Mcintosh MC500 or Accuphase P800

Hi Gshepardbuster!is the c100 tube or transistor?
pairing with my c46 is great but I have a feeling there is even more in the mc500! how about those cinema preamps from mcintosh? or are these not as good as the c46?
what did you replace your mc500 with???

Hi Blue, the c100 is a transistor two chassis preamp from the late 1990s. It was the predassessor to the c200, c500, and c1000 preamp. Never tried the cinema preamps but heard good things. Your c46 is more than likely as good as the cinema preamps in two channel mode. Traded my Mc500 for a pair of 1.2kws.

I have toyed with the idea of tubes but never followed through. It seems that once people try tubes they always incorporate them somewhere in the chain from then on. I don't think you could go wrong trying a tube preamp as they sell quickly if you don't enjoy. Yes there's a big difference between the 1.2s and the mc500 as there should be for the price difference! That being said I could easily live with another mc500 or maybe two biamped or ran as monoblocks.