Considering MC275. Which preamp: C2500, C22, C50?

There are some similarities between the C2500 internal DAC and the D100/150, but IMO the external DACs have a little more air, sparkle and oomph in comparison.

Mac phono stages are excellent, even the entry level C220 (albiet only MM) is better than a lot of external phono stages I have heard and the C2500 and C22 are even better/quieter than the C220. The MC stages on both the C22 and C2500 are excellent as well and I think you would have to spend a couple thousand on an external phono stage to match them and even then you will be cutting it close IMO.

 

Well, I went in today to put in the order on the C2500 and MC275...they should be in by the end of the week. My only mild concern is whether the MC275 will deliver enough power. They hooked up some B&W 683s to it, which are somewhat similar to my older DM604s. I still couldn't really get any sense of it in the store because they had the setup at the front on their "Magnolia" department facing out into a cavernous Best Buy.

I've just got to get everything in my room, in my system, and see how it sounds. They told me I have 15 days to return anything with no restocking fee, so I'll take the chance and see how it all sounds for a week or two.

 

Question for you: will the pasthru trigger work with an older AVR? Is that trigger required to "pass through" or is it optional? I have a Sony from the late 90s that has a jack labeled "control A1" in back, but it seems like that was some sort of proprietary Sony thing.

 

I contacted McIntosh directly and was advised how to make this work if your AVR lacks a 12v trigger but has a switched A/C outlet, like my older Sony does. If I use a 12v wall wart adapter plugged into the Sony's outlet with a 3.5mm tip, set the tip to positive and plug that into the C2500 it will work. Because those tips are "mono" it will not activate the meter lights. If I want the meter lights, I can use something like this Emotiva ET-3 in a similar manner and use a stereo trigger cable.

 

Ditto.

MC275 will drive B&Ws, but I prefer B&W speakers with a SS amp, although my experience with them is limited to dealers' listening rooms.

I also have a MC152 SS power amp. With my current primary speakers (Tekton Enzo XL), the MC152 is a step down from the MC275mkVI. With my old PSB Synchrony Twos, it was a moderate step up against the MC275. Very speaker dependent.

I see you are all set. Hopefully the in-home audition will help.
FWIW, if it were me, I'd rather trade the speakers than return the C2500/MC275 combo.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

Thanks, I'll see how it all sounds together soon enough. I do ultimately plan to upgrade the speakers, so as long this gear sounds better than what I had (hard to imagine it woundn't sound better than a 17 year-old AVR) then I'll be good until the next big upgrade, probably next year.

 

Sweeeeeet! Enjoy! I am happy and excited for you! I can't imagine the MC275 would no deliver everything you want and more. I have the MC452 like I said, but in all honesty, I can put out about half a watt (.45w) according to my meters and get very reasonable regular listening volume. If I am really cranking it, maybe 45w. I sometimes open it up, and if you are going much over 45w you are going to have hearing damage, at least in my room lol

 

I got my MC275 and C2500 last week, and so far I am really liking what I hear (and I love how it looks). It may be cliché but I am truly l hearing details I've never heard before in very familiar recordings. The "echo trails" and fine detail that were so obscured as to be practically inaudible can finally be heard with some clarity (I suspect even more could be brought out with different speakers, but this is pretty revelatory as it is). The soundstage is deeper and the imaging more solid. Certain instruments—particularly piano—sound far more life-like. The MC275 gives me enough power for the speakers and my room. It can get loud enough to be uncomfortable, but the higher-powered solid state amps certainly get louder. I can get this to about 50-55% volume depending on the source and it still sounds really good with no distortion or clipping like I could get through the Sony AVR. I think with an MC452 for example 50-55% would an uncomfortable volume (is that right Joey?). I do wonder how it would sound with two MC275s in mono mode. But first thing's first. I'll probably upgrade the speakers next. Though I will add that the B&Ws I have really sound quite a bit better than I thought they could.

I really like the feature set on the C2500. The MC phono stage seems to be quite an improvement over the Clearaudio Nano V2 I'd been using, though I admittedly did not hook that one up through a line-in to A/B them. I hooked up an Apple AirPort Express via the optical digital input and even with lossy iTunes files it sounds quite good. The home theater passthru works perfectly, and with the MC275 driving the front L/R speakers movies sound noticeably better as well.

Overall I am quite pleased, and I believe these will be mainstays in my system for years to come. Thanks everyone for your input.

 

Congrats! If I am really really opening it up on a kick ass record like LZ2 or Back in Black, I have been known to crank my 452 at 50%. In my room, it's LOUD. From my seat about 10 feet away it is probably 95dB or better. Needless to say, it is rarer that I play it that loud. On any given night, my sweet spot is 35-40% depending. On some really loudly mastered stuff I will have it at 30 even.

 

Snorker, congratulations on new McIntosh purchases. I am sure they must sound as good as they look together. I am a big McIntosh fan also. I had a C2300 paired with 1 MC275 v6 and then paired it with a 2nd MC275 v6 which even improved my listening pleasure. A 2nd one can always be added. With the cages off for me it is the prettiest amp on the market with all those tubes. I would often play them with the green LEDs off and loved the look of the orange glow of the tubes showing. One thing that can also be done in the future would be to upgrade the stock tubes. When I did this with my preamp and amps I did hear a noticeable improvement in sound quality to me. Again congrats on your purchase. That can be a for life purchase.

 

Thanks. It does look cool without it, but I've left the cage on for now so my kids don't mess with it! Not that I'm considering doing this now, but what tubes did you put in?

 

I don't have any children left at home so I am the only one that can break things. In my MC275 I had SED 6550 "Winged C" power tubes and a combination of Mullard CV4024, Tesla E83CC and Dario Miniwatt 18ECC for the smaller tubes. For my C2300 I preferred the new Genalex Gold Lion ECC83s in the line and MC stages. I don't use a MM so I left the stock tubes in for that. Tube Maze can fit you up with many different tubes as I am sure other sellers can also.

 

Only pre that will do justice to vintage mac gear: MX110.

 

If I were you, I'd match the lovely retro look od the MC275 with the very retro looking C22 preamp, which has all the functions needed for a modern preamp, bit with a retro look.

 

I was thinking exactly that, but went with the C2500 because it has additional features like a DAC and home theater passthru that I wanted, and they had an open box unit for a substantial discount, with the factory warranty.

 

I am running a C2500 with 2 MC275's mono blocked and it performs very well. The C2500 has really a really cool glass top that shows of 6 tubes that are lit with the green LED!

 

I am looking at a possible MC275. Now that some time has passed, do you still enjoy it as much? Have you made any changes? I love McIntosh components.

 

Yeah, me too. I enjoy the MC275 almost every day. It’s now paired with a C2600. The demo C2500 had some issues and the dealer let me return it towards a new C2600. No issues since. I’m running Harbeth 40.2s and everything sounds fantastic. Highly recommended.

 

I love both of mine! They sound amazing and they are super cool looking!

 

That’s the only thing I’d possibly do in the future...add a second one.

 

Nice. How did the Harbeth change the sound for you?

 

Dramatically for the better. Night and day compared to my old B&W DM604.

 

Great! Do the Harbeth's have as much on the bottom end? I have read their midrange is superb.

 

Yeah, the Harbeth have deeper bass too. Those B&Ws only were rated down to 40hz. The 40.2 are rated down to 30hz. It’s a pretty big difference.

 

Still loving the Harbeths? I’m considering them again!

I did get the MC275 and it sounds great with the C2300.