New McIntosh Turntable

[Chrispy]

Is that a Topping style, bog-standard Chinese plastic remote next to the unit?

View attachment 247628

Fitting, eh?

 

[antcollinet]

Wow nice... I like the green glow form the tubes. But then, is that added LED?? I don't recall tubes have green glows.

Unless you can find tungsten filaments that glow green, those are fake ass leds.

 

[restorer-john]

Unless you can find tungsten filaments that glow green, those are fake ass leds.

I just don't understand the green LED underlighting they do. It just makes a mockery of tubes/valves in general.

The natural orange heater glow is subtle, genuine and looks great. I bet @SIY wouldn't light up the base of his tubes with LEDs- even at Christmas time.

I just wish they wouldn't do it. But I guess it's no different to certain German car makers 'augmenting' missing engine rev noise, by playing it over the in-car audio system as a default you have to over-ride...

 

[antcollinet]

I just don't understand the green LED underlighting they do. It just makes a mockery of tubes/valves in general.

The natural orange heater glow is subtle, genuine and looks great. I bet @SIY wouldn't light up the base of his tubes with LEDs- even at Christmas time.

I just wish they wouldn't do it. But I guess it's no different to certain German car makers 'augmenting' missing engine rev noise, by playing it over the in-car audio system as a default you have to over-ride...

I don't get it either. At least with the car engine noise you can make it sound close to reality even if fake. But green glowing tubes (facepalm in lieu of vomit emoticon)

 

[anmpr1]

But I guess it's no different to certain German car makers 'augmenting' missing engine rev noise, by playing it over the in-car audio system as a default you have to over-ride... The natural orange heater glow is subtle...

I drove a Gen 7 GTI (2015) on lease for three years. It was probably the best all around car I've owned in terms of practicality, driving fun, along with economy. However, it 'featured' phony baloney engine noise pumped into the cabin through a speaker, somewhere. It wasn't the radio, because you couldn't turn it off. In fact, the only way to disable it was to go 'under the hood' and HAL 9000 it; start disconnecting wires and pulling things out..., which I did not want to do on a leased car. Hated it. After a while I sort of ignored it. But not completely. It was the automotive equivalent of a silicone beef-up, if you know what I mean.

The Mac thing is more an automotive equivalent to the Mercedes Benz lighted star you sometimes see. I don't know if that comes with the car, or is an aftermarket add-on. I presume, however, that if one is embarrassed about it, they have the option to turn it off.

Also, on PC cases and parts. Fans, GPUs, memory, mice and so forth.

Audio oriented, I've seen this sort of thing as an aftermarket for Technics turntables. I think that's more a DJ club thing. Not sure anyone would want a backlit purple or pink record player for their home. Possibly seasonable, to go with the Christmas tree.

I know everyone is different, but to me, McGreen is plain weird, and sort of gives me the creeps. Borgish, or Matrixy. But I suppose that's what their customer wants, and at those prices, you have to give them what they want.

 

[mhardy6647]

so -- Mac uses color coded LEDs to indicate operational status of the tubes in their hardware. I think (?) they have red or orange LEDs that light under the tubes on turn-on, changing to green when the tubes are at their operating points. I guess if you see one stay red, something's wrong.

I report, you decide.

 

[anmpr1]

so -- Mac uses color coded LEDs to indicate operational status of the tubes in their hardware.

Well, that's certainly one way to do it. Another is the trad way. I remember last year, when the rectifier on one of my Dyna MkIV went south..., the thing arced a lightening bolt light show at the tube socket, started smoking, made a horrible noise at the speaker, and tube glass turned black. So instead of a simple visual warning, I got that, plus an aural and olfactory notice.

A new fangled ASR type would most likely argue that the McIntosh way is better, but I'm old school. If you are going to tube, you should tube.

 

[mhardy6647]

Well, that's certainly one way to do it. Another is the trad way. I remember last year, when the rectifier on one of my Dyna MkIV went south..., the thing arced a lightening bolt light show at the tube socket, started smoking, made a horrible noise at the speaker, and tube glass turned black. So instead of a simple visual warning, I got that, plus an aural and olfactory notice.

A new fangled ASR type would most likely argue that the McIntosh way is better, but I'm old school. If you are going to tube, you should tube.

Oh, I'm not defending 'em.
Yeah, the ol' smoke test is hard to beat for components that blow a fuse on turn-on -- a time-honored troubleshooting technique from back when electronics were robust. Jumper the fuse, apply power to the DUT*, and see where the smoke comes out. Problem solved**.

________________
* Device Under Test
** Perhaps one will detect at least a note - a soupçon - of facetiousness.