Best Tubes results for McIntosh C2300

By no means are the tubes ending their useful lifespan.The 12AX7A is a 10,000 hr tube so rolling is purely optional. As for rolling options are you thinking Old Stock or current production?
If you want to try a good current production tube you may want to try the Tung Sol Re-issue. Be sure to get the tubes from a dealer who really screens them.
For Old Stock the choice requires more about your tastes. IMO the Tung Sol is a fairly neutral tube tonally.
If you want a foil for the Macs inherent warmth think about German tubes with Telefunkens being the most obvious but Valvo which are warmer and Siemens a clean strong signal are clearly considerations.In that direction Ei Silver bullets now a NOS tube are crisp.
Unless you know of a tube that has the sound you want you may want to avoid the maddening world of tube rolling and collecting a slippery slope indeed. It's an addiction for some... beware.

For one the Mac c2300 is not a warm sounding pre amp. It is rather neutral.
the telefunkens are extremely good. they added some dimensionality and texture while maintaining the neutrality.

Mullards were less successful for some reason.

Are you looking for just the prem amp section of the two phono sections as well.

I suggest the Telefunkens for the phono section (MM or MC) and the reissued Tung Sol gold pins for the line stage. Will be rolling mine soon, too, with this setup

I concur with the Telefunken recommendations. I used them in the MC and line stages and left the stock tubes in the MM stage which I never used.

Once I put them in, I never thought about tube rolling again and they were perfectly reliable for the 2.5 years I owned the C2300.

Tele's

I agree 100% Telefunken. Tried several brands, and the Tele's just do everything right, I guess well balanced would be the word.

I change but then I keep going back to them. The C2300 is not a McIntosh off old, it is very natural.

Alright, everyone is claiming Telefunkens... ecc83 or ecc803s? Money aside, we all know what the ecc803s cost. Anyone tried both in the C2300?

I have some ECC802S or ECC801S can't remember and have to wait a while until I am reunited with my tube collection. In any event there wasn't that huge world of difference between then and other high quality NOS types in the specific application I used them in. You say money is no object but finding the genuine article real McCoy ECC803S is fraught with difficulty. There are so many fakes floating around and relabled reclassified "S"s regular Old Stock tubes that are being dealt.
The cost is clearly rediculous no matter how wealthy you may be. It is simply obscene. However even if you are in a position to buy them I doubt they will live up to the hype and expectation. I would just get some well screened tubes from a really honest known dealer. You will be happy just to get truly good tubes What if you don't like them ? As a private seller you will never get near the price you paid.

What's your amp? What do you want to achieve with the sound of the C2300? It'll take on the character of the tubes you choose, so these are questions to ask yourself. I owned it for a year with MC501 monos and spent big cash rolling a lot of tubes through the linestage. I didn't use the phono stage because I have a Steelhead II and listen to vinyl 99% of the time. Here's what I found in my system.

Telefunkens were too polite overall and a little thin on top for my taste. I bought three nice NOS pairs but never used them. Mid-'50s ribbed were a little punchier than smooth plates but not enough for me. YMMV. Early '60s Holland Amperex are tonally richer but a little fat and slow without enough clarity and extension on top. Medical Grade Holland Amperex (which are crazy expensive) from the same era, on the other hand, were incredibly focused and dynamic, like excellent 5687s but with better tone and bass. I liked them a lot despite the price tag. Mid-'50s RCA long black plates were excellent--3D, extended at both ends, really musical tubes, and less expensive than the others named above. The Med Amperex and RCAs, though quite different in character, were my favorites.

The only current production 12AX7s I liked in the C2300 were the Psavanes, which were very balanced across the spectrum. These are good tubes, IMO. Gold Lions had really good tone but seemed rolled a bit on top. The New Sensor Tung-Sols were just OK; Mullards too fat. I also rolled in all kinds of top 5687s but they were all too lean and bass-light for me in that preamp, which can be a little lean itself, even with MC501 amps, which are rich-sounding.

Now, all these results are simply in my system with my ears. Again, before anyone hammers me, YMMV. Teles, obviously, have a big following but they might or might not be your cup of tea. They weren't mine.

Correction: I meant 5751s, not 5687s. I've been rolling 5687s recently in the Steelhead so they were top of mind. Please excuse.