AR3, AR-3a match with Mcintosh MC240?

[Kamolp]

Hi, Everyone

 

I have some questions, and want more comments from you

now I owned AR3, AR3a and already play with Mcintosh C29 + Mcintosh MC2155, sound good with no problem.

but last week I won in Ebay with Mcintosh MX110z and Mcintosh MC240, you know good this pair is tube pre-amp and amplifier.

My dream is own a pair of tube amp from Mcintosh.

 

it possible to play MX110z + MC240 together with AR3 or not? I read more post AR3, AR3a want more power to drive it !

But I love all of this equipment (C29, MC2155, MX110z, MC240) and don't want to sell in this time

and I can not buy any new equipment in this time because my wallet is poor

Thanks
Kamol

[JKent]

Welcome Kamol

I have no experience with that amp but people who do usually love it. Is it possible to play the AR3 or 3a with the Mac? Definitely.

But... these speakers do like a lot of power. If you listen to jazz or chamber music at sensible levels in a smaller room it should be fine. Just don't try to blast heavy rock or big orchestral or organ music in a large room.

Your MC240 is rated 40wpc and would probably be best with more efficient speakers and your AR-3 & 3a would do better with at least 100 wpc. At 150 wpc the McIntosh MC2155 should be perfect. I'd suggest you compare the 240 to the 2155 with your speakers, since you have both amps, and see what YOU think.

Or maybe buy another MC240 and run both in mono 

-Kent

[Stimpy]

Mix and match the MC2155, and the MX110z preamp, when you receive it.  That would add some tube flavor to your solid state amp.  That could work well too.

Welcome, and Good Luck!

[JKent]

8 minutes ago, Stimpy said:

add some tube flavor to your solid state amp.  That could work well too.

Great suggestion. Best of both worlds.

[Kamolp]

Hi, Kent, Stimpy

Buy more MC240 is impossible in this time, because my wallet have a big hole, Ha Ha

 

again! I saw Mcintosh MC2105 is look like same era with MX110z, but I think 2105 is hard to compete with 2155.

You agree with me? or they different in sound signature? (I never listen to 2105 before)

 

I must sell some out, I cannot keep most of them, if you were me which units you will keep up?

[Sonnar]

Kamolp, my father used a 35 wpc Marantz 8b to drive his AR 3 in early '60s, in a very large room , and I think it was an excellent sounding combination, and I think the same for Your Mc240 . But You can' t hear the best thing from AR 3 and 3a woofer's  until You drive it with a powerful , modern , high current and stable power amp. Old SS McIntosh , just like every old SS amp,  aren't the best choice. I remember the C28/2105 my father had in mid '70s with his 10 Pi ,  smooth sounding but also gloomy,  slow and dull. I drive my AR 3 and AR 3a with a Crown Macro-Tech 2402 power amp, dynamic and explosive , fast and clean . These Crowns are AB class , excellent sounding but extremely powerful ( 750 watts per channel on 4 ohms , clipping is impossible ) . Their very high damping factor ( > 1000 ) helps to have exceptional , powerful and fast bass from AR's woofers. Modern SS amps are stable also on 2 ohms and on every kind of difficult load . Macro-Techs ( 2005 ) now are replaced by lightweight switching amps , but at the time I prefer traditional AB class. My advice is to maintain the MC 240 and try some very powerful modern amp . 

Cheers, Adriano

 

[GD70]

I had my 3's hooked up to my restored Scott LK-72, 35 wpc. It sounded ok, but the 3's were clearly begging for more.

Hooked them up to my JVC M-7050 (printed spec of 150 wpc, on my tech's bench, put out 210 wpc) and the difference was night and day!

with good clean power with a high damping factor, bass is deep, punchy and tight, not at all boomy, and the 3's can be spectacular. Same for the 3a's.

Glenn

[Sonnar]

When my two daughters are studying , I use a little NAD 3120 with my AR 3 ,  because the fan of the Macro-Tech is audible at low listening levels . The first evident difference is bass reproduction , also at low levels : with powerful amps AR's woofer seems have no limits in its excellent performance . 

[onplane]

On 9/23/2017 at 12:48 AM, Kamolp said:

Is it possible to play MX110z + MC240 together with AR3 or not? I read more post AR3, AR3a want more power to drive it !

Thanks
Kamol

Kamol, if you want to push your 3's and 3a's to get the best sound possible out of them. I would encourage you to bi-amp.

Look, no matter what single amp you power your AR's with, you cannot over come the response curve shown below with both pots set to max.

With two amps (SS brute for the woofers and possibly your MC240 for the mids tweeters) you can simply push the mids/tweeters a little harder to flatten out the frequency response.

Unfortunately, you cannot bi-amp with just the factory provided three terminals, like I do. Your amps both have output transformers, so you really need to bring out a 4th connection for the woofer return line. This does NOT have to be an expensive proposition. In the pic below, you can see an example of an additional terminal that I use on my 610's.  It's just a wire threaded through a hole, caulked both inside and out. I solder the speaker wire to this wire and then cover both with a wire nut. (This is exactly the same method I use in the very corrosive environment in my boat and have never experienced a failure.)

Regards,

Jerry