I went and looked Roger Russels site so I know the stat diffferences.....but is there much of a difference in sound? My impression is that the c28 is basicaly a c26 with more bells and whistles....so I expect the sound to be almost identical. Comments?

I was wondering the same thing myself, prior to my purchase of a C28:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=7956&highlight=c28

They do and don't sound the same. They do in the sense both are unmistakeably Mc voiced. They don't in that they are based on 2 different circuits with the 26 being an updated 24 while the 28 was a newer design that evolved into the 29. The 28, though described by many (including myself) as 1st gen is really 2nd generation ss preamp for Mc or 3rd if you count the ss preamp of the 1500 which use the basis for the 24.

These are completely different designs. The C26 is more reliable than the 28 but does not have as many features. The real sleeper on the used market is the C27 which can be had for the same price range but has modern controls.
Ron-C