McIntosh Preamp

I had the C2300 with both the MC275 and the MC402. I agree with the poster above to change the stock tubes. If you aren't doing vinyl, then you only need to replace the two line stage tubes. I preferred Telefunkens for the line stage and MC phono stage.

I think the C2300 & MC275 combination sounded the best. I used it with Quads and it was a really nice system. The solid state amp was a little more veiled, by comparison.

The C2300 has a lot of flexibility, including changing cartridge loading on the fly, defeatable tone controls, stereo/mono, etc. I never had any use for the meters and could have done without them. Overall the preamp is transparent, doesn't have its own "tube" or "solid state" sound, is dynamic and very quiet. And it is built very well.

Alberto, to answer your question, there are things I liked about the older system. But overall I like the C2300 & 402 combo the best. Lower noise, much better bass, convenience (amp tubes v. SS). When I think back on the C2200 & 275 combo there were a few records that system gave a richness and liveness to that I don't get with the new system.

I have MC402 matching with Mark Levinson 38S. Have tried The MC402 with C2300 as recommended by many people. However, I could not find the synergy yet