How It's Made - McIntosh Tube Amp
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 มิ.ย. 2014
- Here's another episode from the great "How It's Made" show on Discovery. This time, they show some of the steps in building a McIntosh tube amp. In case you're not familiar with vacuum tubes, you really should check out the other HIM video here about making tubes.
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my son is very very focused on speakers. its an OCD thing and part of his autism. so when he got around to asking me "how do they make speakers?" I was so very grateful for the makers of this video. watching this has made him so happy. I only wish I could take him to the factory. its a little thing, but making him smile is a huge thing to me. thank you!!!!!
Teresa Fisher That's awesome. How it's made have 'made' a lot of videos, I've been watching them lately, pretty soon I think I'll have enough knowledge to rebuild society if we ever go back to the stone age haha nope that never happens though :)
Point your son here... Roger was McIntosh's speaker guru for years and years.
www.roger-russell.com/lsd1.htm
www.roger-russell.com/lsd2.htm
I sure hope your son wasn't another perfectly normal child that got slapped with that "autistic" label by someone behind a desk for doing normal kid stuff! :) Take care and have an awesome weekend!
Love the tiny little wires running to the giant speaker wire 'lugs', lol. Because at this price range the company knows some rich audio dudes is going to hook up monster size OFC snake-oil firehosed sized speaker cable to them.
Hahaha! So true!
I'm not making a case for overpriced speaker cables, but depending on the length of the wire run a large gauge cable might be necessary for speaker wiring. The wire gauge must increase along with the wire length to keep the same voltage drop. So, for example, the 4" long wire in the amp doesn't need to be very large to carry the amp's output current compared to the 10' or more long wire run to the speakers.
IN fairness you also have to understand how wire gauge works over distance. For very short distances you can get away with a significantly narrower gauge. But if you're going to run the cable some 10ft and run 4 ohm speakers, you need thicker wire from the output terminals. You couldn't run wire that thin all the way to your speaker.
And the binding posts are made of brass cause magnetic material ones "would react to the electric current and cause distortion" buahahahaha, great stuff!
@@mishmasta With everything being equal... AC signals, such as audio, there is minimal drop. This is why the power transmission distribution grid uses this technology.
DC on the other hand is a entirely different animal and more applicable to your thought, which is a salemans dream in the audiophile world.
Why this is different is because electrons in an AC circuit only travel a short distance, return to their start point, and repeat ad nauseum. DC electrons have to travel around the entire circuit again and again like a race track.
A work of art, with a price tag to match - much of which is for the name...
Now that’s a product that truly is made with great care and love from the assemblers!
this is the first H.Q, how it's made video i have seen, thank you
Check out the one I have here on my channel for how audio vacuum tubes are made....amazing process and in HD seen here: th-cam.com/video/8n4WVRKkmww/w-d-xo.html
Be sure you watch the video showing vacuum tube manufacturing. It's HD and beautiful!
th-cam.com/video/8n4WVRKkmww/w-d-xo.html
ok
***** Link?
Why didnt you just link it...
They can do without the LED lighting under the tubes. I would rather just see the natural glow from the cathode heater filaments. A great amplifier like this just doesn't need "gimmicks". I wouldn't mind if they used thermionic rectifier tubes for the power supply, rather than solid state diodes. (I like tubes in my tube amplifiers)
Maybe you can contact them and they will change their whole product line just for you. Seeing that the feedback they get from most of their customers actually like the lights in the tubes, that has been part of Mcintosh's trademark look.
@mohada wisdeerf hey dummy, we all seen the 419 movie and we know the black money scam. Take a hike off TH-cam and get a real job.
McIntosh Tube Amps are a work of art. And made by hand by women! Love it!
This brand has a heritage, undoubtedly, but this video depicts a very unglamorous process... One can also interpret it as a testament to human craftsmanship.
Build your own! Nothing beats the satisfaction of building your own amplifier.
+E2qNX8btraQ3zRD6J7fc Agreed, I recently built myself an easy to do Altoids tin amp powered by a 9volt battery, and it works really well.
+E2qNX8btraQ3zRD6J7fc Perhaps;but I do not possess the skill or knowledge to do this!
+Squarerig a millet hybrid really isn't that difficult to build if you can read and know a resistor from a capacitor and have at least basic soldering skills.
+E2qNX8btraQ3zRD6J7fc Well, building a well-designed amplifier is HARD, not to mention potentially dangerous unless you're building a low-wattage one!
redwillrise What's dangerous besides the obvious? I think the greater danger is building an amp that doesn't sound good regardless of power.
Lots of people here commenting on tube amps that have never heard one or know anything about how they sound or why many prefers the sound of tubes over transistors.
I have had Quad ESL63 electrostatic speakers and Elecrocompagniet AV100DMB amp and Hardman Kardon amps. Both amps had a very pleasant and powerful sound that is very similar (both have no electric feedback). When tested a tube amp on my ESL63 speakers I found the tube one sounded very pleasant and easy on your ears like something I could listen to all day in the background without getting tired. But the tube amp I tested lacked the details in the sound of the Electrocompagniet and the Hardman Kardon had specially at higher frequencies.
