Finally received the C1000P, I replaced my Cary SLP-05, it took me a while to figure out how to program the thing, a bit frustrating at times, I was leaning on past intellect, however once I sat down and took time to fully read the manual, I finally got music, and oh what joy that filled my soul. This is the preamp of preamps, I thought I would miss the tube sound, however, the C1000 still has sort of a tube sound, the sound stage is much more encompassing, imaging has fine tuned to a point of realism, very airy. Now the part that blew me away is the noise factor; there is none, "nothing" total silence, everything is clear as a bell, no sibilance, no edginess, a piano sounds like a piano, a horn like a horn, etc. The dynamics are stunning, I heard voices like never before, you could tell when a soloist turned their heads, a very moving experience. The overall synergy of the C1000 and the MC501 is stunning, especially coupled with the Nova Physics Memory Player Transport and the Esoteric D70 DAC, I am hearing music like never before experienced. My plans are to audition the new Nova Physics Memory Player tube/dac next month. This what I am talking about, I am finally listening to complete music, not a hint of electronics, just music. All this and I have yet to hear the C1000 fully broken in. McIntosh has to be one of the best (IMHO)
