New to me McIntosh C-40 preamp!!!!! - Speaker Connect?

One911Guy

Active Member
I know, I know - this thread is worthless without pictures - I promise, photos will follow. Anyway, as some of you know I had a bead on a C-40 yesterday that was about an hour away from me. Drove down this AM and gave it the once over a few times. The unit was stunningly beautiful and worked like new. Made an offer, packed it up in it's original boxes, and away I went a happy man.

I have a question, the seller had the speakers connected to some 90 degree gold looking binding posts that attached to the McIntosh chassis posts. What are those? Seller mentioned that I should probably not use that type, but honestly I was spinning so fast, I did not ask why. The unit is sitting in the middle of my living room as I had to get back to work this afternoon.

What are all of you using, if anything to wire up the speakers?

and I promise - photos to follow.
 
Not sure how you connect speakers to a pre-amp, but are these what you mean?

s-l1600.jpg

Yeah, yeah, I know you're not connecting speakers to a pre-amp.
I'm just trying to figure out what's an hour's drive from Saturn
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C32, C33, C34 & C40 all had built-in monitor amplifier for running an extra pair of speakers as well as powering the headphone output.

Monitor amp signal can be taken from either the LISTEN or RECORD selector buss - meaning you have the ability to listen to one source at the main system while playing a completely different source with speakers connected to the monitor amplifier outputs in a remote location.

Few actually use the monitor facilities on these models. I believe the C40 amplifier is 20 wpc and has Power Guard to protect against clipping. With sensitive speakers such as the Klipschorn, the owner may never need a power amplifier with a C32, 33, 34 or 40.
 
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D'oh! I forgot about that. Anyway, for the OP, those plugs are all over eBay.

Now someone help me with that Saturn thing.
 
Just go to your local home depot and get some crimp on forked spade lugs....I usually remove the blue plastic insulator, solder them on and insulate with some red and black shrink tubing you can get ata NAPA store or electrical supplier.

The gold angled things put stress on the modular blocks and will eventually crack the plastic. I toss them in the trash whenever I see them.....banana plugs are not worth it.
 
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Thanks everyone. @Archguy Yes those are what I was talking about. @62caddy thank you for saving me the explanation. @c_dk that makes a really good point and may be the path I follow.

Oh @Archguy - an hour from Saturn at light speed can get me anywhere I need to go, and quickly.

Seriously. This unit is drop dead gorgeous. Wife absolutely loves it. Eldest son (22) is stoked.

More to follow.
 
Congrats on your purchase. Seriously, I'm looking at it since I saw this thread and trying to figure out how to insinuate one into my system. Heck, as mentioned it's almost a system unto itself; all I need is to hook up a Chromecast Audio and 20wpc is good enough for me. Most of the time :smoke:

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Thanks everyone. @Archguy Yes those are what I was talking about. @62caddy thank you for saving me the explanation. @c_dk that makes a really good point and may be the path I follow.

Oh @Archguy - an hour from Saturn at light speed can get me anywhere I need to go, and quickly. . .

Wow, did not know that the 911 was that fast!

Congrats on the preamp. I love all the features - the exact opposite of the keep-it-simple school optimized by the Klyne SK-5A preamp I had for years that had: Aux, Tuner, Phono inputs and one tape loop and no tone or loudness controls. I had to get some external Niles switches to support more stuff.
 
C32, C33, C34 & C40 all had built-in monitor amplifier for running an extra pair of speakers as well as powering the headphone output.

Monitor amp signal can be taken from either the LISTEN or RECORD selector buss - meaning you have the ability to listen to one source at the main system while playing a completely different source with speakers connected to the monitor amplifier outputs in a remote location.

Few actually use the monitor facilities on these models. I believe the C40 amplifier is 20 wpc and has Power Guard to protect against clipping. With sensitive speakers such as the Klipschorn, the owner may never need a power amplifier with a C32, 33, 34 or 40.

This remote operation feature is pretty cool. Is there is a second volume control (and possible second balance control) for the monitor amp in second-source mode?
 
This remote operation feature is pretty cool. Is there is a second volume control (and possible second balance control) for the monitor amp in second-source mode?

Yes but the level to the rears is set by the secondary controls on the top of the preamplifier and after they've been set, they will be affected by the main volume control.
 
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