(I do all my testing with A/B blind tests to rule out cognitive bias)
+Rondo Cat They probably had to filter out a lot of those high frequencies on the tube amp in order to bring the noise it produced down to acceptable levels. I have enjoyed listening to many fine tube amps including both vintage and modern McIntosh. In the past, if you liked the warmth of the "tube sound" they were your only option, but now you can simply equalize your sound digitally and make most any mid to high level solid state amp pump out whatever color sound you prefer at the moment depending on your source material. HiFi stands for high fidelity and fidelity refers to signal purity. Ideally, an amp should do NOTHING to your signal but amplify it. For the life of me, I cannot understand why anyone would want to use an amp for equalization purposes or to get a certain "sound" when there are much better tools called equalizers for doing so.
MarkasTZM Most of the "tube sound" comes from harmonic distortion not equlisation. Emulating the harmonic distortion of tubes is wery difficoult with transistiors and I personally prefer the clean "analytical" sound of a good trasnsistor amp with no negative feedback loop anyway. But the tube sound is wery pleasant to listen to for some reason and the experts say it is because of the harmonics, it is a bit like auto tuned vocals and have a bit of the same distortion effect to.
I believe that green LED lights (in allusion to a semaphore), as well as the aesthetic factor (as in PCs), are intended to indicate the moment when the vacuum tubes have reached their maximum emission factor (cathode sufficiently heated), so that the user can start using their audio source.
As a teenager I looked at Macintosh, but couldn't afford to buy one. A company called H. H. Scott made tube amps and receivers, as a kit! This was about the time when transistor amps appeared.
I have owned both, and I agree vacuum tube amps sound warmer then transistor amps!
+william hubschwerlin Yes, tube amps distort the audio signal in a way many people find 'warm' and pleasing. Its all about how they distort the signal.
Very early on, McIntosh did sell one of their amplifiers as a kit.
Wow, what an amazing piece of engineering! I would LOVE to build one of these into a nice system!
This is probably the most beautiful amp I've ever seen.
+Inzolity Green background lights on a tube amp? Fucking gay as fuck.
The fillament glow is beautiful itself, no need for LEDs.
Your taste is definitely questionable.
Music ,song,for your ears only , with or without spending times,moneys ,and goods ! Vintages!!! Classic ! Best way for me! If i ask for TOP quality
Sweet!!! Vacuum tubes rule the audio universe. Great manufacturing! Loved the video. And I want one of those amps!!!!
4:45 'LED lights turn green when the amp is powered up to let you know your wallet has been rinsed'
+nlo114 maybe that is the reason why they call it "McIntosh". because its the same with Apple, you pay a huge amount of money for nothing :)
+Dominik Lux those amps sound amazing, nothing you say about the name will change that. but the led lights are pointless.
At least the amp wont be obsolete in 6 months.
tubes has less life time than a transistor. a good transistor amp will last longer than a tube amp. You will have to change the tubes sooner or later.
+Dominik Lux Tubes do have less life time than a transistor. But transistors usually express less life. BTW... I listen to solid state in recent years. Tubes are geared for audio connoisseurs.. There is a difference. A very nice one. But only for those willing to put up with the need to change tubes when needed.
This amplifier is a work of art. Art. Engineering? Not so much. We can build much better performance in a smaller package with significantly more efficiency, better linearity, better noise figure, better frequency response, more durability, and so forth.
However, people LIKE the distortion products that this amplifier makes. So they buy them --for artistic reasons, not technical ones. As long as we all understand this, there shouldn't be any arguments.
when you say performance, what exactly do you mean? This amplifier bests many that are much more expensive and I guess you just have to hear it and not be fooled by idiots that do not know their ass from a hole in the ground
The 275's got remarkably good performance for a tube amp, but the point is taken: Mr. Mc couldn't WAIT for good power transistors to hit the market in quantity, because while you *can* design and build a reasonably linear, stable, reliable amplifier with firebottles (heck, my 50-plus year old 275 is proof of that :D ), it's WORLDS easier to pull it off in solid state electronics. Heck, once I can figure out what I zorched in my MAC-4100's power supply, it goes back in the system and the 275 returns to the bookshelf-looking-pretty duty in the office. :)
@@dippin1523 Idiots that do not know their ass from a hole in the ground? You mean like The Old Man™, Gordon Gow, Roger Russell, Sid Corderman (the guy who *designed* that shiny glowy 275)? They'd all tell you in a heartbeat that it's MUCH better and easier building amplifiers solid state - linearity, reliability, stability, longevity, power consumption, heat dissipation are all more easily and affordably accomplished with silicon than with glass and vacuum. That "warm tubey sound" that the tweaks over at Stereophile ooh and ahh over? That's distortion. To be sure, the largely even order distortion from your typical tube circuit is less grating to the ears than the odd-order harmonics you'll hear from badly-done solid state, but nonetheless it's distortion, and by definition not to be desired under anything that wants to go by the moniker "high fidelity". Let's leave the glowing filaments and the distortion where they belong - in guitar amplifiers - and away from the reproduction chain, mk? (*duck*run*hide* - was that too snarky? I can never tell! :D )
Modern production techniques and the beautiful finish they create are truly amazing .
