MCINTOSH C2500
Preamplifiers
The C2500 belongs to the cream of the McIntosh's catalogue and consequently it will be a natural choice for the brand's devotees. Unfortunately, as much as I liked its appearance I was dissapointed by its sound.
Function and form
The C2500 is an extremely versatile piece of equipment. It is a full fledged D/A converter with quite a few operation modes - dual optical input accepts 16Bit, 24Bit - 32kHz to 96kHz, dual coaxial input accepts 16Bit, 24Bit - 32kHz to 96kHz and asynchronous USB input accepts 16Bit, 24Bit, 32Bit - 32kHz to 192kHz. It is a full fledged MM/MC phono preamplifier and fully equipped headphone amplifier (6.4mm jack standard on the preamp's front panel). It has 6 x single ended RCA inputs, RECORD OUT, 2 x balanced XLR inputs and 3 pairs of RCA and XLR outputs each.
The preamplifier is controlled by a microprocessor chip that allows naming the inputs and outputs and adjust their sensitivity values. The owner can also predefine which connections should be controllable by tone controls - the tone controls work in +/-12dB range. Up to three stereo power amplifiers may be connected at one time; two of them can be switched on and off to simplify your whole house audio distribution. The Home Theater Pass Through feature allows for seamless integration into existing multi-channel theater systems.
The McIntosh C2500 is a tubed preamp (6 x 12AX7) in order to "provide romantic sound to music lovers" as the manual specifies. To support those romantic audiophile souls even further there is a switch that lights up diodes in the valve section to make the internal parts more visible to tube fetishists.
Bass management
The sound of C2500 is a bit darker then I am used to with nice tonal saturation. In thunderous music fortissimos of Beltrami's World War Z soundtrack the preamp sounds thunderous, during lyrical themes the preamp sounds thunderous too. Let's listen to John Fogerty - it sounds pounding too. The Train of Fools is a galloping and rolling track through the C2500. The sound is not sophisticated, it is big and cinematic.
Clarity & delicacy
With certain recordings the ability to deliver big sound walls is not bad at all. However, it should not happen with all recordings. On top of that I missed better definition across the whole frequency spectrum, especially in bottom octaves. At one moment I switched from my Wilson Audio to ATC SCM25A monitors. The ATCs reach down to 40Hz so they can play fundamentals of bass guitar and kick drum with ease, yet my expectations were not fulfilled. The weight and mass was great but the articulation was missing. To make sure that I am not the the weakest part of the audio line up I reached for Music First Audio's Classic passive preamp (silver edition). Now I could hear into music again! Transients became clearly defined, the sound opened up, the haze lifted and the soundstage became structured. Switching back to the Wilson Audio Sasha W/P I catapulted myself into the highest floors of high-end.
Tonal accuracy
Spatial resolution
If you already own a McIntosh line up then the C2500 is an obvious choice. If you plan to add a preamplifier to your system and McIntosh is only a consideration then consider twice. Until McIntosh really improves their amplifiers to the current high end industry standard, the attractive design will be the only bait for new customers. McIntosh can build very good power amps (look in our power amp section) that are sort of shoot down by inadequate preamps. Now, being a part of Italian Fine Sounds holding, perhaps the company will develop a better taste for music.
Recommended resellers
HI-FI studio TYKON, Ostrava, tel. +420 723 449 894
PP HiFi Studio, Otrokovice, tel. +420 603 581 305
Manufacturer's website: http://www.mcintoshlabs.com
Associated components
- Sources: Linn Unidisk 1.1
- Amplifiers: McIntosh C2500, Music First Audio Classic Silver, Spectral DMA-150, McIntosh MC1.2KW
- Interconnects and speaker cables: Audioquest Oak
- Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Sasha W/P, ATC SCM25A
- Power conditioning: Furutech Daytona 303E
Gallery
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