Hello there blue-eyes!

ICTWoody

No longer a junior member
So a few days ago a friend of mine reached out and informed me he was wanting to clear some space in his house and he wanted to make a few bucks to buy another guitar to go with the 18 or so he already has. He's a former guitar player from the post-hardcore band Senses Fail.

I knew from past conversations that he had some pretty nice stuff that had been passed down to him from his dad. This rig included a Thorens TD-145 MKII turntable that has seen better days. A pair of McIntosh XR7 speakers which were in decent shape but in dire need of a refoam (and weight 125lbs each) AND... the part that grabbed me... McIntosh C32 preamp and MC2205 power amp!

He said "I know these are worth a shit-ton, but I would take a grand for everything. I want it to go to someone who really digs hifi." After asking a few questions, the deal was done. I posted on a local-ish facebook group I'm on and within a day had the speakers (at a fairly give away price of $150) and the turntable (at a reasonable price of $250) spoken for.

So long story short, I went over there yesterday evening, met the guy who was buying the speakers from me and acting as a courier on the Thorens at my friends and picked it all up. Mostly I'm pleased I never had to deal with moving those beastly speakers, and I took home a nice pair of electronics — for $600 out of pocket. Yeah. This is a brag post.

The wood cases cleaned up pretty well with a little Howards. and I pulled all the knobs and washed them, and polished up the glass faceplates. They cleaned up really nice. I'd say the pair is 8/10 condition. A little delamination around the HP jack (which I guess is common) but very presentable otherwise. I haven't hooked them up yet. Perhaps tonight, but he said they were working fine. The only bad thing I found was the area around the big caps on the amp had ample evidence of mice. I got it mostly cleaned up and there is very little corrosion on the chassis, which is good.

I'm in full-on "purge my extra gear mode" so I'm not sure if these are going to stick around for a while, or just be a nice flip. But it's kinda a fun story I wanted to share and brag on. It's kinda fun being the "friend that likes stereo gear" sometimes.

My main thing is if I keep them I want to have them serviced. But I know the Mac world is pretty picky about who does that work. I'm not sure if it would be prudent to send them to Audio Classics or Terry DeWick etc... if I'm not sure they are going to stick around. I have used a guy named Paul Hovenga down in Tulsa, OK for stuff on Marantz gear in the past and he's a really good tech. His lead times aren't crazy either. The big advantage is I could drive them down and back and avoid shipping. The power amp is 80lbs and I would at least have to buy cartons from the factory or Audio Classics to even consider that. Decisions decisions.

Anyway... here's some pics, post-cleanup.

- Woody

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Update: I ordered shipping cartons today from Audio Classics. Also talked to them about their fees and lead times. They are currently turning around restorations in 2-3 weeks! And the rates were a lot lower than I was expecting. If I can sell a few pieces in the next few weeks. I think I might go ahead and have these serviced by AC and keep them around for a while.

I might not recoup my full investment in boxes/shipping/service. But I think it will still help possible future sales, and I can evaluate them the way they should be.

More soon.

- Woody
 
Very nice find at an outrageously good price. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the sound, once they are serviced. Are you gonna give them a try before sending them off?
 
Very nice find at an outrageously good price. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the sound, once they are serviced. Are you gonna give them a try before sending them off?

Probably. I moved the heavy suckers into my rack last night which I vacated of the Parasound Pair. I'll probably hook them up this weekend and see how they sound now.

- Woody
 
Beautiful gear. Sometimes it’s enough for something just to look GOOD. Good to know on Audio Classics as well. I have a MAC-1900 that I’d love to have properly restored for office duty. Keep us posted on how that goes please.
 
Beautiful gear. Sometimes it’s enough for something just to look GOOD. Good to know on Audio Classics as well. I have a MAC-1900 that I’d love to have properly restored for office duty. Keep us posted on how that goes please.

Will do. If you want to call up and talk to Ryan... he was SUPER helpful. Nice to deal with such a pro company. The quoted price range was reasonable and Aaron the shipping manager is building some really great triple-box shipping cartons to bolt the units into. Pretty excited.

- Woody
 
Nevermind the HiFi, I remain impressed by your beautiful home. And on the preamp, I've been reading Floyd Toole, and I am newly envious of a preamp with equalization and loudness controls.
 
Nevermind the HiFi, I remain impressed by your beautiful home. And on the preamp, I've been reading Floyd Toole, and I am newly envious of a preamp with equalization and loudness controls.

Thanks. As a designer for a living (graphic, not interior) I always say my living space is my biggest design project. But it feels endless and ever ongoing. Oh well. More stereo gear!

- Woody
 
I like to think of this as Deja Blue. Or Mac Attack.

So here's the story. Through and friend I have acquired a SECOND MC2205 with wood case and an MX113 Pre-Tuner with case. They are both in working order, but unrestored. They are in at least as good or better condition as the C32 and other MC2205. As a bonus I worked in a pair of NOS Shure VN35E styli, which should fetch about $150ea on Ebay to help subsidize my expenditure. He included some paperwork he got off Ebay.

This guy is a vinyl enthusiast, but more of a vintage guy who lives in rural Kansas and is content with his little system he already has. He bought these pieces and a good bit of other equipment including a little Kenwood and pioneer gear, a dual TT, a Revox RTR and some other odds and end for the grand sum of $520 on a left estate sale bid. He and his wife are flippers/antique booth operators, so he's in it to make a decent ROI on his luck. But not a greedy person.

He had this good fortune within a couple weeks of me picking up the C32/2205, and so I reached out to let him know the values (I had been researching) and to tell him not to let a lot of the local dudes low ball him. I causally mentioned if he didn't want to deal with selling and shipping a 90+ lb amp, that I would be interested. Well he called me up 2 days ago and we worked out a deal. He and his wife have an antique booth in town and he's really just about making some money. I paid him $1200 for all of it and I figure the sale of the MX113 and Styli will recoup me about $800 of that. Pretty stoked. He even delivered it to me today, which was killer since he lives about 2hrs away, but they were coming into town to work on their booth at a local antique mall.

I'm still going the right direction selling... but this was too good of a deal to pass up. And eventually I'll have two, restored MC2205's which can be used as 400wpc mono's stable down to 0.5ohms. And a restored C32. Talk about the ultimate vintage setup. Pretty happy right now.

Here's the pics.

- Woody

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I just went Mac for the first time myself recently. Would love to hear how you're liking your amps and pre now that you've had them for a while.
 
I had a C32 for several years using it with Hafler XL280 driving my Dalquist Dq10.
I replaced it with an Audio Reseach pre when I got the tube bug...
Looks like you did well with your horse trading.
 
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Nice - I've always wanted blue meters - but I'm good with glowing tubes - maybe someday. Nice kitchen - I like the stainless steel.
 
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