Generally the people hating on tube amps are the people that can't afford to buy one. I own tube and SS. They are both great.
That is a sweet unit I would love to have one of those.
It's funny how this starts with "many BELIEVE..."
Also ends with this same line
I love McIntosh products! I bought a new MC402 amplifier about 6 years ago and it's been wonderful. In my opinion McIntosh makes the best sounding amplifiers in the world. Their attention to detail and high build quality is what keeps customers like me coming back. While it's true their products are expensive (and it should be look at the materials and detail), however you will get most of your money back when it comes time to sell or trade in.
Seeing some of the debates here reminds me of an experience one of my electronics instructors at tech school shared with my class. He once worked for a prominent test equipment manufacturer and his group was tasked with building a CB radio analyzer. They had to go out on the market and buy various models to try with the analyzer. He spoke of two models in particular, one that everyone considered the Rolls Royce of CBs and another everyone considered to be Wal-Mart clearance bin grade. Imagine his group’s surprise when both were opened up and found to use the exact same circuitry inside. It’s all about marketing.
Vacuum tube amps most definitely color the sound of the source signal. They may look cool, but they are a very expensive way to provide equalization that you cannot change without changing tubes plus they suffer from significantly greater noise at audible levels. Modern solid state amps are clearly superior in every way, and if you prefer the sound of a tube amp you can simply provide digital EQ to mimic one on a solid state amp without the noise of a real one. I should also point out that by the time most all modern releases of music are made, the signal has already been processed multiple times through solid state amplification devices nary a tube in sight.
"Magnetic terminals would react with the current and cause distortion." implying non ferromagnetic conductors like brass don't. Also in the meantime the tubes are completely unshielded and exposed to any electromagnetic interference.
+chsxtian I worked on high end McIntosh tube amps like this starting in the 1960's…. shielding was never, ever an issue… only high quality sound… the best audio amps on the market.
+chsxtian Don't EVER get into an argument with an audiophile. It's useless and they will drag you down to their IQ.
DrHillbillyShow Ferromagnetism of the condctor doesn't affect eddy currents. It doesn't matter what conductor you use, the magnetic induction will be exactly the same.
Let me see if I can make this clear…. I'm 65 and was a formally trained electronics bench technician in consumer electronics. This means that I worked on many many tube amplifiers, at least 100 in the late 1960's and early 1970's, including McIntosh amps…. its how I supported my family. Most speaker terminals on powerful tube amps were cheap fiberboard with flat head screw terminals which were made of plated steel…. riveted to a steel chassis. All of the tube amps that I repaired went through my standard frequency response/power output test with expensive equipment. Never at any time was radiation ever exhibited in a consumer tube amp that would cause a feedback or magnetic concern… it just didn't exist. The basic problems that tube amps had were of course a broken filament (dead tube), power output tubes where the plate on the tube would glow "cherry red", which indicated shorted audio coupling capacitors… sometimes the audio power output transformers would burn up because of this…. you could also get knocked on your ass from this because the speaker terminals would have almost 200 volts on them… which also burned up the voice coil on the speakers. Other issues in more poorly designed tube amps would be parasite oscillations…. basically a small waveform riding onto of the main audio waveform. This was corrected by trying different disk capacitors in the tube pre-amp section. I also repaired many many solid state amps as they overtook tube amps. Actually, the United States lost its consumer electronics production to Japan because the US engineers would insert a solid state device into a tube amp a little at a time, basically placing early and thermally unstable transistors into an oven… the amps in the US became crap because of this. Having had all of this experience I read some of the comments with amusement. If you believe some of the theory's here amounts to the trees moving makes the wind blow ;). Read lots of theory books I'll take experience over that quite frankly any day.
OnE61811301 i fear you're right
The way an accomplished audio engineer explain it to me, regarding the smooth realistic sound of tube amplification and preamplification, (that distinguishes it the from the flatter and hollow sound of digital and analog reproducton), was the vertical field effect of tubes, which enable them to produce an upper and lower harmonics of the fundamental tone being played. Further, it seems this is what the human ear hears and senses in a live performance, that gives one the sense of realism and depth, not sensed when listening to a recording. He also added one's hearing would have to be in good condition and somewhat trained, to appreciate the full benefit, the tube sound gives over newer technologies. The added benefit of quality workmanship, pride, build quality and oversight at the McIntosh factory adds a further enticing reason, for many audiophiles to spring the added cash to be a proud owner of one of these fine amps. I am a proud owner of two of them and can attest to their great sound and years of trouble free service.
"which enable them to produce an upper and lower harmonics of the fundamental tone being played" = "adding something to the original signal" = "not accurate"
@@KB-kc7ou if you want accurate tubes that have better layering than this just get the I50 audio research integrated amp.
This show goes great with morning coffee,not to much info but just enough.
Such a beautiful work of art :D
I've been using tube amps for 25 years. It's clear to me that they sound magical. However, not every tube amp sounds good. It all depends on the circuit and quality of components.
