Tube Preamp Reviews

McIntosh C12000 preamplifier Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog sources: VPI HW-40 turntable, VPI 12" Fatboy tonearm, Pro-Ject Classic EVO turntable, Lyra Etna cartridge, Ortofon Bronze Cadenza cartridge, Sumiko Amethyst cartridge. Digital sources: MacBook Air running Tidal, Roon, Qobuz. Bricasti M1 Series II DAC, Musical Fidelity M1 CDT transport, Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 T.
Preamplification: Audio Research Corporation Phono REF3 phono preamplifier, Audio Research Corporation REF6 preamplifier, McIntosh C2700 preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: McIntosh MC462 Quad Balanced Stereo Amplifier, McIntosh MA252 integrated amplifier.
Loudspeakers: Harbeth C7ES-3 XD, Wilson Audio Specialties Sasha DAW.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Diamond AES3, Coffee USB; Interconnects: AudioQuest Fire, Sky; Speaker: AudioQuest Firebird, Robin Hood; AC: AudioQuest Dragon.
Accessories: AudioQuest Niagara 7000 power conditioner. Mapleshade equipment rack. TonTrager speaker stands (for Harbeths). Audiodesksysteme Vinyl Cleaner Pro. VPI Periphery Ring Clamp. IsoAcoustics isolation footers. Gingko Audio Cloud Platforms.—Sasha Matson

COMPANY INFO
McIntosh Laboratory, Inc.
2 Chambers St.
Binghamton
NY 13903
(607) 723-3512
mcintoshlabs.com
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
teched58's picture
Submitted by teched58 on October 20, 2023 - 9:32am

I dunno what you guys have been doing with your platform lately, but this site loads pages slower than ever.

You fixed the responsive problem the other day (when the desktop theme loaded on mobile and the "switch theme" widget appeared on desktop articles).But now, while the home page loads ok, when you click on "continued reading," it takes forever. On both Chrome and Firefox.

I shudder to think what will happen when Drupal 7, released in 2011, goes end of life in 2025.

P.S. The "preview comments" function now also appears to be operating slightly anomalously. (When you are in preview, the "save preview" buttons are now pushed way down below the article.)

John Atkinson's picture
Submitted by John Atkinson on October 20, 2023 - 10:27am
teched58 wrote:
I dunno what you guys have been doing with your platform lately, but this site loads pages slower than ever.

To the best of my knowledge, the site is being occasionally deluged by spambots, particularly in the morning. They don't succeed in posting spam but it can slow the site down.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor Stereophile/Part-time Web Monkey

georgehifi's picture
Submitted by georgehifi on October 20, 2023 - 12:03pm

"I dunno what you guys have been doing with your platform lately, but this site loads pages slower than ever."

Very slow, especially logging in. (And that's 6am Sydney time JA) not good for business.
As for the review, nice. MacIntosh the "Glitz Queens" of the industry.

Cheers George

MatthewT's picture
Submitted by MatthewT on October 20, 2023 - 2:27pm

That the tubes need LED green illumination?

georgehifi's picture
Submitted by georgehifi on October 20, 2023 - 3:03pm

'Glitz Queens", I'm sure they think more about how they look, than about how they sound. (who puts output transformers on good solid state amps? "colorizers")

Cheers George

directdriver's picture
Submitted by directdriver on October 24, 2023 - 2:18pm

A tube's natural glow from its filament is a sublime illumination of haunting beauty and they had to ruin it with booger green LED lights. Unbelievable!

stereostereo's picture
Submitted by stereostereo on October 25, 2023 - 1:54pm

Most people really dig it but you can turn it off. However the performance/cost is fantastic.

jimtavegia's picture
Submitted by jimtavegia on October 20, 2023 - 3:52pm

I don't even like spam.

bhkat's picture
Submitted by bhkat on October 21, 2023 - 1:03pm

I'd love to have those green tubes in my system.

Glotz's picture
Submitted by Glotz on October 21, 2023 - 1:17pm

This preamp is insane! Includes a headphone amp with their proprietary cross-feed tech. A landmark product for McIntosh? The review and purchase from SM and the testing from JA are stark.

No one with enthusiasm for this thing? It's pretty sexy inside and out...

Short-listing this for my lotto money... lol.

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on October 24, 2023 - 5:53pm

... the apparent difference in sound quality between the tube and solid-state sections of this pre-amp. Rather, the review suggests that it tends to be somewhat subtle.

One wonders how often, once the initial novelty has worn off, that owners of this pre-amp will find themselves switching back and forth between tube and solid-state. If you can settle on one or the other, then McIntosh has other pre-amps at half the price.

Also. tube-aholics of my acquaintance want their reproduced sound accompanied by a substantial helping of what JA1 has described as second harmonic sauce - something this pre-amp appears to lack. Compare this with the various pre-amps from PrimaLuna that Stereophile has reviewed:
https://www.stereophile.com/content/primaluna-evo-400-preamplifier
https://www.stereophile.com/content/primaluna-dialogue-three-preamplifier
https://www.stereophile.com/content/primaluna-prologue-premium-line-preamplifier

For me, the pre-amp "problem" was solved by Tomlinson Holman at least four decades ago.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/apt-holman-preamplifier-review-vintage-audio.28310/
Likewise, I'm also satisfied with my relatively basic McIntosh C15 solid-state pre-amp, which cost under $1K on clearance.
https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/legacy-products/preamplifiers/C15

Glotz's picture
Submitted by Glotz on October 24, 2023 - 6:23pm

That statement sounds a bit jaded- 2nd harmonics are good in the case of the Prima Luna. But somehow the more accurate tube preamp suddenly lacks 'something' that the Prima Lunas' have. (Or it's assumed rather.)

There are other products from say, Audio Research, that possess the 'magic' of vacuum tubes and the accuracy of solid state as well. I've heard the Ref series many times and they always impress.

With the McIntosh and their passion for tubes, it sounds like one can simply find out on any given recording in an easy, repeatable way. Win/Win for anyone that has the income. Perhaps this design approach will come to a lower-priced stratum?

Are you also assuming that all of the gear McIntosh sells all sounds the same, throughout history? Like Harley Davidson, not all of their years were 'fantastic' for a number of reasons.

Also, lots of preamps have realized sonic 'perfection', IMO. A lot of them are real expensive too.

Those expensive design approaches and the net result of innovation over time will prove to be a benefit for us all. Digital technology has come a long way from 20 years ago and we are already seeing tech advance with this novel, new hybrid preamp. I see the same with new SS preamps too. I own one as well.

FredisDead's picture
Submitted by FredisDead on October 21, 2023 - 2:41pm

I generally like Sasha's reviews but there is no escaping the fact that he is a McIntosh fan. As for me, not so much. Perhaps this preamp is in fact a premier product but I can't help but be a sceptic. A follow-up by JVS or JA would as to subjective long-term listening impressions would be interesting.

michelesurdi's picture
Submitted by michelesurdi on October 22, 2023 - 12:57am

does mcintosh make an espresso machine too?

FredisDead's picture
Submitted by FredisDead on October 22, 2023 - 7:25am

two blue meters to tell you absolutely nothing.

stereostereo's picture
Submitted by stereostereo on October 23, 2023 - 4:04am

Ahhhh, but they tell you everything.

UberK's picture
Submitted by UberK on November 23, 2023 - 2:09am

I am a little confused on the XLR outs. So the system has these wonderful tubes and solid states - but you choose which one is being used? So it is either or?

In which case, why not make the choice by buying a solid state or a tube pre-amp?

Apologies if that is too rudimentary a question.

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