Who heard or has a McIntosh MC7100?

I also have one (7100 Balanced Inputs Etc..) Like it very much. I think it easly outpreforms my Rotel (RB976) musicaly with the exception of maybe bass performance. I'm running mine with cheap Parasound ph/850 pre-amp can wait til I mate it with nice Mcintosh (like Aball's) or some tube option to boost the performance more. Try one out...if you don't like it you can easly get what you paid for it here on audiogon. But, don't forget to Mate with equal or better quality pre.

Jalen

Hey Jalen - Right now on ebay is a McIntosh C710 preamp with a buy-it-now price of $450. It is the same identical pre as mine but for a much better price (mine tends to go for $700 range). The C710 is extremely rare but is identical to C712 except for missing CD and Tuner control ports which you can't use unless you have a McIntosh CD or tuner anyway. It is a steal for a great little preamp that has no apparent faults and benefit of balanced connectors. Just a thought - I don't know anything about the seller or his item. Arthur

Wow,,,thanks for the info....I have been told for example that maybe I should go for a MC2100 which is about the same price and has autoformers....and that it may match better with my Berning TF-10 tubed preamp...

BUT, I like the looks of the 7100, and its considerable newer....I wonder how do you guys think it will match with the Berning TF-10 pre...
here is a link of a Stereophile review back in the days of bell bottoms...

http://www.stereophile.com/printarchives.cgi?611

Well since your preamp is a hybrid with no feedback, it probably does have a highish output impedance and the 2100 has a 10x higher input impedance than the 7100 but I think that in terms of the overall affect, the lack of dynamics of the 2100 will be a far greater impact than any possible impedance mismatches you may encounter with the 7100. I bought a 2100 one one time for a ridiculous deal on ebay. It was nice, as was the 2125, but not as satisfying as the 7100 IMO. The little 7100 is really a very nice amp.

Things have changed since the 70s in terms of part quality and so the sound has effectively "cleaned up." This is one fo the first things I notice when comparing an older amp to a much newer one in the same system. It cannot really be overlooked. I will spare all the details but the upshot is that I would still suggest you would be happier with the 7100 (and you are right - it is very slick looking - like my C712). Let us know what you decide! The 2100 is indeed cheap if you want to experiment with it and see what you think - resale is not a problem with McIntoshes. Good luck! Arthur

Thanks for the good input Aball,,,,Have you listened to a Berning TF-10 pre? if yes, what did you think?

Jack

PS:Besides the sentimental and emotional want of having a Mc in my system, I wonder if in terms of SQ its not a ssideways move. My current amp is a Kineregetics Chiro C200, source is Parasound CDP-2000, and speakers are JBL L-96's