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Mcintosh C15 - Your Impressions and Matching Power Amp

Dear All

 

I would very much appreciate your advise. I have been looking for C15 reviews but I could not find much on the net, so hope to get your opinions here.

I have been offered an irresistible deal for a Mcintosh vintage C15 preamp in very good condition and recently serviced. I understand the amp has smooth delivery, a good grip on bass and pretty detailed with the usual Mcintosh house holographic or tube like sound from the few reviews I have read that were available. I intend to replace my current Schiit Freya preamp with the C15.

Being new to Mcintosh, I hope those who know about this C15 amp or own it could give your impressions of its sound quality which would be helpful. Always wanted to own one hearing so much about various models of Mcintosh amps.

I am also looking at a matching power amp and would appreciate suggestions. Currently I own a class D - XTZ A2 300, 150 watt per channel power amp. Would this be a good match with the C15? Or should I be looking at something else. My speakers are Klipsch RP 6000f which are not really bright as most might think. More clean sounding.

I welcome your thoughts.

ram18
sid42
302 posts
 

@oddiofyl your comment about the C15 being overpriced is in my opinion typical of used prices for all Mac products. Having owned many Mac items, and being a fan since 1978, I knew what they cost at the time. Used prices today are insidious, costing way more than they originally were sold for. Being retired, I would never purchase Mac's new stuff either, especially their amps. 

ram18, the MC7100 is also a good choice, similar in design to my MC7200, but without the meters. Both those amps might be considered "simple" compared to having autoformers which Mac loves ( I don't like them) but they sound great to me. Good luck!

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,892 posts
 

The 7100 is a very good amp, it was often paired with the C15.    They play well together 

ram18 OP
87 posts
 

@oddiofyl 

Thanks for sharing. That's good to hear.

 

@sid42 

Just curious to know sid. I gather you had the C15 for sometime. Any servicing needs you had to undergo with the amp.  Did it give you any hassles  in this aspect? Just preparing myself for the servicing needs down the road  since the amp has been around for sometime.  Also can I stack a power amp say MC 7100 if I do get it on top of the C15? Any heat issues? I saw some models where Mac amps are stacked on top of each other.

sid42
302 posts
 

ram18

I purchased my current one in 2012. Prior to that I had a C48 for awhile, and prior to that a C15 also. In my opinion, the C15 sounded as good as the C48, so I went back to my current C15. I have had no issues with any of these pre's. I did change out the lights last year, not because I needed to, but I changed the lights on my MC7200 and thought I might as well do the C15 at the same time. It is very easy to change the lights out; all you need is a flat blade screwdriver. I also had purchased led's for the C15 but they didn't fit quite right, so I stayed with the originals.

You can probably stack the amp on top of the C15, but I personally never do that. The C15 doesn't get hot at all, it is slightly warm to the touch. Like I said previously, if you buy it and aren't happy with it, you can sell it easily. In fact, should you want to sell it, contact me first.

sid42
302 posts
 

ram18

Correction on my previous post, the led's that didn't fit right were for the MC7200, not the C15. 

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