Mcintosh C2500 preamp problem
 

Gang,

I'm desperate for your help. I purchased a Mcintosh C2500 Preamp back in December brand new along with a 275 Tube amp. Everything was fine until yesterday when there was a power surge for a split second and everything turned off and on very quickly. The C2500 was in standby with the red light on the power button. I didn't think anything of it, and when I went to turn it on this morning, everything came on except the C2500. I have all equipment connected to a nice power strip, but do not have a UPS or conditioner or anything like that. Any ideas? Do I have to bring it to my dealer to check out?

Many thanks in advance,

Brian Ebert - worried owner

Hi Brian, try resetting--info on page 26 of your manual:

Reset of Microprocessors
In the unlikely event the controls of the C2500 stop
functioning, the microprocessors can be reset by performing
the following:
1. Press and hold the STANDBY/ON Push-button for
approximately ten seconds and then release.
2. To switch the C2500 back On press the On
STANDBY/ON Push-button.
Note: This can be performed with the C2500 On or in
the Standby Mode.
Resetting the C2500 to default settings

If it becomes desirable to reset all the adjustable settings
(Setup and Trim Settings) to the factory default
values, perform the following steps:
1. Press both the PROCESSOR and OUTPUT 2
Push-buttons until the Front Panel Display indicates
“FACTORY RESET”.

Brian.......Try unplugging the power cord from the C2500 and wait 15 seconds or so, then plug it back in.

Thanks fellas, I appreciate the head start. I tried both things, Dan - yours worked and at least the Preamp turned on. However, all the red lights are on the front and no digital screen display is on, only the blue lights in the meters and the red dots on the buttons. Tried both things again with the power button to no avail. Any further ideas?

Thanks in advance,

Brian Ebert - Now a little more hopeful

Brian.......Try unplugging the power cord for five minutes to allow the power supply time to completely collapse. I would also disconnect any power control triggers. Let the preamp sit for at least five minutes, then plug the power cord back into the preamp. It appears to be a microprocessor issue.

I agree w/Dan's advice, I had a similar power blip a year or so ago. All my other Mc gear was fine but I had to unplug my C2300 for a prolonged period of time until it responded correctly.

Thanks again for the responses fellas! I've been e-mailing Chuck at Mcintosh all day today and he thinks its possible it got to thinking it was doing a software update and got stuck (?) so he asked me to take it to the dealer or get a PC with only Intel processor and see if maybe I could get it to update. I'll probably just take it to my dealer in the next couple days to see if they can look into it!

Thanks again for all the ideas!

Brian Ebert

Brian.......The idea that the C2500 "thought" it was doing an update doesn't make sense to me. There is no "auto update" on the C2500 and no Ethernet connectivity to the Internet for updating so how exactly could the preamp be updating it's software? This makes no sense to me.

I see the RS232 port on the rear apron. This is most likely where the software is initially downloaded to the preamp and where software updates would be downloaded to the preamp. I remember having to update my MR88 tuner software via its RS232 port. I had to use an old Windows XP laptop to get it done. Lucky for me I still have an XP laptop in the closet with an RS232 port and a couple old cables still hanging around. In this regard I think McIntosh is way behind the curve. There should either be WiFi connectivity to Windows computers or Ethernet connectivity to McIntosh via your router for automatic updates. If Oppo can do it so well, so could McIntosh.
http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/Assets/I...C2500_Back.jpg

Dan, It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me either, but at this point, I'm willing to try anything. It is sitting there dead and I can't listen to music which makes me unhappy. I'm going to bring it to my dealer here in Portland, OR - Pearl Audio and see what John can do to look at it for me.

Thanks again for all your ideas Dan!

Brian Ebert

We need smart preamps:music:

Yeah at this point it's best to bring it in for service. There could be another problem you may never detect. I am amazed at how may power serges I am reading on this site and it always seems to be McItosh taking the hit and not coming out alive.:icon_thumbsdown: