McIntosh’s Flagship C1100 Tube Preamplifier....

[krustycat]

Do you know if the tubes are the same?

Although this is a very tricky question as the c1100 has many more tubes.

In my personal experience, the true sound of a tube preamp comes out after 200 hrs though.

[robd2]

Originally Posted by krustycat

Do you know if the tubes are the same?

I think yes, will look closer.

Originally Posted by krustycat

In my personal experience, the true sound of a tube preamp comes out after 200 hrs though.

This is what I'm really hoping will happen. The c1100 has tremendous potential. It just has to start sounding more like a tube preamp rather than a SS. I really want to buy this. At this price point this is a very unique piece as it includes the decent phono stage. If it was just a straight line stage for this price I would be looking closer at the Luxman 900, Pass 3 piece, Ref6.

One additional data point, just realized I'm using the C47 stock power cord with the C1100. This should not matter as they look very similar but.... I have seen quirkier things with high end gear. Will report back after adding the c1100 cord.

[W9TR]

Rob,
The C1100 has vanishingly low amounts of noise and distortion. I'm not sure it will 'sound' like a tube preamp. I'm very interested in your observations.
Tom

[robd2]

Originally Posted by W9TR

Rob,
The C1100 has vanishingly low amounts of noise and distortion. I'm not sure it will 'sound' like a tube preamp. I'm very interested in your observations.
Tom

Taking a slight break from the c1100 right now. I decided to put my c47 back into the system just to reset my baseline again. I'm going to swap the c1100 back in tomorrow. I also plan to bring home the demo c2600 again that I liked a lot. I'll write up my findings after a few more days of listening.

My c47 sounds good by the way

[Dr Tone]

Originally Posted by robd2

Taking a slight break from the c1100 right now. I decided to put my c47 back into the system just to reset my baseline again. I'm going to swap the c1100 back in tomorrow. I also plan to bring home the demo c2600 again that I liked a lot. I'll write up my findings after a few more days of listening.

My c47 sounds good by the way

Cool, very interested to hear your thoughts after going back to the C1100.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by robd2

Taking a slight break from the c1100 right now. I decided to put my c47 back into the system just to reset my baseline again. I'm going to swap the c1100 back in tomorrow. I also plan to bring home the demo c2600 again that I liked a lot. I'll write up my findings after a few more days of listening.

My c47 sounds good by the way

[Sea music]

Originally Posted by Dr Tone

Cool, very interested to hear your thoughts after going back to the C1100.

+1

[Robc33]

The C1100 is my first Mac pre amp, but the difference between it, and the Parasound JC-2 (Stereophile Class A recommended) was not subtle at all, and well worth the 3X more price tag. IMHO.

[robd2]

Sharing an update on my c47 vs c1100 shootout. It's been quite the battle, not the results I was expecting after also having the c2600 in house.

As a reminder I've been breaking in a new c1100 as a demo unit, I currently own a c47 paired to a mc152 amp which is proving to be a very good combination. I also had a c2600 in for a demo, that I loved and was also a very good match to the mc152.

The c1100 has 110 hrs on it now playing a combination of CDs via 1 balanced in and LPs via the mc phono. I've been playing lots of different music but for today I'll reference just one CD for comparison, Bob Marley's Legend. I'm sure many of you have this, if not you should get as its a great CD with good sound quality. The tracks are more complex with lots of different instruments. It's not your typical demo disc of just a woman singing with a piano.

I'm getting very familiar with the sonic signature of this preamp and it doesn't seem to be changing much more during the break in. It's very detailed and quiet which is neat as between tracks you think the system is off. Honestly though the c47 is also very quiet. The sonic signature tends to be colder compared to the c47 which can make it fatiguing to listen to. A great example, track one (is this love) has a great cymbal smash 14 seconds in. The c47 showed more of that beautiful shimer, the rich glow of the cymbal around its rivit. The c1100 had a little more of the white noise tone to it. I'd love for some of you guys to test this.

Track 2 is a live recording, no woman no cry, with a lot of audience ambiance and a repeating cymbal. The c47 showed more of the drum stick to cymbal where the c1100 allowed more of the etch to sneak in. This one is hard to make sound good but I do remember being very impressed with the c2600 on this track regarding the way it presented the venue.

Track 3 could this be love, was closer, they actually both sounded similar. As a side note, this weekend I listened to some pass gear. About 1:35 in the background singers come in. On the Mac gear the background singers were there but a little boring. On the pass gear the singers were clear, I could see their attitude! Shaking their heads, almost calling you out! Excellent

As I said above, in my system the c1100 is on the colder side which also shrinks down the sound stage for me. Could be a system synergy thing, I see many of the happy c1100 owners run MC2301 amps. Where the c47 matches well with the mc152 maybe the 1100 is a better fit for the tube amps. could also be a speaker thing. I know my older B&W 804n (pre diamond) are not very friendly speakers. The smallest gear changes can produce big changes in the sonics of my system.

Either way in my system I'm now feeling that the c2600 smokes them both.

Going forward I'm going to let it burn in another day or 2 and then swap out for the c2600 to make sure I'm still having the same opinion. I'm also hoping to bring in some Luxman, Pass, and VAC gear to try out.

I would love to hear experiences from folks who have upgraded from newer Mac preamps (c47,52,2600) to the c1100.

[PHC1]

As I mentioned before, the C47 is a warmish, fuller sounding SS preamp. The McIntosh preamps tend to be the reverse of the normal expectations. Until one starts to tube roll if you so desire to find that right balance for YOUR system.