Made a decision

[Charles]

Originally Posted by miatadan

Why do you say reluctantly admit tubes sound better? Compared to the SS you have, what sonic differences do you find?

Only thing I will miss is not having power meters like the SS amps. Is there any way to judge power output using output levels on my D1100.

Dan

Dan, I can only speak to Mac tubes vs Mac solid state. I grew up with tubes. The very first amp I heard was a 20 watt/ch Allied Knight Integrated amplifier. I sold my MC275 soon after I got out into practice for a MC2100 (105 w/ch) solid state amp. I really liked it and from then on it was solid state for me.

I did notice a difference. The MC275 was better but over the years I convinced myself that tubes were simply not worth it, concentrating on achieving the best sound I could using SS. If you look at the major reviewers they all use SS. SS has many advantages, the chief of which is adequate power to achieve very loud sound levels.

Then the MC3500 came along. My reaction to it was "I want one." I can't explain why, except to say it was the first tube amp that seemed to have adequate power for me.

The first time I heard the 3500 the bass was better than through the 1.25KW. I have described this elsewhere so I won't go into details except to say it has a richness, a vibrancy, coupled with wonderful resolution that I have never heard before.

This got me to thinking about my MC275 vs my MC2100. I wish that I could have owned an original 3500 and some of the other vintage tube amps. I have missed a lot by being so convinced about solid state.

I can say that compared to a 1.25KW, everything the 1.25KW does well, the MC3500 does better. But the sound signatures are similar.

I have a pair of quite new 1.25KW's flanking my MC3500's. If I had to choose to only have one or the other, it would definitely be the 1.25KW's because of the unreliability of tubes.

The 1.25KW's are among the finest SS amps on the market. Other than some super amps I can't think of any other SS amp I would rather own regardless of price. I'm talking "Relentless" class amps. The new Relentless Epic would be my choice of the ultimate SS amp.

However, for me my choice of the ultimate amp be it tube or SS would be the MC3500.

I think a lower level in the Mac lineup you get a very significant slice of what you get with a 3500. At a price of 15K per amp the price of a 3500 is ridiculously inexpensive. I think it's the best amp in the world right now. So I admit I was wrong, maybe "reluctantly" was a poor choice of adverbs. Thanks for asking.

Best

Charles