Tube pre-amp upgrade from Mcintosh C2300

I have a Ref 3, and have heard the Ref 5 and LS27. I did not hear enough difference from my Ref 3 with either, especially the LS27, to motivate me to upgrade. I have owned the Aurieges, heard the Monbrison, and own a Masseto. If you do not need balanced or remote capabilities, the Monbrison is a far more musical preamp than the Ref 5 or LS27. All IMHO, of course. And the Monbrison includes a superb phono stage.

Have you tried any tube upgrades in the C2300? I have a friend that has a MC402 with a C2200, and he did some tube upgrades with very good results.

I've found C2300 is very responsive to tube rolling. So like Tls49 suggests, that would be a good first step. Still, every poster I've read who has moved to the C500T from the C2300 has reported substantial improvement. Most reports, though, specify using balanced outputs. If you're all SE, the improvement might not be so great, I don't know. In my system, RCA out sounds more liquid than XLR from the C2300.

The Ref 3 and 5 are also great, maybe a little better detail and definition. You will need awesome source material, speakers and amps to benefit from that upgrade. its a high cost vs value upgrade

Idealy, I should go listen to all those good pre-amps and see which one is better for me, but it is hard for me to do it.

Lots of people say Mac C2300+ MC402 is a combo made in heaven. C2300 is a good pre-tube, but I don't feel heaven yet.

Mac C500T is fully balanced design with seperate power supply. A dealer who sells both Mac and ARC perfer the transparency of the ARC. Shindo is a very popular boutique brand and has come across my mind for several years. I never have any Japanese high end audio gear and I always admire their craftsmanship, precision engineer and dedication.

Tube rolling is an option. It might work on Macs, but not too much on ARC and Shindo. Tube rolling is like trying different cables and I am a little tired of changing cables.