C1100 owners

[miner]

I am contemplating a change from my C2300 preamp to the C1100 preamp. For those who own this unit what tubes can you recommend? For the MC stage I will use a pair of Tele blue tip 12AX7, not sure about the 12AT7 (maybe a Gold Lion). For the high level tubes (2 12AX7 and 4 12AT7), Gold Lion also? And, a technical question - the original tubes are 12AX7A. Can a 12AX7 be used safely in its place? The C1100 I am contemplating was manufactured in Nov 2020. All suggestions and thoughts are welcomed.

Kevin

[cat3600]

I am a first time mcintosh buyer and just got the mc1.25kw and C1100 and am looking at changing the tubes for line stage portion only on the C1100

[miner]

That is a big step into the McIntosh pool deep end!

[cat3600]

Originally Posted by miner

That is a big step into the McIntosh pool deep end!

lol tell me about it, I absolutely love the 1.25KW the best so far in my system, so dynamic and powerful yet equally smooth.

I am thinking of going for the ARC Ref6 SE but not sure as the C1100 matches perfectly the Mac family looks and sounds fantastic as well

[80B]

While I moved up from a C2500 to the C1100 a bit more than a year ago, other changes were made in the same timeframe, and I haven't yet swapped in a set of Gold Lions to replace the stock tubes. So not very helpful with your questions other than to say I've been very happy with the C1100 (built about the same time) driving my MC2301s.

[Ankkor]

I’ve rolled gold lions and NOS Mullards and at the end of the day I can’t say anything bad about the Mc stock tubes.

[Rick U]

I purchased mine about 3 or 4 years ago and it came to the dealer right before I was heading out of town for 3 weeks. He asked if I wanted him to break it in. I said sure and he displayed and played it and rolled a bunch of tubes. When I picked it up he smiled and said nothing he rolled beat the Mc tubes.

[miner]

Well, how about that! That saves me about $500. Thanks to everyone for there replies

[W9TR]

I too replaced a C 2300 in my main system with a C 1100. I did I it about a year after the C 1100 was released. Unlike a lot of tube gear, my C 1100 does not really seem to benefit from tube rolling. I rolled in GL reissues, some tele and Mullard ECC 801’s, etc. and couldn’t hear a difference from the stock McIntosh tubes. Very much the opposite of my experience with the C 2300. So I put the OEM tubes back in and lived happily ever after.

[Robert Hekemian]

C 1100 is a great sounding piece as is. Needs a little break in time and OEM tubes sound terrific. IMO no need to change anything. My dealer tried to talk me into a change-he installed, I think the Lions, frankly the sound from the OEM’s to me was warmer. I too had him put the OEM’s back in and have been very happy ever since.