[Skylab]

Very nice, SirMarc!!!! That's a great receiver. Enjoy.

LuckBad, glad your 880 is working well now. That's also a very, very nice receiver!

 

[SirMarc]

Thanks bud, I'm done for a while, unless I run across an eight deluxe. I keep hearing awesome things about that receiver...

 

[Jozurr]

If you guys had to choose one from the this list which one would you choose? I currently have a Sansui AU-D707G Extra and thinking if maybe the Trio KA-5002 or the Pioneer SA-6850 are better choices.

 

[JamesBr]

We put 8v lamps in instead of 6v to dim down the dial lights. It looks good. He gave me the 6v ones in case I want to change out later.

Listening to Abby Road on vinyl now and it sounds spectacular.

Good stuff!

 

[buson160man]

I brought this monster home today. I'm not sure I will ever buy another amp after this one. @Silent One will understand as has has essentially the same unit.



It was a multi day trip to pick it up, but I brought the wife and made a small vacation out of it. I saw the ad a few months ago and reposted it here as a curiosity. Just a "that's nice but I'll never be that lucky " kind of feeling. It was up for a while so I contacted the owner and the rest is history.
It is fully recapped and super nice. I'm still kinda in a state of disbelief that it is in my living room.

 What model McIntosh speaker is pictured? I am just curious. Is the speaker a conventional speaker or a hybrid? Maybe from te look of it could be a line source speaker design. They look like they weigh a ton.

 

[buson160man]

 
 
 

 

[PhoenixG]

They are xr-290 speakers. It was mcintosh's top speaker from 1993- the early 2000's. It is intended to be a column source and I can't say enough good things about them. They are in a league of their own when it comes to sound and build quality. Each one weighs about 350 lbs and is splittable in half if necessary for shipping. (It is necessary because I can't lift 350 lbs haha). Here's what they look like without a grill.

 What model McIntosh speaker is pictured? I am just curious. Is the speaker a conventional speaker or a hybrid? Maybe from te look of it could be a line source speaker design. They look like they weigh a ton.

 

[buson160man]

They are xr-290 speakers. It was mcintosh's top speaker from 1993- the early 2000's. It is intended to be a column source and I can't say enough good things about them. They are in a league of their own when it comes to sound and build quality. Each one weighs about 350 lbs and is splittable in half if necessary for shipping. (It is necessary because I can't lift 350 lbs haha). Here's what they look like without a grill.

 Thanks for the info. I thought it was a line source design from the look of that line of tweeters on the outer edge of the cabinet.
I use active speakers myself . I like not having amps and expensive bulky speaker wires running across the floor. After having actives I can never go back to passive designs again. They are just way more convenient and some of them are quite excellent sounding. If I had the bucks and the space my favorite would probably be a active atc 150 . I heard the active atc 100 once playing a count basie recording in a decent sized loft and it sounded like the band was literally in the room. The dynamic ability of the atc speakers is just plain awesome .I can just wonder how much better the active atc 150 would be. Of course they are not cheap but compared to an awful lot of esoteric audiophile designs they could easily hold their own and in some aspects leave the esoteric designs at the starting gate.And the atcs are a lot cheaper than those designs and include amplification. The atcs can play at very realistic volumes with little or no compression.

 

[PhoenixG]

Not to take the forum off topic, but it is always good to find something you like. However, at 10-30k$, I'm not sure you could really argue that the 100 and 150 speakers are really cheaper than anything else. I think you may be missing an opportunity to enjoy your concept receiver's full potential by using active speakers. For 1/10th of the 100's, you can get a set of klipsch cornwalls type 1's around 1k$, and they are solidly the second best pair of speakers I've ever heard. They are also upgradable by quite a bit if you get the itch to make them sound like something next level. We will have to agree to disagree on the active vs passive speaker argument, as I will never be convinced to get rid of my xr-290's and I absolutely love watching my power meters dance when I turn the milled aluminum knobs.

 Thanks for the info. I thought it was a line source design from the look of that line of tweeters on the outer edge of the cabinet.
I use active speakers myself . I like not having amps and expensive bulky speaker wires running across the floor. After having actives I can never go back to passive designs again. They are just way more convenient and some of them are quite excellent sounding. If I had the bucks and the space my favorite would probably be a active atc 150 . I heard the active atc 100 once playing a count basie recording in a decent sized loft and it sounded like the band was literally in the room. The dynamic ability of the atc speakers is just plain awesome .I can just wonder how much better the active atc 150 would be. Of course they are not cheap but compared to an awful lot of esoteric audiophile designs they could easily hold their own and in some aspects leave the esoteric designs at the starting gate.And the atcs are a lot cheaper than those designs and include amplification. The atcs can play at very realistic volumes with little or no compression.

 

[buson160man]

Not to take the forum off topic, but it is always good to find something you like. However, at 10-30k$, I'm not sure you could really argue that the 100 and 150 speakers are really cheaper than anything else. I think you may be missing an opportunity to enjoy your concept receiver's full potential by using active speakers. For 1/10th of the 100's, you can get a set of klipsch cornwalls type 1's around 1k$, and they are solidly the second best pair of speakers I've ever heard. They are also upgradable by quite a bit if you get the itch to make them sound like something next level. We will have to agree to disagree on the active vs passive speaker argument, as I will never be convinced to get rid of my xr-290's and I absolutely love watching my power meters dance when I turn the milled aluminum knobs.

 My concept receiver is pretty decent sounding with passive speakers. But my reference is to esoteric set ups in comparison refers to very exotic and expensive equipment setups costing tens of thousands of dollars and speakers costing northward of a hundred thousand  dollars and that is without amplification . The atcs are that good and cost only 20 thousand dollars with active amplification on board.
 There is a reason why professionals swear by atc active monitors and the fact they are industry standards for monitors. Plus they hold up under punishing conditions that would lay a good number of those esoteric speakers to waste.
   So in comparison they offer excellent value in comparison to a lot of those speakers you see at high end audio establishments.

 

[MermaidMan]

I happened upon an Optonica SM 3205 Amplifier on Craigslist.Right now I am using a Pioneer SX990 but I am wondering if the Optonica would be the better amp in the long run? It is 160 wpc compared to the Pioneers 30. May consider the trade. 

 

[SirMarc]

I happened upon an Optonica SM 3205 Amplifier on Craigslist.Right now I am using a Pioneer SX990 but I am wondering if the Optonica would be the better amp in the long run? It is 160 wpc compared to the Pioneers 30. May consider the trade. 

The Optonica sm3205 is 40wpc

 

[MermaidMan]

The Optonica sm3205 is 40wpc

Where did you find this information? 

 

[SirMarc]

Google, not alot of info on this piece. Was curious about it

 

[Skylab]

Generally speaking, Optonica is very good stuff. I had an Optonica integrated for a while...sounded great and the build quality was first rate. My piece was early 80's.