHz (-.2%)


Damping Factor
MC2301 >15 wideband
MC3500 >25 wideband (+10)

Circuit Configuration
MC2301 Quad balanced; unity coupled
MC3500 Unity coupled

Circuit design
MC2301 Vacuum tube
MC3500 Vacuum tube

Tube type
MC2301 KT88
MC3500 EL509S

Output type
MC2301 Unity coupled output transformer
MC3500 Unity coupled output transformer

Safety
MC2301 Sentry monitor tube protection
MC3500 Power Guard Screen Grid Sensor (SGS)/Sentry monitor

Speaker binding post type
MC2301 200amp, 3 way
MC3500 Patented solid cinch speaker binding post

Weight
MC2301 116lbs
MC3500 121lbs (+5lbs)

Unit Dimensions (W x H x D)
MC2301 17-3/4" (45.09cm) x 12-5/16" (31.27cm)
MC3500 18" (45.7cm) x 11-13/16" (30cm) x 21-5/8" (54.9cm) x23”

[Charles]

Originally Posted by audioquest4life

Posting a comparison of the mighty MC2301 and the newcomer giant MC3500. I am anxiously waiting for press, owner, and dealer reviews to see if I want to get the MC3500s and sell my lovely sounding MC2301s. The 2301s sound absolutely beautiful and I thought they would be keepers for life. Now, McIntosh offers the MC3500 and I am salivating to hear how they will sound. I am not going to do a lateral move...it has to be an upgrade in sound quality. That is the million dollar question. The specs on paper lead one to believe that the MC3500 should be quieter and somewhat more dynamic. Yet, how dynamic, and how will they mate with horns, hybrids, and normal speakers? My head is going to explode thinking of all of the things I am pondering. Lets keep posting updates as we become aware. Happy listening.


Power output
MC 2301 300watts@2, 4, or 8 ohms
MC3500 350watts @2, 4, or 8 ohms (+ 50 watts)


S/N below rated output
MC2301 117dB
mc3500 120dB (+ 3db)

Dynamic Headroom
MC2301 1.2db
MC3500 2.4dB (+1.2db)


Rated Power Band
MC2301 20Hz-20kHz
MC3500 20Hz-20kHz

Frequency response
MC2301 +0, -0.5db from 20Hz-20kHz, +0, -3db from 10Hz-100kHz (+30kHz)
MC3500 +0, 0.5db from 20Hz to 20kHz, +0, -3db from 10Hz to 70kHz

THD
MC2301 0.5% max THD at any power level from 250mw to rated power, 20Hz-20kHz, ≤ 0.25% harmonic distortion at 1kHz
MC3500 0.3% max THD at any power level from 250mw to rated power, 20Hz-20kHz (-.2%)


Damping Factor
MC2301 >15 wideband
MC3500 >25 wideband (+10)

Circuit Configuration
MC2301 Quad balanced; unity coupled
MC3500 Unity coupled

Circuit design
MC2301 Vacuum tube
MC3500 Vacuum tube

Tube type
MC2301 KT88
MC3500 EL509S

Output type
MC2301 Unity coupled output transformer
MC3500 Unity coupled output transformer

Safety
MC2301 Sentry monitor tube protection
MC3500 Power Guard Screen Grid Sensor (SGS)/Sentry monitor

Speaker binding post type
MC2301 200amp, 3 way
MC3500 Patented solid cinch speaker binding post

Weight
MC2301 116lbs
MC3500 121lbs (+5lbs)

Unit Dimensions (W x H x D)
MC2301 17-3/4" (45.09cm) x 12-5/16" (31.27cm)
MC3500 18" (45.7cm) x 11-13/16" (30cm) x 21-5/8" (54.9cm) x23”

audioquest, my source at Mac volunteered that the 3500 is significantly more powerful than the 2301, to the amount of 200-250 watts. He was not sure if it would equal the 550 watts continuous watts per channel of the original 3500. This is not dynamic headroom but continuous watts.

Best

Charles