Try all dht tube amp...you ll be surprised
@@ngoweyseong3738 Do you mean the DHT model from Bartola Valves, or an amp made with all Dobhoff (DHT) type tubes ? I had to google this but, neither case is common in the guitar tube amps that I use.
Beautiful amp, inside and out!
Fascinating
Gorgeous Amps
One of the best !!!
How can a beautifully made piece of technology like this invoke such negative comments like the ones I'm reading below? I hear jealously, a lot of ignorance and an overall a "mine is bigger than yours" mentality. I'm guessing that there are a lot of 12 to 16 year olds here from some of the responses I'm reading. Maybe one day people will be forced to display if they are an adult or not so we can take some of these posts for what they are…. immature idiocy. I post this as someone who made a living repairing these tube amps as well as solid state amps. I am not a big fan of audiophiles, having dealt with such people over the years…. I would use expensive test equipment and a formal education in electronics to verify frequency response, power output and a clean wave form over a full range of frequencies in my test only to have an audiophile still hearing things that weren't there. My favorite was the guy who used a "toilet paper test" on his speakers…. yep taped a piece of toilet paper to each speaker and pointed out that one side would fly out at 2 inches on a bass note and the other side would only fly out 1 inch… reversing the speaker from the left and right terminals proved a point, that there was more bass in one channel than the other… it being stereo and everything had something to do with that ;). The bottom line is enjoy your music no matter the technology you use if your happy with the way it sounds then who cares really. Other elements also affect the final sound quality that you hear, including the room… is it carpeted, paintings on the wall… glass doors etc. all affect the final music that you hear…. people's egos have no place in technology quite frankly… the amp doesn't care who you are and either does anyone else quite frankly.
+J. Mack What's wrong with you? Making an intelligent comment in a sea of ignorance and stupidity:)
+J. Mack Part of the problem is the video clearly states that it's only some people's opinion that tube amplifiers produce better sound. People can have all the opinions they want, fact is a well designed tube amplifier produces a more accurate output than transistor based amplifiers. Ignore opinions, check out the THD rating, the lower the better and you'll find the lowest ratings on tube amps.
+J. Mack I think a lot of the hating is due to LEDs lighting up the tubes. What was WITH that?
***** Best guess is that older tubes had heaters that would make them glow. They probably started by replicating that, then had customers ask about "cool" colors.
+Christopher Stone So you're saying tube amps have low harmonic distortion, yet others are here saying that the distortion is what gives them their warm sound....which is it?
It should have been a post of how they made the original Vintage amp back in the day when they were 'King' Handmade, hard-wired, point to point soldering with genuine components. NO Printed Circuits and Plastic. The soul of this 'Brand Name' was the 'Handwound Unity-coupled Transformers' Best in the World then and today. I started my career in HiFi Audio at Photo-Tronics Warranty Station in Seattle, WA 1960. Warranty Service Technician. I also would hand match a set of 'cooked tubes' for a flawless performance, we took pride being McIntosh Warranty Service. There were no issues with the Amps until PC boards and Solid-State came into productions. Long Live Point to Point Hard Wired Hand Silver Soldered Vintage Electronics.
Great video , I had a Mac 250 and loved it . I really enjoyed watching this video .
It's a beauty except for those colored LED's underneath the pre-amp tubes. Why on earth would you outshine the natural soft glow of a tube with these cheap LED's. It brings the whole classy style of the amp down. If I had the dough to buy one of these amps, those LED's would come out straight away.
I totally agree! i notice that the new 12AX7 JJ tubes I bought have some extra filament wire extending outside the cathode tube to make them even prettier! (much less glow coming from the 60's Mullards I also use)
real tubes dont use Leds. would be nice if the stuck to.original design
I 100% agree with you.Why CHinEESE it up.
Exactly! :)
I thought mullards went out of style after the 80s.
An amazing piece of hardware. But the inexpensive rocker type power switch is a deal killer.
+Peter M What about the screen printing on the labels? Which can be scratched off.
+Peter M ___Actually, a good rocker switch will outlast many substantially more expensive toggle types.
+Tom L A good silk screen does not scratch off easily, however a cheap silkscreen will wash off just by cleaning. In repairing and cleaning equipment, I have seen both types.
That rocker switch looked like a garden variety switch. Nothing too impressive but just functional. Good switches do not snap in, normally high switches have mounting appendages, for replacement and service.
The ink does age, too, and you have to be careful what you use when cleaning. My mom used something - windex, most likely, or maybe 409 - to wipe the dust and fingerprints off the 275 in the living room and took all the lettering off the chassis (fortunately she missed the serial # :) ). When I took possession of the amp a few years back there wasn't a scrap of ink on that chassis. Alas, but I don't think Mc still has the silk screens for the original 275. :(
Just a tech note: is not about what many believe, is about distortion. Tube amps generate harmonic distortion that is even frequency with original one, thus inaudible to human hears (e.g. 200 hz produces 400 hz signal as distortion, while transistor amps produce an uneven frequency).
I have no words! It's fantastic.
Many audiophiles believe a lot of things...
