All, Sound stage, sweetness,power, respect of the true source reproduction,Surprisingly valve like sounding,High quality components, Build to last for last, emotional and moving midrange, ease, to use, Deserves respect from audio community

None

We people, most of us think that GOD will come from the sky while we are forgetting that HE is here within us in our every day life and steps. We just have to search and identify HIM. I spent the last 20 years accumulating audio gears of all sorts and prices. Vintage to modern and just realise that what I have been running after is just there and it is just a matter of identifying him. Yes “him” because the MC2105 amplifier sounds just like the sweet voice of your most desired woman inviting you for the first time in her bed covered with silk bed sheet. A very experienced electronic engineer told me one day that audio gears of nowadays are just build to attract mainly by appearance, than the sweat, love and passion most audio designer put in the project of elaborating decent and close to natural sounding audio gears over the first half of the 20th century. Well I agree with him in the common sense that I have spent over a year income on audio gears and surprisingly delighted by some even never reviewed because they were ignored, or because they are not from High street famous names. Have a Baldwin type AD organ quad 6L6 vintage tone cabinet amplifier driven by a decent preamp and compare its sound reproduction with an aluminium face plated 3 figure worth modern amplifier and post your listening feelings. It’s until 8 weeks ago, I got a call from(now) a good friend in Canada. H e desperately wanted my HH SCOOT Stereomaster 380 unsold on Ebay and offered me a trade deal. A McIntosh MC2105 and MX113 preamp serviced to new. I will pass the details of our arrangement. Six weeks later, I went to collect them at Heathrow cargo (UK). US$600 shipping plus £120 duty charge. It’s becoming too expensive. I am a passionate of speakers and have a collection of 26 pairs form Rogers LS3/5a to TDL Reference Monitors and KEF reference 107. It took me few minutes to connect the MC2105 to the LS3/5a and my faithful Micromega Stage 2 and started with classical records on a Thorens TD 124 II and Hadcock GE 242 Tonearm and Ortofon cartridge. The best existing bookshelf speaker or monitor can never reproduce a better low frequency spectrum than a lower quality cabinet with a 12 “ bass driver. But there I come back to my assumption of the beginning : We spend our life looking for GOD in the sky with HE is within us. I have spent a fortune over twenty years while the MC2105 was just there it’s just a matter of pocket. Then my poor children have to suffer to help me bring heavy KEF 107 and TDL reference monitor and other brand speakers from the loft. MC2105 is the one of , if not the best sounding solid state amplifier I ever listen. I AM JUST WONDERING WHAT CAME ACROSS MCINTOSH INGINEER’S MIND WHEN THE ARE DESIGNING SUCH INCREDIBLE, Powerful, Sexy sounding ,Attractive and mostly the final marathon stop for who knows what it sounds like. The beginning of the answer to this question is What came to GOD’s mind when HE took HIS pencil and stated drawing that most desired woman and her voice inviting you to the silk bed? I am grateful to McIntosh Labs If you come across any, even over $1200, buy it. Who will regret it ?

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lot of money

Vast sound stage, tube like musicality

Weight

One of the most musical amplifiers I've come across. You get a lot for your money at it's current market value.

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I've never owned anything in the same league. Just Rotel and Jolida equipement.

ALL AROUND.

NONE

I HAVE TO GIVE THIS AMP 5 STAR.IT IS MOST INCREDIABLE AMP.USE IT WITH MCINTOSH MX110 TUBE PREAMP THAN YOU WILL HEAR SOUND

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NOTHING CAN TOUCH THIS BEAST

Sound.

None

I have had five of these and I love the sound quality of the 2105 it is very warm but not lacking detail with plenty of power, I would say tube like sound, I have a mint condition one that I have had for the last three years and play daily. A incredible amplifier built to last a life time.

I have owned this amplifier since I bought it new in 1971. After thirty years it still sounds very good. It works well with a wide variety of speakers. It has a somewhat warm tube like sound. It is beautiful. After thirty years the meter display bulbs both still burn. I've never had to spend a penny on the amp.

It's not the last word in lighting fast transients.

I'm feeling laconic so just see strengths and weaknesses above.

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Adcom, Krell, Aragon, New York Audio Labs, Belles Research, Acoustat, etc. In thirty years I've used, owned and tried out more amps then I can possibly remember.

