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Just ordered the Mcintosh c2300

L

LumberJack

New Member
The Mcintosh C2300 preamp will be my first Mcintosh component that I have ever owned.
I have of course been aware of Mcintosh since the mid 1970s and have always marveled at their distinctive styling and looks.

With all there is to choose from on the market new and used I finally choose the C2300 and I'm pretty shure I made a good choice.

I came across AudioKarma just recently while researching the Mcintosh preamp and I have a few questions of my own.

On a scale from 1 to 10 where would you rate sections of the C2300 ,for example.
The overall performance of the:

preamp section

mc phono stage

mm phono stage

volume control

self noise

use of the remote control

and so on.

What brand of table arm and cartridges are you using with the C2300?
I have just retired my Linn table after two decades of use and will be looking for another table ,arm and cartridge.

Music taste run deep and wide though I listen to Jazz mostly.

Thank you
 
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Jericho said:
I'd say between 7 & 8 on the scale
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Congrats ! The c2300 is better then a 7 or 8. I would rate it a 10 for its price range :yes: You should look into upgrading the tubes to smooth plate tele's as soon as you can in the phono stage, as this will really improve the phono section. It is not really necessary to replace the other tubes, the phono section especially the MC portion of the pre amp has to be quiet. I noticed a big improvement in my C220 with a tube swap. While I do not have a C2300 I have listened to it in person and if I had a better turntable then my technic sl1200 mk5 with a At440mla cartridge (MM not MC) I might have condidered owning one. The C2300 has fantastic build quality, excellant sound, nice aesthetics. You will be adding a Mcintosh amp. in the future and CDP if you keep hanging out on this forum. :D
 
Great choice

Here's how I would rate the C2300. I've had mine for a few months, and it has been a joy to own.

preamp section - very competitive with stock tubes.

mc phono stage - this is a world beater, you will be hard pressed to find a better standalone MC stage for the same money. It is dead quiet and very detailed. It beat the pants off my Acoustech PH-1P, which is class A rated by Stereophile and TAS. The MC2300 is really a great MC stage that happens to come with a lot of other stuff (like the rest of the preamp). This one goes to 11.

mm phono stage - no idea, never use it.

volume control - outstanding, quiet and smooth

self noise - very quiet

use of the remote control - being able to change MC cartridge loading, bass/treble, etc. is a huge plus.

This is an easy product to live with.

I am using it with a Nottingham Analogue Dais with an Ace-Space arm and Dynavector DV17D3 cartridge.
 
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LumberJack.......You will be thrilled with the McIntosh C2300 preamplifier. It is a very fine, well made, high performance product. The sound is excellent. There are improvements to be had by swapping the stock tubes to Telefunkens (in my opinion), but beyond that the C2300 is a star performer.

When are you due to receive the C2300?
 
jdandy said:
LumberJack.......You will be thrilled with the McIntosh C2300 preamplifier. It is a very fine, well made, high performance product. The sound is excellent. There are improvements to be had by swapping the stock tubes to Telefunkens (in my opinion), but beyond that the C2300 is a star performer.

When are you due to receive the C2300?
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Dan
I get a real kick out of tube guys. Isn't swapping tubes to change the sound like going to the symphony and asking the woodwinds and brass to swap places so it sounds better, or asking your beautiful wife or girlfriend not to talk with a New England accent because you would prefer a little southern lilt.?
Jim
 
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the c2300 is a fine pre amp. I love mine. Sonically the phono stage is the equivalent to a $1200-1500 standalone unit and the headphone amp is comparable with standalone units I’ve heard in the $500-600 range. You might find other preamps that give a more complete sonic presentation for this price but I doubt you will find anything that packs as much value, overall sonic performance and ease of use into a single box in this category.
 
