C 100 with MC 275 V

[Gianluca68]

Hello!
I have the opportunity to buy a preamp C 100 second hand but in mint conditions…
According to you how is with the glorious 275 series V?
Could be a good match?
Thks !
Luca

 

[twiiii]

It should be a great match. You realize it has no tone controls????

 

[Gianluca68]

It should be a great match. You realize it has no tone controls????

Yes…!
And this is my first concern…
Should I care ?

 

[damacman]

Nope. You'll never miss 'em ... search "C100" in this forum for all kinds of threads ...

 

[SaturationPt]

I haven’t used nor wanted tone controls in 40 years. I wouldn’t sweat it unless you have a desire to eq in a very course manner.

 

[twiiii]

I guess it depends on your tolerance for others in the recording studio and if you play LP's or not. Recordings today are more consistent than they were in the past. But early CD reissues and some streaming really needs help and why I have a 15 band program EQ in addition to the graphic controls on my C-34. Some times the fake over accented bass and strident over emphasized highs are just so irritating I have to correct them. Other recordings the bass is all mid bass with no real low bass so here again having graphic tone controls really helps. The reason I have a program EQ is for the areas between 2K and 10 K where the miking can be to close and I don't want to hear offensive vocal sounds caused by the use of to much compression on a lot of recordings from the past and currently. I don't want to her the sound of a violin where the mic is placed near the bridge either over emphasizing the noise of the bow scraping across the strings. The other case can happen too where the mikes were placed to far away and a little added brightness really helps . Some times the recordings are so compromised nothing can be done, so I just toss them in the trash and look for other recordings. You'd never know I was a recording engineer for 20 years, mixed live sound too and was a musician for over 15 years. Once you have played music and participated in live performances and tried to capture them for reproduction later in addition to amplify the sound for live performances accurately you can easily recognize when recordings are less than they should be.

It should be easy to tell the difference between the three famous concert Pianos, the difference between a coronet and trumpet and flugel horn and on and on. Stradivarius and Guarani violins, too. Violas are even more difficult to tell apart. How about an Alto trombone with a Bb attachment a Jazz trombone and symphonic trombone and bass trombone and contra bass trombone. They should be easily recognizable. Unfortunately some times they are not. I want to hear the differences and bring instruments in to proper focus depending upon the type of the music being performed. Not having tone controls really would make any attempt to bring stuff into proper balance totally impossible.

 

[SaturationPt]

A lot of words to say that you use a graphic EQ to make corrections, which agrees with my above assertion that mere tone controls for 2, 3, or 5 bands really doesn’t cover the need for correcting room nor recording anomalies.

If you’re serious about correct music reproduction a graphic EQ is necessary at a minimum. If serious about different curves in different recordings a DSP with multiple saved profiles is an excellent tool to select pre-programmed profiles for the different recording and mixing styles. A dynamic-range expander would also be useful (especially if playing from radio, vinyl or other analog media), but that’s likely another topIc entirely.

In the end, tone controls and loudness compensation are both user preference items and do simplify the process of tailoring the listening experience to taste. I’m too meticulous for such, need to start with ruler-flat system response and let the recording and mixing Engineers’ work come through.

Music reproduction in the home is part science and part art. Lean whichever way makes the experience better for you.

 

[twiiii]

I really enjoy the simple tone controls on the MX 151 where you can adjust them 1 db at a time as opposed to the 3 and 4 db steps of the C-22, C-28 and C-29 I owned. TV broadcasts via satellite or streaming can be just slightly corrected to bring the percussion forward or lay them back. POP concerts with fake bass you can back off the bass or back off the LFE channels as you wish. Yes they are just slight adjustments but that maybe all thats needed. Remember I said todays broadcasts are more consistent than analog recordings of the past.

I was watching to Catch a Thief with Cary Grant the other night and the sound was horrible when the orchestra played or the car sound effects used. Errol Flynn in Robin hood is another sound disaster. Tone controls help. I'll take a Star Wars or Star Trek movie sound track any day. No tampering needed.

 

[x3workshop]

You would not be disappointed with the C100. Love mine paired with every amp I own.

 

[twiiii]

Read about the C-200 its a much quieter pre-amp than a 100. It also has some phono features that you will want if you are really into producing LPs' at their best.

 

[Mike Gibson]

I have had a C-100 for a long time and don't miss tone controls. If I had to adjust tone controls to listen to certain albums I'd get rid of them. But then I can be drawn into the music coming out of a simple radio so I guess I'm not that fussy.