C28 refurbished and it feels so fine

[efhjr]

I had Mike at Austin Stereo do a full refurbish of my C28. He recapped it, fixed the grounding issues, and got both phono stages working again. Some fresh bulbs and a little elbow grease and it's looking sharp, too.

Wow! I had no idea it could sound this good. Considering there are so many adjustment dials that could affect the sound, this thing is surprisingly transparent and very easy to listen to. I haven't really missed my Audio Research SP-6B that much, either.

I'm planning to bring my MC2505 to him next. I'm very happy with the sound of that amp, but I'm excited to think how much better it could be.

 

[c_dk]

Not inexpensive to do but well worth the effort.

Now if only I could figure out a way to shut off the headphone amp when it is not needed.......

 

[efhjr]

Not inexpensive to do but well worth the effort.

I'll pay for good, honest work. What I paid for the refurb was well below what a comparable preamp would cost me, and I was able to support a business run by craftsmen. The challenge is that folks who really know electronics are getting harder and harder to find, so I'm happy to give the shop my business.

Do you think shutting off the headphone amp would improve sound quality?

 

[c_dk]

When I was prototyping a full restoration of a C28 I played with the multicap values, the headphone amp and various shielding schemes. I found that the headphone amp power supply could make a racket thru the whole preamp when it powered up as the unit's power supply was first stabilizing.

I tried to find a make or break 4th conductor 1/4 inch jack to use as the headphone jack but loaned the preamp out to a local and he insisted on keeping it and trading me his C26 towards it.

While I have applied the various updates to a number of C28s I have not yet obtained another one to use as a extended project unit.

 

[damacman]

The C28 is a very fine sounding preamp, no doubt. Mine languishes, collecting dust mainly, because it's just not used very often and therefore requires maintenance nearly every time I power it up. With as many open backed pots and unsealed switches as this unit has, it had to keep service departments busy all through the '70s!

I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised at just how fresh your MC2505 will sound to your ears after the same level of service, especially if you've been using it for a few years or more. I had an all original MC2105 that I used daily for several years. When one of the channels gave up the ghost, I had it completely gone through. It sounded like a brand new amp afterwards!

 

[Wolffy]

I had Mike at Austin Stereo do a full refurbish of my C28. He recapped it, fixed the grounding issues, and got both phono stages working again. Some fresh bulbs and a little elbow grease and it's looking sharp, too.

Wow! I had no idea it could sound this good. Considering there are so many adjustment dials that could affect the sound, this thing is surprisingly transparent and very easy to listen to. I haven't really missed my Audio Research SP-6B that much, either.

I'm planning to bring my MC2505 to him next. I'm very happy with the sound of that amp, but I'm excited to think how much better it could be.

View attachment 1004092 View attachment 1004093

I agree the C28 is a fine unit I had some bad caps causing some motorboating but new caps cleared that up And it is a grand looking piece.

 

[CruzBay]

The C-28 is a dark horse in the Mcintosh line; not for function (they were the finest at the time) but they didn't age well. Chris knows them better than most: we'd send them to Mcintosh rather than look at them through our technician. Beyond that; they were good preamps.

Sounds like yours was gone through and done well; enjoy it!

Hey Chris, want any 'research' preamps? Got a C-29, C-20, C-34v and a C-26...

Oh, and a slew of MX-110's...

 

[twiiii]

I published the results of a Mcintosh Clinic when measuring my C-28 when it was 10 years old on this site some where. It surpassed specs by a large margin and though owned by my bosses friend at the time was still a great performer. It was sold to another friend of mine later on and was updated around 2002 as I remember. Its still running like a champ and was sounding great when I heard it last fall. Another close friend has its twin and I hope to put it back in service for him, soon. It was working great last year when I tore the system down so he could move to a new residence. They have a very smooth sounding phono section, and though there are a lot of controls and switches to keep clean once accomplished they are very satisfying units to hear.