Greetings Bones13 -
I recently went through the process of considering a current C22 vs. C47 vs. C2600. I already owned a MC152 and MT450 and had sold my D150 to a friend. For a variety of reasons I wanted a regular preamp.
I feel the C22 has a lot of good strong points but it would require some sort of external DAC or source (adding a box). In my case I needed something from McIntosh as I rely on the DIN connection for SACD playback and have found it to be quite a good connection despite the lack of aftermarket cables.
I ended up with the C47 and have been very happy with it but do wonder if I should just have purchased the D1100. I thought I was going to add some analog stuff but most likely not but it is always an option with any of the "C" preamps. Also, I would not worry about McIntosh's choice to not support MQA. At this time I do not feel I is really going to be anything more that the audio press and forums to argue about. Ask the random person about it on the street an they will no nothing about it.
A note on DACs in general. I have owned a variety and have found what is built into the current Mac preamps covers all the bases for me. As fo USB, I do not use it at this time but find the comments about USB cables from Chuck at McIntosh interesting and there could be something to it. Just look at all the posts across a wide variety of forums complaining about USB issues and all the tools they are using to "improve" USB. Perhaps consider another path. For streaming I am considering the new MS500 as it has built in interfaces to most of the major streaming providers built in. External USB3 and NAS drives also supported. So it seems like it checks all the boxes for my needs.
I have come to appreciate being in the Mac family and using the suite of products has a certain synergy that is working for me. Wanting to cure my audiophile nervosa and the current rig is helping.
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