Any McIntosh C48 owners out there?

I have been pleased with the sound quality of my McIntosh C48 preamp. Imaging and low level detail are particularly good. Someone reportedly affiliated with McIntosh posted on another forum that the sound quality of the C48 and C50 are essentially the same, but the features differ (which should be expected for the $2000 price difference).
I have not compared my C48 to the C42 or C46 in listening tests. While the C46 has more equalizers the top one is centered at 4khz. I prefer having the top one centered at 10khz as on the C48, but rarely use the equalizer. The digital inputs on the C48 are very good and another potential advantage over the C46.
I have no complaints on the volume control on the C48. It is smooth in operation and displays precise control manually or by remote. Most of my listening occurs in the range of 30 to 45% on the display.

Thanks, Mglenn! I also read the report you mention about the C48 and C50 sounding the same. The Mac guy was Ron Cornelius. Like you, I prefer the 10khz control on the eq. vs the 4khz being used on the others. Thanks for your input. It seems this model is still fairly rare, as this is my second posting on this model, and you're the only one to respond, so far.
Alan

On the McIntosh forum at audioaficionado.org there are several posts that may be of interest.

One post suggests the volume control function of the C42 is unique to that unit.
"One of the things that frustrated me with the C42 was McIntosh's optical volume control. It was Mac's first preamp to use their optically controlled volume. McIntosh chose to design the volume curve linear without the standard audio taper, which in subsequent preamplifiers this was corrected. This caused me to have to turn the volume up far past the point I was use to with all other preamps to achieve a given volume level. I am sure one can grow use to this, but I never cared for it."

Another owner gave a very positive endorsement to the C48:
"I have now lived about a month with the C48 instead of C220. i initially noticed how much quieter the C48 was. Now, after having used it for a while, i can say with great confidence that my stereo has never sounded as good! i am really happy with it, both as a pre and as a Dac."

Mglenn, I just picked up a C48 as it hit Audiogon last night, so will keep you abreast of what I think of it. I'm excited to get this thing!

Sid42,
I saw a C48 listed briefly at a very good price, which was actually less than some C46 preamps offered. Congratulations. I will be interested to hear your evaluation.

Well, I actually was lucky enough to find a used C48, and my observations are very similar to Mglenn's. But the biggest thing I noticed was that the sound was very clean and very spacious as compared to my former C37, which has the same specs as the C48. All-in-all, it's a terrific looking and sounding preamp. The volume control is very quiet and smooth, which was a big concern of mine, as I worried it might be like the C42's. It's not. It also has the 5-band equalizer, as compared to the 8-band Mac seems to like now, and even it's new stablemate, the C50, is using the 8-bander. The phone jacks have gone back to 1/4", vs 1/8" Mac's been using for awhile.
I can see me keeping this baby for a long time, heartily recommended.

I have owned a c48 for about 6 weeks now. I'm a bit frustrated with the DAC performance. Its very harsh when compared to my wyred4sound DAC2. Chuck Hinton at mcintosh said the soon to be released drivers for the usb will change how it sounds. Im skeptical since I was listening to 16/44 and even tried the digital coax in and still the harshness. It may very well be a great preamp, but its got two very serious flaws:

1. The only way to activate the HT Bypass is through a 12v trigger in. My wyred4sound DAC2 has that method in addition to a very simple "HT" button that puts it in bypass.

2. The DAC is disapointingly harsh and cloudy sounding.

I've been running the unit constantly since it arrived in hopes that its a break-in issue, but as of 6 weeks out nada, zip, no difference. I guess the wyred4sound unit is just that good, but something tells me it gets better (which is why I bought c48 to begin with).

Allen,
Could you please update us about how the DAC has been performing since your last post? I am waiting for my C48 and have the W4S DAC2 and Bryston DAC and was hoping to sell one or both if the MAC's performance is identical.
Thanks.
Richard

I don't believe Mac has released drivers for it yet.

Question. Where does the C-45 fit in with these Mac preamps? That is, if it fits in at all.

I picked up a brand new C48 and MC302 ten days ago so maybe not broken in yet but the combo sounds terrific already. The C48 is extremely clean, smooth, quiet with nice sound stage width and depth. I have tons of vinyl and the MC phono stage sounds first rate which was a pleasant surprise. I've had tube gear for most of the last 20 years as nothing solid state seemed to measure up, so this was a bit of gamble but I am really pleased with the results. I would also add that the current Mac amp/pre-amp line seems to be a very synergistic match with the Focal Utopia series (I have Mini-Utopias).

Unfortunately, a financial crisis of sorts made me sell my beloved C48. Having gotten past that, if anyone knows of a used C48 for sale, please contact me. I missed that unit immensly, and am using a C15 until I can find another C48.
Alan