Eric Morrison
As a bona fide audiophile myself, I can tell you you are missing out. I only ever listen to music while I am under water through waterproof speakers and 32-bit DAC, as the increased speed of sound in the denser medium of water is more aesthetically pleasing to my perfect audiophile ears (which have been surgically tuned to have a flat response up to 25 kHz). Listening to music in any lesser, barbaric form can actually trigger migraines and in some cases seizures, because I am that well adapted to perfection.
***** It's true, I had mine surgically tuned to 32 Hz. Anything Bose has sounded like nails on a chalkboard for years.
They also believe that a 100$ copper speaker wire sounds better than a 10$ copper wire
+xXx_illuminati_overload_xXx Well, often the more expensive wires are dipped in unicorn tears and then coated with a thin film of Zimbabwean bee-wax and pieces of the American flag so yes of course they sound better.
+xxX_BomBer_Xxx or they should try 14/2 building wire
that is one sweet sound system
I would say it's easy to repair yourself except they dump tar I'll over components
Your you tube channel is very great keep it up
It would be sweet if it were hand wired like they used to be. Might as well buy solid state and save a fortune.
@@VincentAnzalone your transformer is not gonna need repairs for another five decades of use
@@captainamerica9353 Yeah. When I saw the PCB I thought what a waste.
A thing of beauty
And a work of art
And amazing sound for my blues harp
I want one
... And I only just discovered that there’s a type of amp that’s been basically given the cold shoulder by the whole World, as near as I can tell. Mag amp. Called a Magnetic amplifier. Very interesting things indeed.
Thanks for uploading!
It's ironic the background music is nothing that will ever pass through a McIntosh Amplifier
i bought this amp. now i only have 1 kidney. money well spent $2500!!!
I have no kidneys after buying it , just go to Dialysis M-W-F
I sell my ass to get a McIntosh
You need two of this to run dual mono as company advises!
You would need at least 3 kidneys @2.5k each to buy this...
Very nice tradition of manufacturing truly a delicacy in craftsmanship
I had the opportunity to examine a Mac MC 30 and trace the circuit. Metal 1614 mil grade 6L6 tubes, 12AX7 dual triodes, all RCA. Point to point wiring with small components on phenolic boards, laced wiring harness. The output topology was Mac patented unity coupling, the 6L6 plates and cathodes connected to bifilar windings, and a separate feedback winding, if i recall correctly. The distortion specs were unbelievably low for the day, something like 0.05 %. Made in Binghamton, New York back in the day when New York State was the high tech Silicon Valley of the USA.
That was seventy years ago.......
"Magnetic terminals would react with the current and cause distortion". I love it how these people live in their own universe that they have re-written the laws of physics for. Pseudo science at its best (worst?)
Don't blame Mc. for that. Blame whoever wrote the drivel the narrator's reading off of.
Some practices are unproven in electronics. Like that aluminum chassis sound better than steel. When you build high-end equipment you have to satisfy popular myths sometimes.
People comment about how good my surround sound system sounds. I don't tell them the speaker wires to the rear channels is just lamp cord. :)
lmao you never heated up a piece of iron with a current ever have you?... fyi he just used the wrong terminology, Ferrous was the word he should have said not magnetic. cuz ya know in the real world magnetic permability is higher in ferrous metals then non-ferrous metals and thus creates a stronger field but it always exits.... And if you think a applying voltage thru a wire doesnt create a magnetic field you are an idiot. and yes a magnetic field does create 'distortion' cuz ya know what the f do you think RF chokes do HUH? they filter out unwanted signals. thus they are distorting the original signal. whomever wrote the script was just a maroon that has no clue how to talk to normal people, without making them think for themself to exactly what he meant.. This would be a good time for a spelling/grammar @^$# if any cuz clearly people didnt get actual correct thought of what was supposed to be conveyed.
Syc holic You are factually correct, but you have no say when it comes to someone else’s writing, spelling and grammar.
The drawback of using PC boards is that the heat that wicks from the tube sockets, causes the solder joints to crystalize. The stress of supporting the tubes further breaks apart that crystalized solder. Then, after a couple of years of thermal cycling, the joints start to become intermittent.
The older point to point wired McIntosh amps are more reliable for this reason.
Not sure if they're still making the Unity Wound output transformers, but I can tell you that the old ones from 1960 or so have immense bandwidth. Not sure if the new transformers are as good. I just finished recapping an MC240, and it probably weighs 60lbs. Full power bandwidth from 16Hz to 40KHz, as measured in my lab at Amplifier Experts. Better than Jadis. Much better than Carver.
Woo audio still does point to point wiring, in all their amps.
Straight from the horse's mouth, as it were: Sid Corderman was McIntosh's chief engineer for most of his career... he wrote the book (well, the article at least :) ) on output autoformers in solid state amps. audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?attachments/coderman-autoformer-pdf.243097/
Very nice HiFi Made in USA, Samsung, LG, Sony, Pioneer all Made in China, Im from Serbia and want to have original USA quality, this is the way how all thing should be made in this world, with a lot of human hand and love.
Thoroughly enjoyed this!
