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McChanson Valve Amp Owners Thread


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On 20/04/2021 at 9:35 PM, Odyssey said:

Very nice looking @Midget !!! What color is the front plate? How long did you have this? It's gorgeous. This is with marzE transformers all the way.

 

The front plate is a sort of deep copper tone. I have had it since 2015 and you might find my review and initial impressions in the review section. This one is with the interstage transformers and a few other upgrades. I have tried a lot of amps since this one, but I keep coming back to it, because it just sounds so good. I was considering putting it up for sale, hence this recent photo, but got cold feet because I thought I might miss it too much. I have a Line Magnetic 300b now as well, which sounds equally as nice. This is a complement to Eric and his amp design.

A little trick for getting more from these amps, which I have shared before, is to use a preamp with a high pass filter and a sub out. Cutting out 80Hz and below before it reaches the McChanson just frees it up to be played at a higher volume, or to drive less than efficient speakers. I'm using an Oppo 105 for this duty.

Edited by Midget
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3 minutes ago, dwbasement said:

Of course but I mean not having the led like not even the cutout.

 

I've seen custom designs of his come up now and then. These are cases sourced privately before he builds. You could make whatever you like I suppose, but he would have to be comfortable with the design and the technicality around it. I proposed a certain case design but it was getting a little tricky and he thought it might just be too much for him. It might have been the thickness of the metal I can't remember. I appreciated his honesty. 

Oh, I have to say I must have around 300 emails back and forth with Eric. He's a great guy to deal with and it was a great experience having my first custom built amp with him. It sounds great, and also holds sentimental value. 

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2 minutes ago, Midget said:

 

I've seen custom designs of his come up now and then. These are cases sourced privately before he builds. You could make whatever you like I suppose, but he would have to be comfortable with the design and the technicality around it. I proposed a certain case design but it was getting a little tricky and he thought it might just be too much for him. It might have been the thickness of the metal I can't remember. I appreciated his honesty. 

Oh, I have to say I must have around 300 emails back and forth with Eric. He's a great guy to deal with and it was a great experience having my first custom built amp with him. It sounds great, and also holds sentimental value. 

Yes he did a few very unique custom built for different clients, I didn’t push because I am happy with what it is.

We become good friends since my first pre amp he built for me. And my current amp is still the same since 2013 except it went through a few upgrades and redesign...etc I have a few other tubes amp in between but there is nothing that made me to think about not keeping this one.

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3 hours ago, Midget said:

 

The front plate is a sort of deep copper tone. I have had it since 2015 and you might find my review and initial impressions in the review section. This one is with the interstage transformers and a few other upgrades. I have tried a lot of amps since this one, but I keep coming back to it, because it just sounds so good. I was considering putting it up for sale, hence this recent photo, but got cold feet because I thought I might miss it too much. I have a Line Magnetic 300b now as well, which sounds equally as nice. This is a complement to Eric and his amp design.

A little trick for getting more from these amps, which I have shared before, is to use a preamp with a high pass filter and a sub out. Cutting out 80Hz and below before it reaches the McChanson just frees it up to be played at a higher volume, or to drive less than efficient speakers. I'm using an Oppo 105 for this duty.

 

Thanks for sharing. I had listen to Eric's demo 300b amps and that led me to this stage of having him build me a 300b amp. As many of you have shared, Eric is very communicative and is a joy to have him to build my amp. It's easy to like him and he has a sense of humor. ?

 

The latest update from him is on the layout of the top of the chassis - the placements of the parts. I had some input on this as I want it to orient east ! The rising sun ! So this is what we settle on.... there's my Genalex Gold Lion PX300b tubes delivered safely and singing well according to Eric. ? @xtiva2000 helped me order the headphone out parts - both Neutrik 1/4 inch and xlr 4-pin both to be set to 4 ohms.

 

 

 

DSCN9043.JPG

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On 21/04/2021 at 10:41 PM, dwbasement said:

Yes he did a few very unique custom built for different clients, I didn’t push because I am happy with what it is.

 

Those amps above looks great but there's also appeal with old school looks where the irons are exposed naked. I particularly like how yours turn out. Add a bit of dust accumulated over several months and it look even more authentic. 

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I'm a fan of the old school look as well...casts a glance over my right shoulder to see the lightly dusted black painted Silk OT's of my 300B...yup very nice and so is the sound and bottle glow that it produces...big, big fan...very happy!

Always intrigued by the amp customization/possibilities as shown by the pics above...great imagination...superb examples...makes me envious! :) 

 

20210423_090256.thumb.jpg.fbb66717ae4ad25485c329d9414db7ee.jpg

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1 hour ago, BLAH BLAH said:

I'm a fan of the old school look as well...casts a glance over my right shoulder to see the lightly dusted black painted Silk OT's of my 300B...yup very nice and so is the sound and bottle glow that it produces...big, big fan...very happy!

Always intrigued by the amp customization/possibilities as shown by the pics above...great imagination...superb examples...makes me envious! :) 

 

Your 300b is great looking so no need to be envious. So you're using the Silk OTs. What rectifier is that? Love big bottles. ?

 

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Destiny is finally home. Eric has decided to formally use that name for this configuration of his 300b amp. Which is with interstage transformers and upgrade hardware - CMC tube sockets, RCA inputs and speakers out are all CMC grade. Double chokes. 

 

Amp has 2 days of burn in by Eric. Early days but initial listen with LCD4 and He1000se are simply amazing. With LCD4, it's ultra quiet with no music playing but with the lower impedance He1000se (35 ohms) there is a very, very low noise. I've feedback this to Eric to see if he can address it but it's a minor issue as the sound is simply stunning with He1000se... and also LCD4. Next I'll try LCD-3f and Arya.

 

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