Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterMusic
If it's from McIntosh, it's almost sure to sound terrific. But I disagree that their tube and solid state amps sound identical. It's been a few years since I picked my C22, but it was immediately apparent to me that the sound was warmer and fuller than the Mc SS I heard (can't remember the model number). I would guess that most readers of our forum would also hear the difference right away.
Just to be clear--this is not to say one is better or worse. I leave that to individual taste.
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I've had 3 Mac preamps a C712, a C220 and a C47. To me they all sounded more or less the same but the C712 and the C47 had much less noise. The C220 hissed pretty badly but the C712 and C47 were very quiet. In retrospect it could be that my C220 had bad tubes since it was a dealer display and I have no idea how many hours were on it. Regardless I really don't think there's a huge difference in the sound between various McIntosh preamps. That said I do kinda miss the C220 and I'm seriously considering replacing my C47 with either a C22, C2300/C2500/C2600/C2700 or one of the new C8s.