Hi gsabath! Welcome to the show. Have no idea if your 5300 can be upgraded to the new DA2 module, but a quick call to Mc will get your answer.

gsabath... Welcome to AA! :wave:

and thanks for your Support becoming a Subscriber. :ok:

You should see the U.K. prices:

C52 £8,200 ($10,600)
C53 £9,995 ($13,000)

Yes the MA5300 is upgradable.

Thanks all for the info that the MA5300 can be upgraded. Hopefully this will be a reasonable cost. I would rather have the upgade then have to go and buy a non-Mc DAC for the addition performance.

I’m interested at to why McIntosh prices are substantially more in the U.K. than the U.S. I guess there’s a fair amount of import tariff applied over here, but us Brits also have to pay a very high level of sales tax (called VAT) which is 20%. If the MC53 is $8,000 is there U.S. sales tax to pay on top of this amount ?

McIntosh C53 2-Channel Solid State Preamplifier
 

Only if the state where you purchase it charges a sales tax which most do. The state I live in doesn’t have sales tax so I wouldn’t have any additional charges over the $8,000 retail.

Mc's are made in America and we don't have a value added taxation system. (At least not yet), I'm sure the UK charges a duty on these products to equalize them to a level playing field for your good UK manufacturers. I could be wrong, but I'd suspect that's the reason for the price discrepancy.

Sales taxes are statewide and vary tremendously from one jurisdiction to the next. Where I live it's 9.875%

No one is going to bring up the Boston Tea Party and taxation without representation? :lmao:

Taxation is often the reason Audio buyers purchase their equipment at places like Overture A/V in Delaware. No sales tax is applied thus saving hundreds (possibly thousands) of dollars if you happen to live in the nearby area.