If you pay $10,000 for an amplifier, you'll hear the difference. No one else will, but that's not what's important. ;)
+Randy Lott its not the price, its the technics how its made. tube always sounds better than solid state. But old solid states from the 70s wich run on 60 Volts sounds much better than modern solid state amps that just run with 30 Volts. So you surely can say that modern amps sound flat, no life in the sound, not warm. They suck instead of an old good made amp or a tube amp. thats a fact everyone can hear and notice.
But your sentence perfectly matches to Apple products ;)
+Dominik Lux I'm actually an electrical engineer and a musician. Tubes do sound better, when they're distorted. Low noise matching FET amplifiers sound better if they're implemented correctly. Linear power supplies are a must. Switching power supplies ruin everything.
In terms of distortion and signal fidelity, transistors are far superior. However, tubes have a sound that I'll always love for guitar amplifiers.
If you want accurate sound representation, use op amps linearly driving mosfets(Class A). If you want inaccurate distortion to the sound that some think sounds good, and don't mind paying exorbitant funds, get a tube amp.
have your ears check before you spend that kind of money
Only through the use of multiple stages and large amounts of feedback does a solid state amplifier offer lower distortion figures than that of a single triode. What it doesn't show is your phase errors and majority odd order distortion products or the dynamics and resolution that suffer from multiple stage amplification and so on. Your statement is about as wrong as it gets re 'far superior'. Device to device the triode still rules. Mosfets are awful re linearity.
Switching supplies can ruin everything - if poorly designed - as can a poorly designed switching class D output stage, as can any DAC, but most have filtering, along with out of band switching frequencies. A properly engineered switching supply is as tight as a very tight thing, absolutely silent, light weight and packs a big punch per kilo of copper. I don't like these much but they don't 'ruin everything' Ask the guy who made power supplies for bits in Tornado aircraft before making Chord amps. This is what engineers are for, solving these issues.
Yet of course simplicity often rules, and an amp made to swing a high voltage, say 300V using only two active devices to minimise any phase issues, maximise resolution, using a minimal amount of feedback and a choke regulated linear supply can sound truly magical. And that is with say an ECL86 - one valve magic (a triode pentode, OK )
sweet system
Solid, non-compromise build! Love it!
If it were "non-compromise" it would be hand wired.
... that many believe.... in other words - the manufacturer doesn't believes in that himselve, but serves the people that do so. Anyway - nicely done.
Colored LEDs in the tube bases.. was this abomination really necessary? One thing about the authenticity of a tube amp is the faint orange glow coming from the tube filaments.. shining a green LED light over that kinda ruins the whole visual aspect.
The reason that model has the led's is so it can match most other McIntosh products blue hue , if tube color is a huge issue where you want the dim orange glow simply buy a different McIntosh tube amp that don't have the tube led's , I've seen 10,000 tube amps with the same old tired look & it's refreshing to see a change.
I own Mc-1201's SS ,Mc-2301's T, Mc-2102 T , C-2200 T, C-22 T, C-20 T along with a host of other new & vintage McIntosh products & all are without fault & best most gear made .
+Markus Strangl The green LED's indicate when its ready to be played. The tubes need a short initial warm up.
Gene Zucker I'm pretty sure that guy is just a McIntosh hater , I'm sure you've ran across many like him as I have who believe Mc tube gear is somehow inferior to Audio Research & other tube gears , I've got Roger Russell's personal XR-290's & his personal XRT-22's playing now in the background , I've got the WHITE 290's shown on Rogers web site .
Michael Ledford You're totally wrong on that count. I don't hold any kind of grudge against McIntosh or other manufacturers of tube amps. In fact, I am quite pleased about the overall build and sound quality of their amps.
I am just a retro technology fan, and have built and designed a lot of tube-based devices (amps, radio gear, synthesizers, clocks, ..) over the last two decades, and I have the strong desire to keep tube-based devices as "pure" as possible. I even felt bad for using silicon rectifiers in three of my amps instead of an EZ80 or similar tube.
Throwing in colored LEDs, displays, lighting effects and similar "new" electronics features into tube amps, in my opinion, destroys the whole effect and atmosphere that the tubes were originally meant to convey. Shining a blue LED over the warm orange glow of an audio tube is like bringing an air horn to a Mozart concert. By itself, it may be a useful tool, but in combination it's just awful.
+Markus Strangl It seems Mac is just following a trend that can be found today with some tube components. I have an led light flashing on one component. But, while the tubes are warming up... then shuts off to indicate when the tubes are ready for use. Mac is simply doing what some others have been doing. You are right though. The nice glow of tubes in a darkened room has a calming and soothing effect. I use to find it to be somewhat therapeutic to watch when I had all tubes.
Very cool, made usa.
Even the assembly process is an beautiful process.
This is art, at work this has got to be one if not going to be one of the finest pice US craftsmen ship.
How is Snake Oil made?
it's not a offset press, it's a semi-auto silkscreen machine.
Some of that equipment (and a few of the people!) have been there since I was a little kid. :) My brother remembers the Old Man showing him around the factory back in the late 60s/early 70s. OSHA wasn't nearly as fussy back then, and that tar-potting machine let a LOT more of the hot-tar smell out into the factory floor. "That's neat, granddad, I'll go stand waaay over there!" :)
Love how this is presented as "rocket science", when it's really not. I also love how the tubes have a pwm led at the bottom, which "must" produce a lot of noise (interference). But ok, if you can make "analog sound lovers" believe its better, you won.
