electronicsme - Electronics / Audio Components made easy

Print this page

McIntosh C2300: Review

Posted to Audio Components 2009-06-22

If you're an audiophile looking for your next stereo preamp or just looking for quality sound, be sure and give the new McIntosh C2300 vacuum tube preamplifier a hard look. The unit features 2 vacuum tubes in each of 3 sections - the Moving Magnet phono section, the Moving Coil section and the high-level preamp section. Housed in an attractive black brushed aluminum case, the C2300 also has some impressive specs.

The pre-amp features 8 input source selections, 4 of which are designed for balanced or unbalanced inputs. Any of 12 standard names can be defined for each input source, and the settings (bass, treble, mono/stereo mode) for each input are adjustable separately and stored in memory. When individual inputs are selected, the settings will engage automatically. Signal routing is controlled through silent digitally controlled electromagnetic switching devices which are housed in inert gas-filled glass tubes for total immunity from dust.

Rating:

4.4 out of 5

Value

There's no doubt you are paying a premium for the McIntosh name when you purchase a piece of equipment like the C2300. You can buy a preamp with "almost-" the same specs for literally thousands less, which makes the C2300 a good value to only the most exacting audiophile. But if you fit in this category, you can't beat the tank-like construction, utterly silent switching and lack of distortion that this preamplifier provides.

Performance

The specs tell the story here - the C2300 provides a frequency response of -.5dB from 20Hz to 20KHz and -1dB from 10Hz to 100KHz. Total harmonic distortion is 0.08% from 20Hz to 20KHz and the signal to noise ratio is 80dB for the phono input and 93dB for the high level inputs. A preamp needs to do two things without getting in the way of the sound - allow you to select the input source and provide you with control over the volume, bass and treble settings for that source. The C2300 does both very well without adding anything unwanted to the sound from your favorite source.

Summary

If you're putting together a very high-end stereo system, the McIntosh C2300 is as good as anything on the market. It's not for the casual listener, and it's hard to justify the price, but if you want the very best then the C2300 deserves to be on your short list of preamps to try out.

Pros

Vacuum tube stereo preamplifier
8 programmable input selections
Switches housed in inert gas-filled glass tubes
Impressive specifications
Individual input settings stored in memory

Cons

There are no cons for this product