How does a C220 measure up to a C2300?

[dawgcatching]

I have a C2300 in my system, 1st night with it, and I am quite impressed. Tomorrow, I am going to pull the Telefunken smooth plates out of my amp and put them in the C2300, so I can A/B vs. my current preamp. So far, so good: I can't say it is for sure an upgrade, but it gives a lot of life and depth to the music. I will say that the C2300 is a bit darker, and my current pre a bit brighter, but I have a lot of listening yet to do.

Here is my question: this C2300 is gorgeous, but I don't need all of the bells and whistles, and I don't listen to vinyl. When am I ever going to use tone controls? And, the meters look cool but are pretty useless otherwise. Would the C220 sound just as good, or is a step down? Supposedly the C2300 isn't fully balanced, and I don't mind running it single ended, as my amps have balanced inputs, but aren't fully balanced either, so I am not sure I even need that feature. If the C220 is stripped down, but similar sonically to the C2300, I could live very easily with that model, and save enough for my amp upgrade. Thoughts?

 

[chuckworkb]

I never heard the C220. I have the C2200.
If you want fully balanced then you have to go with a C46,C500, or C1000 I think. Someone can correct me if I am wrong.

On my c2200 I can change the Phono section to a Aux input. Maybe you can do the same on the C2300. It does seem to me though a C2300 is not really what you need since you will never use the MM, or MC phono sections.

What Preamp did you have before the C2300?

 

[dawgcatching]

I never heard the C220. I have the C2200.
If you want fully balanced then you have to go with a C46,C500, or C1000 I think. Someone can correct me if I am wrong.

On my c2200 I can change the Phono section to a Aux input. Maybe you can do the same on the C2300. It does seem to me though a C2300 is not really what you need since you will never use the MM, or MC phono sections.

What Preamp did you have before the C2300?

Well, I still have my old preamp: McCormack ALD-1 with SMC audio Gold+ revision (basically a rebuild of the preamp and new separate power supply). I have 1 source (CD player) and may add an internet streaming device at some point, but at this point, have no plans to go vinyl. I know my amps really don't care if they go balanced or not; I don't have a balanced IC yet to test out the 2300.