I personally have not "Fallen in love" with the Mac sound but have a good bit of respect for it.
'Subjective as that is'. But, nearly all of them I integrated into my main rig were SS, not tube. Most were also "Vintage". It seemed best to me and also the "easy path", to purchase certain Mac "Paired Set’s". These "set’s", I tried, somehow seemed easier to set-up and complimented each other quite well. Both in their cosmetic attributes, as well as in their sonic capabilities. I had heard many speak well of the MC2105 amplifier paired with the C-28 preamp. "A set I kept in fact". If your patient you could I believe, find this set at your price-point.
Also, The MC2105 has separate gain controls for each channel "Also, these I am thinking, were the original amp with their signature,- Auto-formers!
So no clipping! On the front panel. And some simply use those as the volume/attenuation. So that there is no need for a preamp. I never tried that myself, but I am sure there are those here whom could respond if you wished to know more. A perfectly "Mint", MC2105 should fall into your budget area!
