McIntosh C1000 Stereophile Review - The Listening Post

MCINTOSH C1000with tubed gear, while the tubedC1000T produced the even-handedtonal balance and neutrality one usuallyassociates with solid-state. While therewere sonic differences to be heard runningthe Musical Fidelity kW SACDplayer through each preamp, the differenceswere minor: a bit more bloom,and slightly softer, riper bass in the caseof the C1000T. But the kW has its ownsolid-state and tubed outputs. By switchingthose around, I could achieve thesame sound using either McIntosh preamp.The kW’s solid-state output intothe tubed C1000T sounded very similarto the kW’s tubed output into the solidstateC1000P. Running the tubed kWinto the tubed McIntosh producedmore warmth and bloom than I like,but your taste may differ.Run through either pair ofmonoblocks, both the solid-state andtubed preamps sounded intoxicatinglyliquid, with astonishing purity, delicacy,and transparency. While few good preampsin my experience present electronic“noise” as audible noise, the differencebetween the quietness of most preampsof my experience and the quietness ofthe C1000 was easy to hear—or, rather,not hear. I could sense the C1000’s definitionof quietness in the elegance ofdecays, the roundness and three-dimensionalityof images, and, especially, in theutter ease of the overall sound.The C1000’s overall freedom frommechanical artifacts, particularly onsibilants and transients, helped producean entirely effortless sonic picture, yetwith either preamp, the sound wasnever too soft or warm. While theC1000’s ultralow noise floor producedmesmerizing, delicate microdynamicdetails, occasionally I felt that largescaledynamic swings were not quite asthunderous and powerful as they canbe—but once I’d gotten acclimated tothe C1000’s unusual ease and transparency,that proved to be an illusion.While in Texas recently to hearAndrew Litton and the Dallas Symphonyperform Mahler’s Symphony 2, Ipicked up a superb-sounding DelosCD of Litton and the DSO in the samework, recorded by John Eargle in thesame hall in which the concert tookplace: the gorgeous-sounding EugeneMcDermott Concert Hall of the MortonH. Meyerson Symphony Center.This warm, intimate, coherent-soundinghall has ideal reverberant decay andamong the best propagations of stringand bass sound I’ve ever heard live. Theconstruction of the stage included acarefully designed hollow under thecello section to allow their sound to“breathe” with full expression. Myhosts had told me that some listenersare skeptical of the hollow’s success, butas the lower string players drew theirbows across the strings, I found theoverall richness, warmth, and texturalexpression almost overwhelming. Ironic,I thought, that this tubey-soundingspace was funded by one of the threefounders of semiconductor makerTexas Instruments, while the cold, sterile,analytical Avery Fisher Hall wasendowed by a man who made his fortuneproducing tubed electronics.The tubed CD-player output intothe C1000P solid-state preamp or thesolid-state CD-player output into theC1000T tubed preamp came closest toduplicating the sound I heard at eitherof the seats I occupied in McDermottHall (10th row center for the first half,dead center in the loge box for the secondhalf). When I ran the MusicalFidelity kW’s solid-state output intothe solid-state C1000P, the sound wasstill impressive, but some of the richnessI’d heard live was lost.McIntosh claims 130dB of channelseparation for this dual-mono, mirrorimagedesign. Judging by the spaciousnessof the sound, I’m sure JohnAtkinson’s measurements will back upthat claim.measurements, continued(fig.11), though at –88dB (0.006%) this won’t bother anyhuman listener. Intermodulation distortion was alsoessentially nonexistent at normal levels; I had to brutalizethe preamps by driving them close to clipping into 600ohms to get any significant evidence of high-order products(fig.12), and even then, the distortion productsremained at or below 80dB (0.01%)!The measured performance of these two McIntosh preamplifiersreveals some superb audio engineering, withno compromise evident for the tubed version apart fromsome slightly higher but still low noise levels and thatultrasonic RIAA error. It is very satisfying to measure suchproducts, and, as Mikey found, equally satisfying to listento them.—John AtkinsonFig.11 McIntosh C1000P, balanced spectrum of 50Hz sinewave, DC–1kHz,at 10V into 600 ohms (linear frequency scale).Fig.12 McIntosh C1000P, balanced HF intermodulation spectrum,DC–24kHz, 19+20kHz at 15V peak into 600 ohms (linear frequencyscale).www.Stereophile.com, August 2006 6