Thoughts on a C 47 Mac

Thanks for the info.

The C47 is a really good pre in my opinion. Nice Dac, good phono stage both mm and Mc , plus it sounds great with my Mc 452. Great value.

The Mc preamps are simply excellent, and don't let contrary opinions dissuade you from considering them.  Harry Pearson had a C2300 in his reference system for over a year, and that was unheard-of longevity for him.  McIntosh offers rock-solid build quality, superior performance and unbeatable resale value.  Some folks prefer their tubes, others SS.  I've had both in my system and while I preferred the tubes in my C2300, the SS C50 is a better match for my lifestyle.

In your case, I suggest you keep an eye out here and a couple of other websites to see what pops up in your price range.  $3500 is a goodly budget and can net you some really nice stuff.  Audio Research, Cary, Krell and McIntosh are all viable major producers in that ballpark and there are other, very well-regarded niche players too.  You can also talk to the folks at Audio Classics.  While they specialize in Mc, they handle all the rest too and can offer ideas on what might be the best match for your needs.  A phone call is a lot less expensive than a mismatch without an audition.

Good hunting & happy listening!

I’ll take the middle road. If you don’t have a fetish for blue meters, the C47 offers a lot of what the more expensive Mcintosh preamps have, albeit with fewer inputs and less bling. As @gphill mentions, you also get an onboard DAC (so-so, IMHO) and phono stage (not too shabby, also IMHO) so you can play around with different combinations if you are so inclined. You also get tone controls which are not all that common these days. I think you could do a lot worse.
However, I would be more likely to recommend the C47 in an instance where an amp was more difficult to drive. I’ll put Mac’s in this camp, for the most part. I will agree with @D2girls that the C47 might not bring anything special when paired with the Carver.
The good news is that since your TFM 45 needs only 1.5V to bring it to full power and it has an input impedance of 115 K ohms, it should be pretty dang easy to drive and mate well with a host of different preamps. You might find a tube or hybrid pre for significantly less than $3,500 that could sound pretty sweet with the Carver.

So much good information. This site's a treasure trove. On with the hunt.

Sweet spot in the Mac line. The guts of a far more expensive model further up the line if you give up the EQ

Found a PS Audio BHK  Signature here so I'll try that. Thanks

Guess I'll soon find out. Pauls crew is very helpful.

From what I gather on here the tubes in front of my Kanta 3s should work well.