Предусилители — McIntosh C8

The McIntosh C8 is a stereo tube preamplifier which also carries its own phono section, with one input for MM and one for MC cartridges. Four 12AX7a tubes do the amplification work, and each sits inside a protective cage on the top of the chassis. Bass and treble tone controls, a remote control and a 6.3 mm headphone jack complete the front panel feature set.

Key specs that matter

Line sources connect through one balanced and two unbalanced analog inputs, with sensitivity of 900 mV balanced and 450 mV unbalanced and input impedance of 44,000 ohm balanced and 22,000 ohm unbalanced. Voltage gain is 15 dB for the high level inputs, 55 dB for moving magnet and 75 dB for moving coil. Phono sensitivity is 4.5 mV for MM and 0.45 mV for MC. Maximum output reaches 16 V RMS balanced and 8 V RMS unbalanced. Frequency response is +0, -0.5 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz and +0, -3 dB from 15 Hz to 100 kHz. Total harmonic distortion is 0.08 percent. Signal to noise ratio is 95 dB for the line inputs, 80 dB for MM and 75 dB for MC. The chassis measures 31.2 x 19.4 x 41.3 cm and weighs 8.2 kg.

Engineering and use context

Both phono inputs have adjustable loading, so a single unit can serve a turntable with either cartridge type without an external phono box. On the output side there is one balanced and two unbalanced pairs, and one of the unbalanced outputs can be set up as a subwoofer feed. The headphone socket is labelled High Drive. A tone bypass function removes the bass and treble circuit from the path, and input assignment lets the owner rename inputs. Home Theater Pass Through allows a surround processor to use the C8 inputs at a fixed level. Power control ports switch other McIntosh components on and off with the preamplifier, and two rear data ports pass remote commands on. A user selectable Auto Off feature shuts the unit down after 30 minutes. The analog design can be extended with the optional DA2 Digital Audio Module, which brings seven digital connections, namely two coax, two optical, USB, MCT and HDMI ARC. The DA2 is built around a quad balanced, 8-channel, 32-bit converter and handles DSD512 and DXD up to 384 kHz.

Pairing

The balanced output with its high output ceiling suits a McIntosh power amplifier with balanced inputs, while the unbalanced outputs cover amplifiers with RCA sockets. Record players plug straight into the matching phono socket without a separate phono box, and a disc transport or streamer with digital output fits once the DA2 module is installed.

Alternatives

The McIntosh C2800 is another vacuum tube preamplifier from the same company.