Perhaps it's mere impatience, but I have not liked the sound from the MM section of the 2300. I think those tubes need the same 20–30 hours the line stage tubes do, independently. But I was disenchanted enough to put my phono preamp back into the system and connect to the line stage. Instant, major improvement. I am more pleased, and will leave it this way. I stopped counting tube hours at 25, and will just listen now. Blu-rays such as The Avengers can thump more now. And my test tracks on Yes Live at Montreaux had more weight. Still not quite what my LS3 generated, but much closer than before.
If I do this again I don't think I'd get a tube preamp, but the C2300 has improved its chances with me now.
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks
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