Warm tube like sound, extra heavy duty built like a tank

None that I can think of

I've had a few amps in my time, and was in the market for an amp to run a pair of small monitors while my hafler ran my subwoofer. I have always wanted a McIntosh when I was growing up but never had the opportunity until now. I read alot of review here and decided to pursue one via e-bay in anticipation of upgrading to a new pair of Magnepans to replace the small monitors. I was able to score a real nice one. Not quit mint(small pits on chrome on back) but nice just the same. Compared to the hafler, this amp real makes my speakers sing without any harsh edges. The Van Alstine model 2, would spin the meter off the post and dim the lights a turn on, just could not handle the electric bill. Its paired up with a nice little tube pre-amp mod from Van Alstine in a pas3 cabinet. Other equipment is a rega turntable, Nad cd player, and an adcom tuner. If you can find one of these for under $800, go for it. You won't be disappointed.

Similar Products Used:

VanAlstine model 2, Hafler DH-220, AudioResearch B-100, Adcom 555

Build Quality, Looks, Sound

Heavy, expensive to ship.

I've heard "Once you go Mac You'll never go back". I must admit I agree with this statement. I am in my 40s and enjoyed audio at the high end level many years ago. I recently entered back as we constructed a dedicated AV room for our family. After this was complete the audio bug came back. The HT gear was top notch Marantz "Reference Series" with M&K surrounds, sub etc, but I was not staisified with the music side so I added a set of Magnepan MMGs. Love the speakers, but it demanded more from the upstream electronics. I started cycling with used and new amps, bot solid state and tube. It always left me feeling like something was missing. I tried different subs, still not right. Then I ran across a good used McIntosh 2105 from a store on the web willing to take my Jolida in on trade. WOW!!! I don't want to bore you with all the positive statements everyone else has said. I would like to share an end result of this change I did not expect. The McIntosh simply made the music sound more real than anything else that used to drive my Maggies. The music was absolutely majestic! It sounds so good I nolonger use my sub woofer with the Maggies when listening to music. The panels are driven in a way I have not heard before. They are open, warm, no lack of bass or soundstage. I am a happy guy and have ended my search for the amp to drive the Magnepans. Add to this I have spoke with teh companies that made the products I mentioned above. I was surprised to find I would buy new product and receive poor support, then buy a used McIntosh amp and get the kind of support I would expect if I purchased a $10,0000.00 plus amp. I just called for a user manual and the people at McIntosh thanked me for buying their product. THIS IS A 20+ YEAR OLD AMP!!! They reminded me they still service everything they make or have made and even if I ever need a new glass faceplate they manfacture evrything in house and would build me one. Now I understand why McIntosh holds such good resale value and why people say "Once you go Mac You'll never go back". I know any updates I make in the future will have the McIntosh name on them. Buy it, you'll like it.

Similar Products Used:

G.A.S., Phase Linear, Marantz, Jolida, B&K.

Absolutely built like a tank, bullet-proof performance, wonderful sonically. Beautiful to look at when powered up.

None at all.

I've been watching Ebay for a few years, looking for a real bargain on one of these fine amps; fortunately or unfortunately, they really hold their value and too many people revere these units; hence, few if any "deals".

My grandfather, who died in the mid-80's, loved McIntosh and had one of these in his system. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of his system was a mystery until last year, when I asked my uncle about them. He said they had been in storage in his cellar for the last fifteen (15) years, and a few months later, it arrived at my office double-boxed, completely intact. The poor UPS guy just about got a hernia getting it on to the handtruck; it weighed nearly ninety (90) pounds packaged up.

The power rating on this amp is about 100 watts per channel, but I'll never use even a small fraction of that power. I recently acquired (through Ebay) a pair of Klipsch Cornwall II's. Most people familiar with Klipsch know that the horns are super-efficient, and these speakers are. After warming up the amp for about a week non-stop (I was worried, probably needlessly, but what the heck), I took one of my best recordings (DTS recording by Freddie Ravel, "Sol to Soul") and started at a low listening level. The bass, midrange, and highs were all wonderfully articulated. The amp/speaker combination provide wonderful imaging. I then swapped recordings, putting Antonio Forcione's "Live" album into my DVD player (by the way, for those of you with low-end CD players and recent-vintage DVD players in your system, just scrap your CD player ... the DVD player is light-years ahead of it). Antonio, available only through mail order on the NAIM label in the UK, is one of the finest acoustic guitarists in the world, and is fortunate enough to have been paired with one of the best recording outfits in the world. They are meticulous in their recordings, even more rigorous than Steely Dan, which is really saying something. Anyway, Antonio has a lot of attack and soft passages in his recordings, so the flaws of an amp will really become apparent. Playing this album almost brought tears to my eyes. It was nothing short of being there. The Cornwalls, arguably one of the top five speakers ever made at any price, just put out a wall of sound, and that helps as well. Bottom line is that the McIntosh/Klipsch combo is just wonderful.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I believed my meters were broken; they weren't moving at all. Upon checking the operator's manual, I saw that when I changed the meter calibration to -10, a meter reading of -3 would dictate 2.5 watts of power consumption. So back I went to the Antonio album, cranked it up to about jet take-off level, and then checked the meters. On the most vicious guitar attacks (think, John Madden's "BAM!!!"), the meter moved to a 1.25 Watt consumption. Paul Klipsch was right when he said [paraphrasing], "All the world needs is a good 5W amp."

