Call me Crazy but

[aclearspot]

When I bought my C2500 , it took about 3 months to decide between the C50 and the C2500. The purchase was made after waking up and deciding to get off the fence and bought the unit from whatever dealer had it in stock. No remorse, I don't think much about the electronics when listening. That being said all this crazy talk about "tuning the sound" by changing tubes, tubes getting old, bias, telefunken vs gold lions has me on the edge. Put that with my penchant for some poorly recorded recorded music like "Exile on Main St" or some roots music recorded in the bathroom at the local pub has me thinking about a C53 with more robust equalizer. Ive been toying with it for sometime and was ready to jump until this morning , maybe a outboard equalizer might do the job for a whole lot less scrilla. I dont know, on that fence again. Another component or anew pre. Just how useful is the equalizer on the SS pre's ?

[Msegal]

I have a C500 and have never rolled tubes. I have done it in the past with a Sonic Frontiers Line3 Signature and found it only changed the sound and rarely improved it. Often rolling tubes is like seasoning with salt and pepper.

I have been very satisfied with McIntosh stock tubes in my pre and MC275LE’s.

You certainly may try an outboard EQ but this is getting into all sorts issues with phase aberrations and imaging effects. Digital EQ may ameliorate these but one needs to “suffer” through an extra AD-DA conversion. YMMV

An upgrade to a C1100 will improve your sound but it is a significant cost. A C2700 or C53 would be more of a lateral move.

It seems you wish a change but are unsure of what you wish to improve (or have not revealed your desire). Beware of the upgrade fever, like COVID 19 it is highly contagious with potentially deleterious consequences.

Further information into what you are see seeking would likely provide some very sound advice.

Mike S.

[rob725]

Originally Posted by aclearspot

... Just how useful is the equalizer on the SS pre's ?

The equalizer works well, but the setting is system-wide as you make adjustments with the dials. The equalizer can be easily switched on or off for each input and the C53 remembers the setting (on or off) for each input. It sounds great. One can switch it on and off and, at least to my ears, hear little to no degradation, but just the effect of the equalization.

[damacman]

Even a very high quality octave equalizer would be an inexpensive way for you to test your theory.

[W9TR]

Originally Posted by aclearspot

When I bought my C2500 , it took about 3 months to decide between the C50 and the C2500. The purchase was made after waking up and deciding to get off the fence and bought the unit from whatever dealer had it in stock. No remorse, I don't think much about the electronics when listening. That being said all this crazy talk about "tuning the sound" by changing tubes, tubes getting old, bias, telefunken vs gold lions has me on the edge. Put that with my penchant for some poorly recorded recorded music like "Exile on Main St" or some roots music recorded in the bathroom at the local pub has me thinking about a C53 with more robust equalizer. Ive been toying with it for sometime and was ready to jump until this morning , maybe a outboard equalizer might do the job for a whole lot less scrilla. I dont know, on that fence again. Another component or anew pre. Just how useful is the equalizer on the SS pre's ?

My experience is with my C2300 and a MAC 4300V.

The tone controls on the C2300 are useful for making lousy recordings listenable. I also use them with my Ohm F loudspeakers which need 2 dB of high frequency boost to sound their best. The nice part is that the in/out/bass/treble/boost/cut settings are all saved per input.

The MAC 4300V has a 5 band equalizer which is more flexible with turnover frequencies of 30, 150, 500, 1500, and 10k. It is either in or out and not assignable by input. It slightly impacts the sound clarity when switched in, even with the controls set flat.

If you like the sound signature of the C 2500 I would find an external eq to play with.

If you are jonesing for a C 53, well, why not? You could buy one and set up a cage match - two preamps enter - only one leaves.

[McGuyDLF]

Not sure. I just got a c2500 for an insane deal last month, $2700 from a dealer. Crazy cheap. Had the c47 before and loved it. Rolled in Gold Lions last week from a nutty $14 each sale - it did make a nice difference, but not worlds apart difference. Never had a need for an equalizer, hate those things personally. Probably because I really just don't understand how they work properly, user error issue. Any upgrade from the C2500, according to AC, is really in the DAC, which as a vinyl guy, don't give a crap about...