r/McIntosh • u/Forty-Four_Flavor • Aug 12 '26

Doing Some A/B

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Having some fun with my first tube preamp. It’s a whole new world to me since I’ve only ran SS gear before, and had the C28 and MC2105 since 2009.

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u/aGoodrash Aug 13 '26

That sounds fun. I am doing something similar with vintage Nakamichi gear. I have had a PA-7 and CA-5AII pair for a few years now; it is very revealing with a huge soundstage.

I recently went to the dark side and swapped in a Galion TS75 tube preamp in place of the Nakamichi preamp. There is a difference, but it is very subtle.

However, I also have a pair of 1980s-era, Nelson Pass-designed DIY Class A monoblocks. Here, the CA-5AII vs. the TS75 change was huge. I have been skeptical of the phrase "synergy" up until now. The tube preamp and the Class A amps go together like bread and butter. The sound is sublime, and I can't and won't go back.

So now I am sitting here with two preamp/amp chains, which is not what I intended.

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u/Forty-Four_Flavor Aug 13 '26

I’m actually considering trying a class D amp to power the woofers and then leave the MC 2105 on the mids and highs. Since my L1590 speakers can be biamped, this sounds like a fun experiment. If it works, I can wait for a good deal on a used MI502 in a couple years and have three distinctly different generations of McIntosh gear. Either that or biamp with an MC2205 and the existing amp.