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Mc2300, preamp

Richard1079

Richard1079

Active Member
I have a Mc2300, and looking for a good sounding preamp . I’m currently using a pioneer sx1250 preamp with Mac 2300. I’m sure Mac has a good Mach sonically for this. What do experience Mac users prefer for preamps?

speaker are dahlquist dq10’s and two DQ subs. All driven by one amp and preamp using 16 ohm speaker tap. Yes the subs have a sub crossover at 70hz
 
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I've used SO MANY different preamps with my MC2300s, it's hard to remember them all. A C29 would be a good call. But then, so would a C100.

Have fun.
 
The c28 doesn’t come up as a fav on people’s list. The 31v I like for remote volume as I often turn it up and dn but there have been issues with solder joints when Mac went to lead free and I read two reports that said unit kept going to auxiliary 1 or 2. It’s cost less about 1400. I was offered 220 tube one for 2k but a bit reluctant to go bk to tubes.
 
I use a C20 with a MC2105(2300 little brother) and it's a sweet combo. Especially if you're into vinyl.
 
The C28 is a great sounding pre with a lot of functionality. It's just the most maintenance heavy Mc SS pre there is - lots of unsealed pots and switches which all require periodic cleaning as well as well documented grounding issues.
 
The C31 is ok, but a first gen remote controlled preamp. You want features and sound, you bought the C34v, if having remote control was what you wanted, the C31 was ok. The C35 was a lot better, but was still outsold by the '34v 3 to one. The 'thermometer' volume control of the '31 lost points to many.

This being written, the '31 had distortion and noise spec's as good as the '34v.

Just not the functionality.

I'd avoid the C-28 all day long. Unobtanium parts and grounding issues abound. The design (that was abandoned: starting with the C-27) wore out volume controls.

The C-35 was a polished out C-31, as Tony suggested- going more modern would future proof you to the point where you could count on me not chiming in.

So, if it was me, a C-33 or '34v would be what I'd suggest, but staying period specific (my suggestions are not) the C-29 is where you want to be.

And you're not locked into any preamp, remote or not, all would work.
 
Richard1079 said:
speaker are dahlquist dq10’s and two DQ subs. All driven by one amp and preamp using 16 ohm speaker tap. Yes the subs have a sub crossover at 70hz
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DQ10 is 8 ohm and the subwoofer is also 8 ohm. Nominal combined impedance would be 4 ohm and even lower because the DQ10 could dip to 4 ohm by itself which would drop the combined impedance even further.

Speaker connections should therefore be made at taps not higher than the 4 ohm and absolutely not 16.
 
miketuason said:
MC2300 is a perfect match with the C2300 tube pre.
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Is that your 308GTS QV in the picture? (Fellow Ferrari owner here if so).

I think the C33/34 is a great "go to" McIntosh pre-amp, reliable, fully featured, and a great performer, yes I sold mine and regret it!!
 
kevzep said:
Is that your 308GTS QV in the picture? (Fellow Ferrari owner here if so).

I think the C33/34 is a great "go to" McIntosh pre-amp, reliable, fully featured, and a great performer, yes I sold mine and regret it!!
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Hi Kev! Yes, that’s my 1984 QV4B1C5F13-F25E-4E82-B196-4215953C06C4.png
 
Richard1079 said:
I’m thinking of the 31 VE so I can get remote volume control or the 2 to 0 tube preamp or a C 28
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I picked up a C31V over a year ago and have enjoyed it. It's quite flexible, with lots of inputs and switchable outputs, is very quiet, and sounds good. I like the 5 band EQ that's bypassed when not used, variable loudness, and a remote control. Yeah, it's got push buttons on the front panel for volume, and I don't care for them. Honestly, though, I don't sit next to it and adjust the volume; I do that from my chair with the remote, so I'm OK with that trade-off. As to solder joint issues... I've not heard of that issue, and I researched it quite a bit. I actually never really found anything bad about it, other than some don't care for the volume control or its appearance.
C31V-1.jpg
 
I actually want a remote volume control as I often have to adjust volume as diff CDs have diff levels. I don’t care about the clicking as I won’t heR it and as long as it’s sonically good and reliable that’s good. I run a tuner, two cd’s a phono, and from time to time a reel to reel to record Saturday Met opera for my girlfriend but most often tape deck is hooked to another set up in diff rms.
Curious about which impedance tap to use? Dq10’s are 8 ohms and each dq1 8 ohms, 8+8 =16? Why would I use a 4 ohm tap? Thx
 
David_NC said:
I picked up a C31V over a year ago and have enjoyed it. It's quite flexible, with lots of inputs and switchable outputs, is very quiet, and sounds good. I like the 5 band EQ that's bypassed when not used, variable loudness, and a remote control. Yeah, it's got push buttons on the front panel for volume, and I don't care for them. Honestly, though, I don't sit next to it and adjust the volume; I do that from my chair with the remote, so I'm OK with that trade-off. As to solder joint issues... I've not heard of that issue, and I researched it quite a bit. I actually never really found anything bad about it, other than some don't care for the volume control or its appearance.
View attachment 1970819
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It's as good as anything Mcintosh made at the time, and your observations are spot-on. But, as you recognize, anyone who bought the '31 over the '34v bought specifically for the remote volume feature.

If I could actually remember any conversations with folks I sold a '31 to, I'd bet they'd have mentioned that they'd have bought a C-34v if it had a remote volume control. The first gen remote volume control units came out before servo controlled devices were commonly available.

To be honest, I've got a C-34V and would like a remote VC myself. Thought about getting a broomstick with a suction cup on the end.
 
Richard1079 said:
Curious about which impedance tap to use? Dq10’s are 8 ohms and each dq1 8 ohms, 8+8 =16? Why would I use a 4 ohm tap? Thx
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When speakers car connected in series the resulting impedance is the sum. When connected in parallel, two 8 ohm results in 4 ohm.

The math works like this- if it takes one person one hour to cut your lawn, then it would take two people 30 minutes to do the same job working simultaneously.

4 ohm load connected to 8 ohm taps will result in more stress on the outputs and cause the amplifier to run hotter; 16 ohm is about the worst thing you can do.
 
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