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

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.

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. 
wanders:  I have the SP13, which is just the SP14 with 6CG7 tubes instead of 6SN7.  Essentially the same piece and I'm quite happy with it.