About Chinese amplifiers driving Altec's

[sonocite]

Does anyone tryed driving Altec Enclosures with chinese amplifiers ?
I did, and the result was...ugly.
I compared with europeans tube amplifiers, like Yves Cochet, and the well know australian amplifier, the Melody SP3 : they sound very good, but not as nice as solid state amplifiers like Amcron or Phase Linear or... Mark Levinson.
I would be happy if anyone could tell me his experience with McIntosh - tube or transistors amplifiers. I'm searching for a nice amplifier to drive my A6. Thank you for your advise.

[MikeInNH]

I'm assuming you're talking about the WE 300B. When Western Electric closed down the production of the 300B amp China started producing it. But it was NOT the same quality of the WE version.

There has been such a resurgence in the past few years for this amp that the 300b is being made in the US again. Carry (and a few others) make amps utilizing this tube.

As for McIntosh....Pretty much everything thing they make are top notch. Very quiet and clean amp. Friend of mine had the model 19's and use to drive them with a 100w Mac amp. Beautiful sounding. He's now driving them with the Crown Sudio reference amp. About the best sound system I've ever heard anywhere at any time.

If you want a tube amp...check out Cary. Others will have different opinions I'm sure.

[MikeInNH]

I didn't see the remarks about Phase Linear or Mark Levinson.

I've never been a fan of Bob Carver products. He started Phase Linear. One of their amps (I think it was the 400) was a direct rip off of the Crown DC 300-A. But it used these cheap bus bars and would constantly cut out when driven hard.

As for Mark Levenson....About the best you can buy. Very expensive..but there aren't too many other amp companies that make as good or better.

One of the best systems I've ever heard was a friend of mine (Lars) running Mark L amps with Magnapan speakers and a home made Altec Sub (actually i made it for him). Stunning sound. My wife loved it....But when I told her how much the whole system cost Lars...she almost croaked. I think the pre-amp and amps were over $20k. It was then she really started to like my Altec 15's with my Crown PL-4 amp and Crown SL-2 pre-amp.

[MikeInNH]

My friends Mac amp was all solid state.

I grew up in Upstate NY. If you're ever in Binghamton you should stop into MacIntosh and take a tour. They use to give them on I think Tuesdays. I've taken it a couple times.

Their equipment is built like tanks...and usually after many years their value INCREASES. Mainly noted for their amps...but their MR-78 tuner is also considered one of the best if not THEE best tuner ever made.

[sonocite]

Thank you very much for your advise.
About McIntosh you didn't told me if your experience was concerning tube or transistors model; I love McIntosh tube amplifiers, one of the best is the MC-275 (but 4.000 usd) and I think also of the MA-230 (about $ 1800). A solid state like the MC-2205 seems a good choice at a much lower price. I don't know if I'll be 100 % satisfied with the MC-2205. I don't want regret such a purchage and say "I would have better to buy a tube model".

For Chinese amplifiers I don't trust about the output transformers !