Which preamp is good for mcintosh mc275?

Will Sonic Frontier Line 1 make a good combo?

I was using a pair of 275s with SF Line 3 for some time with great results. Line 1 is a decent preamp, but in my opinion Line 3 is way better.

how does c220 compared to c2200?

Any more input?

Hey Finity ;-) First, I must disagree with the Mac preamp recommendations. It's a fine sounding combo, don't get me wrong, but it's important to know (if you don't) that the sonic signature/character of a system is (at least) 80% the result of the amp + speaker. If you like the sound of a fine tube amp (I also have an MC275) the first thing I think you should do is obtain better tubes (than the stock ones) and do a little "rolling" to find out what you like best with your speakers. Once you've got that dialed in as good as you can, you should try a really fine balanced output tube preamp (minimum C500 if you want to stay in the Mac lineup, but you can get better for less money ;-) or a really fine ss preamp (again, you can do much better than Mac for the same or less money.)

I have found that a really quiet (and OK, and moderately expensive) ss preamp combined with an excellent tube amp yields the best performance combination of ambiance, image accuracy, detail and S/N ratio. I also caution that you CANNOT 'have your cake and eat it' by pairing a tube preamp with a ss amp - the ss amp sound will prevail -- as I explained in my remark about the amp + speaker combo; and from what you said in your opening remarks, an 'all-tube' system might require you take insulin ;-)
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