McCormack Preamps

I used to have the micro drive; it's dead silent and transparent - as you'd expect, but really is kinda dry sounding with limited soundstaging ability, and a thin sound. It's also very selective on set up, requiring high output source (you cheap cdplayer may not cut it), short run, low cap cables and a fairly sensitive speaker, which I don't think the maggies are - so therefore, while a good product, maybe not the best for your system, IMHO

I don`t agree with all of the coments made by the other gentlemen. I`ve live with it for a 4 year period,it did what it was suppose to do, make music your cd player does have enough out put. but your amp may not be high [ gain ] enough in the input to drive your speakers. you should search out a dealer who will let you try the pre-amp . your speakers have that big wide sound and depth that you like ,just find the right combo of pre-amp and amp that does the job.I`ve had a combo very close to yours, maggies, micro line drive ,mccormack .5 amp, mccormack sst transport, and dac 1. you should try it first before you dismiss the pre-amp,then find an amp that will work with what you have. there are some good amps out there so try them.Also the pre-amp does have a gain stage to it that will give alittle more bottom to it, but you`ll lose some transparency, but still a hard pre-amp to beat for the money.

Would a McCormack TLC-1 be a good match with a Threshold 400A or with an Aleph J amp? Some audiophiles have told me passive preamps sometimes don't mesh well with Threshold amps or Nelson Pass designed amps. Has anyone ever used a McCormack TLC-1 with a Nelson Pass amp? If so what were your thoughts or impressions? Thanks so much. JD