Subsequently, I have added a Denon AVR3800 for HT; I used the MC2105 to drive the fronts off the pre-amp out connection. I have added a Klipsch KT-LCR center channel (THX-rated version of the popular -C7), a pair of vintage Klipsch Heresy (I's) for rear surrounds, and a Klipsch KSW-12 sub-woofer. This is a very wife-friendly arrangement. It doesn't have to be played loudly to hear the articulation of all the instruments, but she's come to enjoy exercising the volume knob. It's easy to listen to and not exhausting.

Still, the centerpiece of all this is the McIntosh. They are routinely resold on Ebay in the $500 to $800 range, and this is really a bargain for such an amp. The capacitors and magnetics alone are worth half that amount :)

Sound, build quality, autoformers

Heavey; requires solid stand.

I have owned a MC250 and used it as my main amp with a C28 and MR77 for more than 15 years. Some months ago I purchased a set of Bozak Symphony speakers due to the death of my KLH9 electrostatics. The MC250 was well paired with the KLHs because of the autoformers and current rating (that's correct - not a typo).

My Audio Research amp sounded dry with the Bozaks and the MC250 while sounding better did not seem to match as well as it did with my Bozak 301s or the KLH9s. Not that it was less than wonderful sounding, for it was, but, the Bozaks seemed to say that they had more to give. Admittedly, the Bozaks were not in final position. This was not done until the 2105 was installed. I have not substituted the 250 since the final positioning and this could make the difference.

I ran across the 2105 and swapped out the ARC for it. If nothing else it would go well with the rest of the McIntosh collection. Upon substituting it for the MC250 with the larger Bozaks, it was immediately evident that the amp and speakers were well mated. I do not play my music loud. At normal levels in the -20 meter position there is almost no meter movement so it is not that the increased power rating is the key. I leave the 2105 powered all of the time. Even after weeks idling, there is very little heat buildup. A big advantage over tubes. I do find the 2105 most notably better in the lower mid-range/upper bass range with male vocals. There seems to be more body. Also, with organ music it seems to have more authority. With string instruments, there is better definition and detail than with the 250. I am not talking vast differences. I could have easily lived with the MC250.

The MC250 is a marvelous amp. Musical, good soundstage, solid bass; but not overpowering, fluid and detailed high end with a midrange truly wonderful. The 2105 is all of these, just a bit more so.

McIntosh possibly was the 1 company that maintained the sound quality of the tube when it produced its first transistor amplifiers (250, 2100, 2505 and 2105). Most companies' first generation transistor amps were horrendous sounding. This is important for me since I prefer tubes to transistor components because of the sound. McIntosh was careful to maintain this signature while it was independat. I have not done any extensive listening to its newer products since it was acquired. The sound of the combined C28/MR77 is so close to that of my MX110 tube tuner/preamp that I still have a problem deciding which to use as my main combination. Likewise the sound of the 250 was very close to the tube MC240 I compared it with years ago.

Build quality is about as good as it can get. Component quality, likewise is 1st rate. This has lead to McIntosh's reputation as generally producing long lived components. My MX110 is from the 60's and I have owned ot since the late 80s without a service requirement. I purchased my MR77 new in '76 and had it serviced 2X. Once near the end of its warranty period I had it aligned and several years later bulbs and a capacitor were replaced. The C28 was purchased in the 80s and has never needed anything, though I am thinking about sending it in for a preventative maintenance capicitor changeout. The MC250 was a swap out for the 5100 I purchased with the MR77 in the mid 80s. The 5100 had a transistor replaced in the late 70s and never gave me any other problems. The MC250 has never been serviced while I have owned it. Overall the cost per year of ownership has been minimal. From eBay pricing I can sell each for more than my original cost.

Compare that to the pile of other components I have acquired and disposed of due to failure during the last 25 years and in the long run the McIntosh was the less expensive purchase.

The 2100 is a meterless version of the 2105 and slightly less expensive on the market. The 2505 is a metered version of the 250. Considering the current pricing of these amps, anyone wanting to get into separate components should seriously consider these amps. They are about the same price as current mid-fi separates and not subject to depreciation.

Similar Products Used:

McIntosh MC250, Audio Research D76A, Dynaco Stereo 70