Spend my money and some silly questions...
 

I am really wanting to get away from the 7ch home theater blah blah now that I'm moving and, I know all of you want to help me spend money!

For sources, I really just want to end up with my sonos connect, a turntable, and maybe a music app, pandora/amazon music via amazon box. I do also have a SACD player (oppo).

I would like to have a pre-amp and plan on selling my MC300 for a pair of 501's to push my Klipsch Ref 7's.

Q1. I've been reading up on all the preamps and it seems the c47 might be a good fit for this setup? or the C50? I don't want to spend crazy amounts of money.

Q2. My silly question is, with a preamp, can I still run a subwoofer with this type of setup or is this taboo? (fixed output??)

Any tips or advice is very welcome!
Chris

So you are not having the home theatre anymore, only the two channel stereo?

Yes I will be down to 2 mains and a subwoofer.

Since you're looking for us to spend your money, I'll bite. If you are happy with and intend on keeping your speakers for quite a while, I think that a pair of 501's would be overkill. A single MC302, MC452 or MC462 would provide plenty of juice for the RF7ii's or any other future speaker choices. This would save some money to put into an REL subwoofer. I've found the integration of an REL into any 2-channel system to be easy and very effective since it's connected directly to your amp. It's taken my system to a level that I never expected. And yes, a C47 or C50 would work nicely with whatever McIntosh amp you decide on.

Ok this is the advice I was looking for and, thank you. I was questioning the 501's for my speakers and wondered if the 302 or 452 would suffice. I'm not trying to blow down the doors. I like your idea of the REL. I'm sure there are discussions on here between the C47 and C50 but, does anyone have any way to skew me either direction on the two?

I use a MC-252 with my RF7-II's and had a MC-302 for three months but chose to stick with the MC-252.I use a Sonic Frontiers preamp and I'm very happy with the sound.Cheers

I have the MC452 driving ML 11As which are fairly demanding (dip below 1ohm in higher frequencies) and they don’t even break a sweat. When the meter hits half way it’s shaking the walls.

Something I don’t think was mentioned is the source is pretty important as well, especially if you are streaming. I recently added a Meridian 218 dac/streaming Roon endpoint and it was a game changer in my system. Before that was using AppleTV and native Tidal FLAC through Marantz HEOS. You can have the most amazing amp/preamp but you are transferring the original source. Something to factor in in addition to the preamp.

Oh man, now you are digging me a hole! Yes I get what you are saying. Like putting a cheap lens on a $5000 Nikon. So I have never heard of Roon but, did look it up. Seems it is music gathering software/player. I do have a Shiit DAC that I was using with my modded Sonos Connect. I feel like the DAC is good but, get a little annoyed with the Connect.

Interesting on the other comment about the 252. I am running a mc300 now but, I really just want a more modern amp. I do feel the 300 is sufficient and i'm not sure how much i could sell it for.

please keep the comments coming, I'm soaking all this up!

If you have a DAC that you like you could just get a streamer like a Bluesound Node. No need to use Roon they have a decent app I hear. The Bluenode has its own DAC too as well as digital outs. There are higher end alternatives as well.

Roon may be overkill unless you want to centralize access to all your music. You would need a Roon server running (local computer or dedicated device) and a compatible streamer endpoint (which could also be a computer + dac) connected to your audio system. You then use a mobile or desktop app to control that endpoint and others you have around the house centrally.

Why do you want to sell the MC300? Anything specific you don’t like about it? May help you figure what’s next. You could get a preamp and other gear then see how it works with the MC300 before changing. If you are currently using the Pioneer receiver as your preamp then getting a dedicated 2ch preamp will probably change things noticeably. Maybe start there and see how the MC300 works for you.

As for the C47, it has the same specs and audio circuits as the celebrated C52, which has been highly praised by the audio press. Paul Seydor of The Absolute Sound was so impressed he bought the review sample. The C50 is the previous generation, so I'd say the C47 seems the way to go, unless you really want the meters and the equalizer.