Tubes Recommendation for McIntosh Preamp

I have a C2700 with similar tube complement, 2 for line stage, 2 for MC, 2 for MM, I replaced them with NOS tubes and its much much better then the stock JJ tubes mac uses (way to bright, toneless). 

matching is cheep, why would you not get them matched.  

 tube depot, tube store have tube kits for these preamps you may want to check that out first as a starting point. New production tubes in the kits but NOS tubes are all over the internet some good some bad. google is your friend. 

Hi @glennewdick, may I ask you which NOS brand did you get?

Most comments I read from the internet is that NOS tubes are better than new production. I don’t mind buying NOS. In fact, I got some NOS for my other preamp (Cary SLP-05) and quite like them. But I'm also curious about how much longer can the inventory of NOS tubes last. I would think they eventually run out,

Thanks!

How do you know that these tubes a seller claims are NOS aren't just pulls/used? For example a lot of Tektronics scopes used Telefunken 6922/6DJ8's. When those scopes were scrapped those tubes appeared on the market, fraudulently being sold in factory boxes as NOS at premium prices.

@xcool  , did you replace your SLP-05?

Hey @immatthewj, I still have the Cary SLP-05. I guess I’m keeping it as a spare for now.

The purchase of this McIntosh is kind of a coincidence. I ran into the C1100 for sale ad while I was browsing around in Audiogon one day. From the pictures, it looked very clean and the price was reasonable. So I contacted the seller, who happens to be an audio store. They got the C1100 as a trade in from a customer, and I was told it was only a little over a year old. Of course I can’t verify that. I just have to take his words.

So I decided to take a chance and purchased it. Given the pretty good resale value of McIntosh, I figure I can probably sell it for around the same price if I’m not happy with it.

When I got the delivery, I was very happy to see how clean it looked. It was in mint condition, almost like new. When I plugged it in and started listening to it, I wasn’t happy with the sound. It sounded thin and bright. So I contacted the dealer to see if he would take it back, and I even offered to pay him a restocking fee. He told me to give it some time. He said the unit hasn’t been played for a while, and it will require some break in time again. I’ve never heard of that before, have you? but I decided to take his words for it. As it turned out, he was right. After I gave it a couple of weeks of playing, it started to open up. The brightness was gone, and sounded more smooth, rich, and warm. I was quite happy with the sound.

Since then, I haven’t switched back to my Cary to compare the sound. It’s been about 6 months now. From my memory, the sound of the Cary is on par with the McIntosh. So I won’t say the Mac is better or vice vera. If I ever get around to plug in my Cary again, I’ll let you know how it compares to the McIntosh.

Cheers!