Mcintosh C-2200 or Aesthetix Calypso?


I know I want a tube preamp and have narrowed the field down to these two. Both are available at the same price. After reading what members have to say about the Calypso, it seems like the clear winner ...but....I like the tone controls on the Mcintosh. At 12 o clock position the tone controls are inactive and out of the signal path, but can be used as needed otherwise. (According to Mcintosh) I know tone controls are frowned upon, but I have owned preamps without them in the past and found it to be frustrating when I felt the need to compensate for a bad recording. Associated gear is Classe Seven Hundred mono's, B&W 800N, and a yet to be determined CDP. Thanks for your advice.
baffled

Showing 1 response by curriemt11

Baffled,

You will not regret the Calypso purchase. Jim White and his auditioning/critique crew, in my opinion, tread the finest of lines between traditional tube and solid state virtues. I've owned a lot of preamps over the years (disclosure - never a Mac). My Janus gives more pure musical satisfaction than any of them by a wide margin.

I'm sure that I don't need to tell you not to substitute to major pieces of gear at once. You'll never sort out the individual sonic attributes of either if you do so. Congratulations on your purchases!