Got my new C2500

ghost rider

Active Member
I picked up the replacement unit last night and it works fine. I posted in an earlier thread about it buzzing. I really like how it has improved my sound.

At 1st it took some getting used to. It seemed a little brighter than what I was used to. I lowered the treble to -3 or 4 and it seemed better. Last year I bought new interconnects “Synergistic research Copper element” and they have what they call an active shielding you energize it with a wall wart and they come with tuning bullets. (Many would call snake oil) I switched the bullets I was using to ones that were said to help reduce the highs and it did now it sounds perfect.

Aside from how every instrument sound better with more detail. Two things that stand out form me is how much better the bass is. I have always used my DIY subs with music, they sound very good and because they were controlled by the Bryston SP-1.7 pre/pro it was going to be problematic for me to run them for music. I had a plan but when I listened to it at home I realized I don’t need them. My Canton ergo 120’s are rated to go down to 22Hz and with the C2500 sound great.

The other thing is minor sibilance that I would hear from my needle drops seems to be gone.

The HT pass thru was probably the most important detail that made me decide to check this unit out. Up till now I knew that my HT audio was about as good as it was going to get without spending 10g or more. McIntosh even told me their best pre/pro will not sound as good as the C2500 and I’m plenty happy with my HT audio. So having this option is perfect and I don’t have to mess around with volume controls. I had to fabricate a cable to work the triggers and I love how by powering on the pre/pro it switches to bypass. I only wish there was a way to get it to not shut down when I power off the Bryston.

I’m very interested to do some needle drops to compare the sound of the phono stage to my Project tubebox ds. I figure I need about 100 hours of burn in time before I compare. On that note I have an AT-OC9ML/ii cartridge and it is known for being bright. I have EQed it out of my needle drops but if I play the record directly I need to lower the treble and hit the tone bypass for anything other than records. So it's nice to have the option.
 
Congrats on your new C2500. I can't wait to upgrade my C2300 to the C2500. After you break in the C2500, are you going to try different tubes or stay with the stock? By the way, I'm also using my C2300 for HT as well.
 
Miketuason,
Not much difference between the C2300 and C2500 except for DAC. Why not add an external DAC - would be more cost efective plus it would also be upgradable without selling the entire preaamp.
 
Miketuason,
Not much difference between the C2300 and C2500 except for DAC. Why not add an external DAC - would be more cost efective plus it would also be upgradable without selling the entire preaamp.

Thanks miner, that's something to think about.
 
What do you have the MC loading set for your AT9 cartridge? It should be 100 ohms or more. You can switch on the fly to judge what is best on C2500.

thanks,
Ron-C
 
I was thinking the same thing. Others who have upgraded from the 2300 said the 2500 was a little better but it's all subjective. The onboard dac is very good but a few years from now will be obsolete it already will not support dsd.
 
C2300 was a fine preamp. C2500 adds the high Drive headphone amp and the 32/192, USB 2.0 High Speed Asynchronous DAC. for the difference in price you will not be able to add features of this quality using add on boxes.

Of course you could always add D100 or MHP100 to C2300 or any earlier Mc preamp to have the functionality of C2500.

Thanks,
Ron-C
 
Synergistic research Copper element interconnects: I have been involved with high end audio since the late 60's, I repaired McIntosh, Marantz, Fisher, HH Scott to name a few. I was also involved with installation. Fast forward to the '80's. I worked on TV new gathering vehicles and was privy to what goes on in the video and audio engineering departments. ALL of these expensive interconnect are nothing but vey expensive snake oil! Looking at the advertising for Synergistic it looks like their "Bullets" are either resistors, capacitors or resistor-capacitor networks that screw with the frequency roll-off. Its all a total waste of money!
 
Gents,
I see you guys are discussing about C2500.

I am about to make an upgrade of my two channels system (running with Parasound gear at the moment and very satisfied) but I always loved the sound of the mcintosh so I was thinking to see to get a C50 + MC 452.
Any ideas/suggestions to go with the C2500 instead of the C50?

Thank you.
Fernando
 
Gents,
I see you guys are discussing about C2500.

I am about to make an upgrade of my two channels system (running with Parasound gear at the moment and very satisfied) but I always loved the sound of the mcintosh so I was thinking to see to get a C50 + MC 452.
Any ideas/suggestions to go with the C2500 instead of the C50?

