Mcintosh MC2500 Solid State Amplifier - In Silver Finish!

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We are super lucky to now have *both* versions of the MC2500 in stock for your choice of a black or silver finish.

(Click here to view our black finish MC2500 listing)

This amplifier came to us in fundamentally working condition, which is a testament to the design and build quality not uncommon for McIntosh pieces from this era.

It needed a bit of TLC which included cleaning the controls and connection pins, replacing the original lamps with specialized warm white frosted LED's (we tried several shades to get *just* the right color), setting the bias, and calibrating the meters.

All of our careful work was followed by a full power bench test which resulted in 500W of clean power per channel into 8 ohms.

It is now ready to rock and roll in its new home.

Condition of the faceplate and front is close to a 7, showing only a couple of light blemishes,  But the chassis does show some aging which brought it down to its current rating of 6. We are super conservative with our ratings.

Click below to add our recommended matching cables from Kimber Kable, all brand new as SkyFi is an official Kimber dealer.

Kimber Kable - RCA Interconnects

Kimber Kable - Speaker Cables

Kimber Kable - Bi-Wire Speaker Cables

Please see our last photo for full technical specifications or this linked manual:

Mcintosh MC2500 Solid State Amplifier - Owner's Manual

Note that this special amplifier will need to ship freight because of its weight and to ensure safe transport. Local pickup from our shop in Glen Rock, NJ 07452 is also welcome.

You'll also want to enlist the help of 2-3 friends to help carefully unbox this 130 lb amplifier and place it in your room or system furniture. 

The SkyFi Testing Process for Solid State Amplifiers:
We start with a visual inspection of all internal components to make sure there are no signs of stress or aging. Capacitors are checked for telltale sings of bulging or leaking, resistors are checked for signs of overheating or cracking, and transistors are checked for signs of stress or damage.

We then power up the unit carefully and run a simple 1k sine wave while monitoring the output on an oscilloscope for signs of distortion or noise. Finally, we run the amplifier to its full rated power into the appropriate resistive load provided by our Sencore amplifier tester. If there is an issue, it will usually be noticeable at this point. If everything reads clean, we will often test for THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) measured by our Keithley distortion meter, and compare it against the original manufacturers specifications. The amplifier then remains powered on to "burn in" on our test bench for a few hours to make sure there are no heat related issues. If there are balanced inputs available they will be also be tested.

Final testing involves pushing actual music thorough the amplifier. We've learned over time that some issues are only noticeable to a trained ear while listening to familiar source material. Our test bench has reference vintage Kef speakers that we're very familiar with which quickly reveal any discrepancies. Some amplifiers will then move into our listening room where they are tested with our in-house reference speakers of choice.

Technical Specifications
500 WPC stereo
1000 W mono

Frequency Response:
20 Hz - 20 kHz
(+0 -0.25 dB)

Distortion:
0.02%

Noise and Hum:
-95 dB

Output Impedance:
1, 2, 4, and 8 ohms
0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 ohms in mono

Damping Factor:
30 or greater

Input Impedance:
50k

Input Sensitivity:
0.75 v or 2.5 v

McIntosh Included Patented Features:
Sentry Monitor
Power Guard
Autoformers

Produced and Sold:
1980 - 1990

Dimensions:
Standard 19" rack mounting width
10-1/2" H
17" D

Weight:
129 lbs (144 lbs in shipping carton)