Mcintosh C-2200 or Aesthetix Calypso?

Hmm
I have to disagree with some of the posts. I had both C-46 and C2200 in my system and had enough time to compare. I would never agree they sound simillar. To my ears and VERY reaviling Thiel 2.3 speakers I find C 2200 to have much better sound. Suprisingly I had more bass fullness with C2200. It also did much better with highs sounding more open and vibrant. As no surprise it has rich organic sound you can NEVER find in C46. You can easily take 2200 to yet another level of performance by changing tubes to some premium NOS. I have a great luck with various 5751 subs. Stock tubes are noisy, premiun NOS tubes make it very quiet pre.
On the other hand Mac SS pre is sounding dull and greyish to me - no exitement at all.

Bunkeromantik,
I, on the other hand, cannot agree with you. Mac SS pre sounding "dull and greyish" seems like a joke to me. I compared the C42, the C2200, and the C200, which I now own. The C200 sounded the best in all regards, as it should, costing much more than the others. But even when I compared the C42 and the C2200, the differences were small. Partly, it depends on the taste of the listener. If Baffled listens to jazz and chamber music etc only, the C2200 will be the slightly better choice - if large orchestral music and pop or serious rock enter the equation, the C42 might be better. To get a good hang of the differences, I think that the comparing review of the C46/C2200 and MC2102/MC402 in TAS, which can be downloaded from the McIntosh-website, is a very accurate one.

Velo62....thanks for your comments on the tone controls. I have ruled out c2200 based on your advise. In fact, I have decided to completely do without tone control......a big step for me that I may regret. Based on all of the positive comments in the Calypso threads, I have decided to buy one. No way to audition......none in stock locally....this is truly a blind faith purchase. I should have it in the next day or two. I also have a Musical Fidelity Trivista CDP on the way. I can't wait to hear what I have been missing. Cables and room treatments are next.....and maybe some big blue power meters for the Calypso!

I too bought my Calypso without hearing it first...no regrets!

Baffled,

You will not regret the Calypso purchase. Jim White and his auditioning/critique crew, in my opinion, tread the finest of lines between traditional tube and solid state virtues. I've owned a lot of preamps over the years (disclosure - never a Mac). My Janus gives more pure musical satisfaction than any of them by a wide margin.

I'm sure that I don't need to tell you not to substitute to major pieces of gear at once. You'll never sort out the individual sonic attributes of either if you do so. Congratulations on your purchases!