Stillone said:
Dan
I get a real kick out of tube guys. Isn't swapping tubes to change the sound like going to the symphony and asking the woodwinds and brass to swap places so it sounds better, or asking your beautiful wife or girlfriend not to talk with a New England accent because you would prefer a little southern lilt.?
Jim
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Another way to look at it is that McIntosh is forced to use currently available
new production tubes to ensure consistency and long term availability. Once it's in your hands you are free to explore all that is still available from the golden age of tube production. :yes:
 
Stillone said:
Dan
I get a real kick out of tube guys. Isn't swapping tubes to change the sound like going to the symphony and asking the woodwinds and brass to swap places so it sounds better, or asking your beautiful wife or girlfriend not to talk with a New England accent because you would prefer a little southern lilt.?
Jim
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Jim.......Your analogy is a unique point of view, but not quite focused on the point. I am not asking the woodwinds and brass to change positions, I am asking them to sit up straight, breath correctly, and play with greater clarity. We all know, asking a beautiful woman to change anything about herself is generally a receipe for disaster. I am smart enough to understand that in advance, and leave well enough alone.

Swapping tubes, particularly tubes with a higher noise floor, for quieter tubes is always a good thing. That tubes also impart slightly different sonic signatures can be a beautiful thing or not, depending upon your tastes, but less noise is always a major benefit. I listened to the McIntosh stock tubes in the moving magnet, and moving coil phono sections of my C2300 with no signal. Raising the volume slowly, the noise floor of the stock tubes became apparent at about 36% on the numerical volume display, and became objectionable at any level above 40%. Installing NOS Telefunken 12AX7 tubes in place of the McIntosh stock tubes lowered the noise floor significantly. At 40% volume there was no noise, at 46% the noise floor began to be heard, and at 50% it became audible enough to be heard during quiet passages in music, which to me is objectionable. What is most favorable now, at 45% volume tube noise is nonexistent. This is more than satisfactory for vinyl, and very quiet, where the stock tubes were quite noisy at this level. The difference made a huge improvement when listening to vinyl. The lower noise floor alone is reason enough to take advantage of better quality tubes, but in addition the overall details in the entire musical spectrum were improved, as every sound came from a darker silence, and displayed greater clarity and openess.

Since the gain stages are not as great for the line level verses phono stages, the noise floor enhancements with Telefunken 12AX7's in the line level tube sockets wasn't as dramatic, but apparent none the less. Again, the improved signal to noise ratio prevailed with improved silence, and greater sonic detail. Of course, none of the improvements were as drastic as altering a persons accent, or rearranging the orchestra seating assignments. What was achieved was an audible, and repeatable improvement in the musical presentation, and one that I deem beneficial, and well worth the expense and time to make happen.

In no way am I advocating that anyone will hear what I hear, or vice versa. Having the ability to swap tubes from different manufacturers, who make products of widely varying quality, is an asset in my opinion. Assuming that tubes a particular manufacturer deems adequate to meet their specifications are the only tubes that can be used is nearsighted, and short changes your possibility of better sound. I do not encourage anyone follow my path. I merely make suggestions based on my personal experiences, and discoveries. If I were the only one to find sonic improvements from swapping tubes, I may never have offered an opinion, but it is widely accepted that there are improvements available, and not just with preamplifiers. When the Gold Lion KT88's power tubes went into my MC275, the amplifier became a much more musical power amp than when the McIntosh stock tubes were in place. At least it sounded that way to me. Still, I am a firm believer, to each their own.
 
jdandy said:
Jim.......Your analogy is a unique point of view, but not quite focused on the point. I am not asking the woodwinds and brass to change positions, I am asking them to sit up straight, breath correctly, and play with greater clarity.
Swapping tubes, particularly tubes with a higher noise floor, for quieter tubes is always a good thing. That tubes also impart slightly different sonic signatures can be a beautiful thing or not, depending upon your tastes, .
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Dan
I usually do not spend a lot of time in Tube related threads but I am always happy to read in the McIntosh Forum when someone is upgrading to a quality unit, and the 2300 is surely that. I believe you and others when you state you can tweak or improve the sound of your gear by changing tubes. My analogy and maybe not as well thought out as yours was you are altering the sound intended by the Manufacturer . You do have every right to do so. We all do that to some extent when we swap cables, interconnects, etc. Your example related to altering the noise floor, I have read others who speak of changing the bass, or mid-range tones to better meet their preferences. This is where I was coming from when I noted you are changing the sound of the recording which is what you would be doing if we altered the seating positions of the orchestra. Kind of like moving the tympani and brass up front so you could hear them clearer at the expense of the strings.
I will go back into my SS cave my friend and refrain from commenting on things that glow or play large round black discs. ;)
 