This a true Lamborghini AMP
I am surprised the assemblers are not wearing light weight cotton gloves. With all of those highly reflective surfaces especially. I doubt that would happen in Asian based factories.
This amplifier goes for around $6000. I was surprised that the worker was wearing jewelry. I thought anyone working with electricity or circuit boards shouldn't wear jewelry. If anything they should wear a silicone wedding band.
Looks absolutely professionally made with high-end components.
And if you have high-end speakers and only connect analogue sources to it like a turntable or cassette deck you will difinitely get tgat warm sound, NOT with a cd player!!!
Fantastic building, congratulation.. :)
tube sockets soldered straight to the board is kind of cheap construction for such a high end (expensive) amp
yesi agree and using surface mount tech on the same board.....ugh....sw a video of a guy repairing a mesa bogie amp.tubes and solid state on the same board. muting circuit used transistors to disconnect the cathode from the circuit....of course they were blown out....if solid state components are used in a tube amp theey should be in the pre-amp section ....this amp has tube pre amp and shouldn't have any solid state components at all.
This Mac Amp isn't such a "High end" Amp. 7K isn't shit.
also, vacuum tubes are actually just a gimmick. they dont actually produce sound accurately, and transistors are much better. people think tubes contain better sound within them or something hilarious. when the truth is, tubes are just really old, power hungry, inefficient transistors
I'll bet you never heard any good tube equip. Your comment is hilarious.
classichammond Exactly. I have a few of each. There's no contest. My best SS one kicks out the bass more, and has more extended treble. So I like it on rock better, especially metal. It's a lot more expensive unit too. My tubes are all low powered. But if I had something like this. It wouldn't be the case at all. Mine are old too. Now for actual sound quality. Forget it. Warm, and musical doesn't begin to describe how good the tubes sound. I have old full range drivers that I can just lay on my bed. No baffle even. And playing Etta James on either my SET/SEP, or my push pull will make you weep it's so beautiful. Sounds like she's in the room with you. It's amazing. And these are not expensive at all. The good ones are ridiculous. That's what got me into audio. I heard some brand new tube mono blocks many years ago, and couldn't believe sound like that was possible. I didn't buy anything that day, but it's never cost me more to go into a store in my life. Lol
For such an expensive tube amp ($6500 US MSRP), I see a lot of SMT modern ICs inside this thing @3:38 and even several SMT transistors @3:47. Tube amp my ass.
And this video is full of bullshit : speakers connectors are made of gold plated brass, non-magnetic metals, because magnetic ones would react to the electric current and produce distortion... I don't think that this 0.0001% distortion hence produced would be heard over the 0.5% that this amp outputs overall. And that LED gimmicky light show looks awful. Let the natural glow of the tube filaments do the light show. At least it serves a purpose.
And to think McIntosh HR, paper shredded your resume shortly after receiving it..... Their loss.
As a footnote to you audio geeks who love tubes, try those Genalex Gold Lion KT-88's. What a revelation and joy !!!
I love this video and McIntosh.
I thought transformers use silicon electrical steel, not carbon steel.
Thanks for showing this - there is nothing inside which explains it's high cost, made as other 1,5-2k amps. Power tube sockets are on pcb??? Are you kidding? And I am sure pcbs are pressed in china as well.
I’ve wanted a McIntosh tube amp(s) for a long time. I hope to get one soon.
Love the vintage design, they are gorgeous and perfect quality in material, construction and sound. Design Engineers and manufacturers should bring the beautiful design of the year 70's and early 1980's with some upgrade but the look should remain. Let's go!!! 😎👌👏💪😇😎
Bent tin and Chinese Led's hmm how much?
Stainless steel, and not all LEDs are made in China.
@@holywells He does not know the difference.
Just place an antique point-to-point wired MC275 beside this new version which uses circuit boards and cheap Chinese WIMA caps, and you'll see how much cost they have cut.
+Sniper5354 WIMA is German, dumbass.
You'd never seen its new factory in China.
+Sniper5354 Those are metalized mylar capacitors, which are an order or magnitude better electrically than the foil/paper caps in older assemblies.
+Sniper5354 I haven't, no. Their website only lists factories in Germany.
+Sniper5354 ___WIMA is a German company that produces their stacked-film polyester capacitors in Germany. They are considered excellent capacitors by any commercial standard.
Buen video, el regreso de los tubos al vacío!!!... 👍👍
A great video period! Educational and entertaining all at the same time.
I don't like fully potted components.
Don't worry. if you need to repair it you can chisel that tar out of there in a week or two
@Martin M Not so. You can heat the can, melt the tar, and pull the transformer out to rewind it if necessary. To be sure it's a smelly, dirty, messy job, but it can be done. So, a zorched output transformer doesn't have to mean the death of your prized old amp.
