McIntosh owners - please help me decide ona preamp

I suggest to buy a audioresearch ref 5 preamp instead of mcintosh because is well known that mcintosh preamps are poorly designed preamp , they are reliable but not even close in performance to arcs, please see pictures inside units and compare

C2300 replaced my C200.

Get a C50. Or at least audition one. Really cool piece of gear -- one that is providing me with a lot of satisfaction. I am running mine with an MC275 mkV.

Do you really need to ask...the $14K solution is the way to go. Then start saving for those $10 cable elevators ;-)

With your amps the c1000 in SS might be the best combo. It has been said by some wise posters in other threads that with higher end tube amps a SS preamp is superb. In any incarnation the c1000 is very satisfying. The three piece c1000/t/p is a nice option but from what I gather the users end up preferring one or the other. I have the c1000 in SS and have no desire to try anything else.