Stillone said:
Dan
I usually do not spend a lot of time in Tube related threads but I am always happy to read in the McIntosh Forum when someone is upgrading to a quality unit, and the 2300 is surely that. I believe you and others when you state you can tweak or improve the sound of your gear by changing tubes. My analogy and maybe not as well thought out as yours was you are altering the sound intended by the Manufacturer . You do have every right to do so. We all do that to some extent when we swap cables, interconnects, etc. Your example related to altering the noise floor, I have read others who speak of changing the bass, or mid-range tones to better meet their preferences. This is where I was coming from when I noted you are changing the sound of the recording which is what you would be doing if we altered the seating positions of the orchestra. Kind of like moving the tympani and brass up front so you could hear them clearer at the expense of the strings.
I will go back into my SS cave my friend and refrain from commenting on things that glow or play large round black discs. ;)
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Jim.......Maybe I beat my tympani a little to loudly. I agree with your premise, and see your point. You can come back out and play if you'd like. :D
 
Dan, I heard what you heard with my c2300 - the stock tubes have more noise than others (even modern tubes like the tung sol re issues). I also heard an improvement with the gold lion kt88s reissues
 
ruffoc.......It was not just with my C2300. I had the exact same experience with my C2200 as well. Although the stock McIntosh tubes sounded good, the Teles were a big step in the right direction for me. I only mentioned the tube swap in this thread so that LumberJack was aware of an easy C2300 tweak that proved to be beneficial for me.
 
jdandy said:
ruffoc.......It was not just with my C2300. I had the exact same experience with my C2200 as well. Although the stock McIntosh tubes sounded good, the Teles were a big step in the right direction for me. I only mentioned the tube swap in this thread so that LumberJack was aware of an easy C2300 tweak that proved to be beneficial for me.
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i had the same experinece with my MA2275!
 
No dought about it here. I know the virtues of top quality select brands and certain vintages of vacuum tubes.

My new C2300 will arrive in a few days. I will run it in first using my Fisher 100B tuner and give it a darn good listen before plugging in some Telefunkens. I will also try some Philips MiniWatts in there too.
I'm so excited.
 
W9TR said:
Here's how I would rate the C2300. I've had mine for a few months, and it has been a joy to own.

preamp section - very competitive with stock tubes.

mc phono stage - this is a world beater, you will be hard pressed to find a better standalone MC stage for the same money. It is dead quiet and very detailed. It beat the pants off my Acoustech PH-1P, which is class A rated by Stereophile and TAS. The MC2300 is really a great MC stage that happens to come with a lot of other stuff (like the rest of the preamp). This one goes to 11.

mm phono stage - no idea, never use it.

volume control - outstanding, quiet and smooth

self noise - very quiet

use of the remote control - being able to change MC cartridge loading, bass/treble, etc. is a huge plus.

This is an easy product to live with.

I am using it with a Nottingham Analogue Dais with an Ace-Space arm and Dynavector DV17D3 cartridge.
Click to expand...

W9TR It's taking a bit for me to learn how to navigate. I want to thank you personally for your time and effort.
Also Jdandy, 2ubroller,Ruffoc and you too Stillone
 
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It is funny in a way that we have many models out for review and the reviewers really like the sound. Of course this is with stock tubes.

thanks,
Ron-C
 
Hi
C2300 is a great preamp:thmbsp:and both MC and MM phono stage sounds iccredible good. Stock or no stock tubes.
Thanks
 
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