Room correction does a very nice job. It basically kind of puts the instruments in place so they are a bit more pin pointed. The other thing that's rather cool is you can set it up to listen from any chair in the room and have near perfect stereo imaging. I purchased it so I could use the crossover to run tubes and SS together.
As for the Gold Lions I only replaced the KT88's. They do sound better, maybe a little fuller. I want to try a friends 12ax7's and 12at7's as he has some nice 1950's and 60's. He thinks I'll get more bang for the buck than going with new tubes. Considering the price difference they will have to impress to spend that much. I have Gold Lion 12ax7's in my C2300 preamp and I like them much better than the Chinese tubes it came with.
Good luck on your choices. It's always a matter of personal preference.

bobandcathi November 22, 2013 20:05

The synergies between Mac tubes and B&W speakers are very apparent every time I listen to that combo.

gpgr4blu November 16, 2013 05:25

Hi Bob, that's awesome, I was wondering two things, how did you like the room correction with your set up and performance on the Gold loins. I am thinking of buying two extra sets to use now and preserve the Mcintosh set in case I would want to sell in the future for upgrade, though, I can't imagine yet, but never know :)) And did you get the chance to try out any other sets before committing to the GLs. Cheers!!!

chen8989 November 16, 2013 02:56

We have very similar equipment. I have the B&W 802 diamonds, using a Mac MC402 to drive the bass speakers, an MC275 V6 to drive the mids and highs and using an MEN 220 for the crossover and room correction. My preamp is a Mac C2300 with Genalex Gold Lion tubes. My CD player is a Mac MCD301. My TT is a Michell Gyro with a Denon DL160 MC cartridge. Everything is wired with Analysis Solo Crystal. Very happy with the sound. Wish I had the cash to add another MC275. Maybe someday. I played around with the MC275 driving my speakers full range. The sound was good just didn't play as loud as I liked. I also really missed the bass slam of the 402. What a fun hobby. Have you done any tube rolling in your MC275?

bobandcathi November 12, 2013 01:16