mcintosh c39

Don't go there! You'll want to go all Mac after you do that!

I own the McIntosh MX-130 AV Pre. As I understand it, the C39 is basically the same Unit, minus the tuner.

One advantage I understand the C39 has versus the MX-130, is the C39 has XLR main outs, the MX-130 doesn't.

I've been very happy with my MX-130, dead quiet, relaiable, versatile, usable tone controls which are said to be out of the circuit when set flat, a great variable loudness compensation dial, very attractive.

If XLR outs are not important to you, the MX-130 might as well be another option. They often sell quite cheaply due to advances in home theather processing. They both work perfectly fine as a stereo only pre-amp, and IMO are very good buys for the money spent. Mark

I owned one for a number of years and was very pleased with it's performance. They extremely well built and do a very good job on analog. Beware though as there were two versions, one with 6 channel and one without. The one without seems to be not as prevalent as the 6 channel version. A good source of info on these would be audioclassics.com.

Anyone knows if C39 is fully balanced or it's just a fact of having XLR outs?

The 39 is not fully balanced.

Also, IIRC, the first production 39/130 had xlr outs but later ones replace those with a 6 rca outs to be used with their MAC-3 decoder. It was in that transitioning time between Pro Logic and 5.1.

I'm looking at one of these that must be the earlier unit as I only see the 2 balanced xlr outputs and the DIN style connector. That would mean that I could used balanced out for stereo but I would be limited to using a 5 or six channel amp that has the same DIN connector. (ex. MC7106)

Does anyone know of any other possible amp choices for HT set-up?

Would the earlier xlr out version be preferred for 2 channel only?