An expensive shiny amp built on printed circuits.... beuurk
Thanks brother from India
The comments from all the Taco Bell PHDs in electronic engineering, lecturing a company that produces a proven and successful product, are always entertaining....
Check out the "How it Works"-Series on our channel if you like How it's Made!
1:20 "Then, they put the chassis into an offset press." Offset press? I thought offset printing was different from silk screen printing.
Indeed it is.
I used to be a four colour offset litho printer, and I assure you silk screens were nowhere to be seen.
Blankets and impression cylinders yes, but no silk screens.
I don’t think there’s one of these videos that doesn’t get something wrong, sometimes many things wrong.
I've never seen a "How It's Made " video that isn't rife with errors. I think they must not have anyone with any sort of technical knowledge proof read the script. I don't mind so much the they dumb down every process, but the outright errors really get to me.
@@Rich6Brew Serigraphy (screen-printing).
My 45 year old tube amp still sounds great. I've only replaced the tubes (12AX7A) on the preamp side once.
Beautiful in appearance and in sound.
Love the power on sequence, really cool!
The only thing I don't like is the multitude of surface mount components on the main pcb.
I realize its less expensive space saving and faster to use them, But the amp is already expensive, big and heavy as hell, I'm sure there's room in there for standard components , fatter wires, its just my opinion , I think it would be easier to service , prettier to look at, less time for repairs.
A beautifully made product, but geared for "Golden Ears" with more money than understanding of psycho-acoustics...
McIntosh amplifiers are made in the U.S.A. Notice the people who wiring and assembling these amps. They are American women, building these amps. Most people don't know it, but American women built the radio equipment for World War II. They also built the planes, tanks, bombs and heavy artillery shells for Warld War II. American women have built and are building just about every factory product that has ever come out of American factories. So, when you fire-up that piece of vintage gear, or
start that great old car, or use that old American-made appliance that still works, even after 50 years of use...just think of your grandmother....and those women who helped built America.
'Still the best products for the money. 'Still working well and going strong, even after all these years. 'Still working when you get old and give them to your kids to use even long after you are gone. American made. American quality....just like your grandmother.
jennifer86010 but Italians own the company.
Yes, you are right that in 2012 Fine Sounds SpA of Milan Italy became the parent owner of McIntosh, but only as a parent owner. McIntosh products are still made in the U.S.A. by American workers, and their designs, engineering, research and development is all American. In 2003 D&M Holdings was the parent company of McIntosh, and previous to that the Japanese company Clarion purchased McIntosh in 1990. None of these parent companies changed a thing at McIntosh.
They were only parent companies, which knew that McIntosh was successful, and would make them money...which McIntosh did. This phenomena of larger parent companies buying, owning and selling smaller successful companies is not new. It continues around the world today, and it is a mechanism which allows smaller companies to have the operating capital they need to survive, grow, expand and make money for their stockholders and their parent companies...like kids in a family who have good jobs and contribute to the family's well being.
This phenomenon also happens in Real Estate. many Americans would be shocked to know that many foreigners and foreign companies own landmark buildings in the U.S.A. And they would be even more shocked to know that many U.S. Government buildings are actually owned by China. Outrageous but true. By the way, in 1998 Volkswagen bought Rolls Royce for 340 million English Pounds !
Yes true VW did buy the Rolls Royce car division but remember Rolls Royce is a big company with many other divisions i.e. jet propulsion being just one.
Well... there were some (not altogether salutary) changes in the Loudspeaker division...
www.roger-russell.com/lsd1.htm
www.roger-russell.com/lsd2.htm
the italians make some of the worlds finest audio equipment. I believe the Americans make the best amps, and the italians make the best speakers
Yes like so much the sound
Thanks for the guide. Now ill go make my own
PCB in an audiophile amp... BOOOOOOOOOOO!
snobby
Jesus Krist! The female worker is wearing lots of rings when assembling the amp? And grab the tubes with bare hands??!! Where's quality control?
None
No harm in "grabbing" the tubes. Fingerprints can, and do get wiped off.
A Mcintosh Classic, thats for sure. Even if its a MC275 version 6.0
McIntosh is perfect Quality. It is amazing.
Printed circuit for the output stage, one single pcb .........! It's a shame such an expensive amplifier to be manufactured in such a way.
yep. it looks like the old ones were made better.. those microchips wont last long
Возмутительно !!!!! wima далеко нелучшие кондеры , керамические кондеры коегде ( что для звука плохо ) , монтаж ненавесной и на плате , контакты коегде неприпаянные а прижатые !!!!! И это фирма с громким именем ????
I agree. This looks more like a computer, than a tube amp!
Владимир Черников Действительно.. Сам володя припёрся почтить тупым советом ребят из Макинтош. Иди Весну чини.
yrussq
Так купиж его и радуйся до последних дней своих !!!!
Владимир Черников а еще трансформаторы ш-образные
Да там не только это возмутительно. Работают без перчаток , лампы берут голыми руками, за полированную поверхность корпуса хватаются голыми руками в кольцах, пиздец, такого даже китайцы себе давно уже не позволяют
Very beautiful
What a gorgeous amplifier ! I'll bet it costs a pretty penny!
SBF