Opinions on the Mcintosh C500T?

I am waiting on UPS to deliver mine (C1000P) today. I will post feedback later. Looking at Mac's new website both units (1000 and 500) are oh so identical. Sonics are what really matters to me. Yes, the cosmetics are nice, but it's the music that is essential. I will do some research on these units, I am very curious as to why the C500 was built, my first guess is less cost.

Put your VP of Marketing hat on Mitch.

C500 was built as a more reachable product for "audiophiles" like myself that feel the C1000T is out of their price range.

BTW...nice system. I will post several question on your thread regarding your tweaks with tubes and PC.

I think the 1000 weighs a good bit more than the 500. I just got my C500T hooked up with the mc2301's and 802d's. Man this is nice. I need to get some listening in now and get the placement right on the speakers but so far so good with only a couple hours in. Starting to storm now here so I unplugged all as my power conditioners from shunyata haven't arrived.

beerdraft

The C1000 differently weighs more...not sure why it maybe the 3D glass front it's almost 3" thick. I don't think the transformers are larger.

Which Shunyata the VRay or Hydra 8?

Congrats on the MC2301 and C500T.

I have new tubes coming in for the C500T. I'll let you know how the tube rolling goes and if it improves the sonics.

Finally received the C1000P, I replaced my Cary SLP-05, it took me a while to figure out how to program the thing, a bit frustrating at times, I was leaning on past intellect, however once I sat down and took time to fully read the manual, I finally got music, and oh what joy that filled my soul. This is the preamp of preamps, I thought I would miss the tube sound, however, the C1000 still has sort of a tube sound, the sound stage is much more encompassing, imaging has fine tuned to a point of realism, very airy. Now the part that blew me away is the noise factor; there is none, "nothing" total silence, everything is clear as a bell, no sibilance, no edginess, a piano sounds like a piano, a horn like a horn, etc. The dynamics are stunning, I heard voices like never before, you could tell when a soloist turned their heads, a very moving experience. The overall synergy of the C1000 and the MC501 is stunning, especially coupled with the Nova Physics Memory Player Transport and the Esoteric D70 DAC, I am hearing music like never before experienced. My plans are to audition the new Nova Physics Memory Player tube/dac next month. This what I am talking about, I am finally listening to complete music, not a hint of electronics, just music. All this and I have yet to hear the C1000 fully broken in. McIntosh has to be one of the best (IMHO)