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looking at mcintosh pre-amp c2500. Can I do better for the cost of a Mac?

I'm being told I can get a better pre amp for the money I would spend on a Mac. 

macandtosh
macandtosh OP
9 posts
 
Thank you all for you're input it is greatly appreciated. I enjoy all sorts of music (Country, Electronic, hip hop, alternative, and some classical.) I even enjoy some Jazz on occasion. Anything with live instruments I love.   

I currently have Rotel latest line of class AB amps the MKII(1582 & 1552) 
Oppo 105D blue-ray player, Pioneer elite receiver and B&W 600 series speakers. 

 I'm leaning more towards starting a whole different system to enjoy just my music and  leave my current setup for my movies, football games, fights ect.....

I was thinking tube pre amp, either tube or ss amp, nice dac, and turntable for my new collection of vinyl.


    
bondmanp
1,465 posts
 

All I can say is that I have owned, and loved, my C220 for the past five years.  It does everything I want it to, sounds excellent, and has been very reliable.

That said, I did replace the supplied tubes with Mullard reissue 12AX7s.  The result was a dramatically lowered noise floor, a wider sound stage, and a bit more warmth and smoothness.

My only complaint with the current line of McIntosh preamps is the included DAC.  Yes, digital technology is more mature than it was a few years ago, but I doubt we've seen the end of new formats, codecs, resolution limits, etc.  So, while having a built in phono section makes perfect sense, it makes less sense, IMO, to build in a DAC section unless it is based on a FPGA so upgrades can be made in the field.  But, hey, you might never want a better digital converter than the one built into the C2500, and you could still add one.  But that would make the built-in one redundant.

miner42
698 posts
 
Tubed preamp and solid state amp is pure pleasure.  A nice combo.   I use the DAC in my MAC6700 for my Rotel RCD1072.  The Mc DAC is a better quality one that the Rotel (six years older) and the Rotel was considered a giant killer when it was released.  For my listening room I have a C2300 and a MC452 which is a match made in heaven. 
russbutton's avatar
russbutton
136 posts
 
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/SP14.htm

In full kit form, $920.

Fully assembled, tested and ready to use, $1350.
wanders
20 posts
 
Anybody familiar with the sp-14 mentioned in the previous post?

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