Thank you.
Fernando

I owned the C2300 for 2 years and recently sold it and moved to the C50. I love my C50. The built in "equalizer" is awesome to have. No worries about tubes as well. :thmbsp:
 
Synergistic research Copper element interconnects: I have been involved with high end audio since the late 60's, I repaired McIntosh, Marantz, Fisher, HH Scott to name a few. I was also involved with installation. Fast forward to the '80's. I worked on TV new gathering vehicles and was privy to what goes on in the video and audio engineering departments. ALL of these expensive interconnect are nothing but vey expensive snake oil! Looking at the advertising for Synergistic it looks like their "Bullets" are either resistors, capacitors or resistor-capacitor networks that screw with the frequency roll-off. Its all a total waste of money!

Perhaps but not in my opinion. They do change the sound and I disagree with your theory that they are a inline frequency choke. That would make since except the signal wire and the adapter jack on the cable are not connected in any way. I tested with a diode test and if you unplug the adapter or bullet while music is playing you do not hear any noise or pops.

I am quite happy with the Synergistic research Copper element interconnects!
 
Ron C, aside from the functionality, how different is the base pre amp in the C2300 different to the C2500?
 
Congrats on your new C2500. I can't wait to upgrade my C2300 to the C2500. After you break in the C2500, are you going to try different tubes or stay with the stock? By the way, I'm also using my C2300 for HT as well.

I swapped out the stock tubes in the line outputs for Gold Lions and they sweeten the highs and add a little more detail. I left the stock tubes in the phono sections because the combination that I have at the moment sounds great with my turntable setup. I have had my C2500 for more than a year now as I was one of the first owners to get one when it was released. I have had no problems other than the initial pass through issue that was fixed with the firmware update that I believe came out in May of last year. Their may be more firmware updates since then. I am curious what version of firmware is in the units that are out today.
 
A length of shielded cable is in essence a capacitor so I guess if their "bullets" are resistors and they have inserted another wire into the sheath it will change the capacitance of that interconnect and therefore change the frequency roll off.

In my humble opinion the interconnects should not color the sound at all, they should be as inert as possible. Back in the day there were a couple of high end (obscure) hi manufacturers that made preamps without tone controls with the thinking the the music should be listened to as recorded! I do not believe in the last statement! I like equalizers and tone controls, but I do not like my cables to add or subtract anything.

I think it is NUTS to buy McIntosh or any other high end electronics and have my interconnects screw with the sound!
 
BG3009, see post 7 above for your answer.
Everyone here makes their own decision on what interconnects they use. To jack every thread and turn it into a cable argument may not gain any insight into the subject of the thread.
There are web sites for this and you can always start a cable thread and preach your viewpoint. At the end of the day, cables are like religion or politics, both best left off of a audio knowledge-sharing website.

Thanks,
Ron-C
 
C2300 was a fine preamp. C2500 adds the high Drive headphone amp and the 32/192, USB 2.0 High Speed Asynchronous DAC. for the difference in price you will not be able to add features of this quality using add on boxes.

Of course you could always add D100 or MHP100 to C2300 or any earlier Mc preamp to have the functionality of C2500.

Thanks,
Ron-C

I really wanted a C2500 but with as much as I use my system, it probably doesn't make economical sense to be replacing tubes every year or thereabouts (I wonder how much the factory Mac tubes are for the whole set?).

The C50 is an alternative for me, but realistic, if I am going to go all Solid State and most of my music is low res digital files anyway, I'll probably just get an Oppo HA-1 headphone amp/DAC/pre. I'd miss the meters on the C50, but the HA-1 has LCD meters which are nice as well and has received spectacular reviews. D100 is a possibility also, as it's only a little more used than the HA-1 is new, but the HA-1 has a lot more functionality.

Or... depending on what it costs to replace those tubes, I might just deal with the occasional replacement and go whole hog with the C2500. They are much more common pre-owned than the C50s tend to be.
 
Snake oil will always have a market place and everything on the internet is true. Perhaps I will start a thread!

Probably best that you don't. CAlling something that other fellow audio enthusiasts use and believe in, "snake oil" is certainly not in keeping with the spirit of AK. If you don't believe in it, don't buy it. BUt there is no need to try to "save" others.
 
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