McIntosh C2500 Vacuum Tube Pre Amplifier

The C2500 tube preamplifier combines the legendary McIntosh vacuum tube preamplifier circuitry with a full suite of contemporary features and technology.

A total of 15 inputs – including two dedicated phono (1 Moving Magnet and 1 Moving Coil) and five digital – offers you ample connections to kee​p all your legacy and modern sources connected, while six dual triode tubes will produce that romantic tube sound. The digital inputs will decode digital music at up to 32 bits and 192kHz for high resolution audio playback.

"The most versatile high-end preamp we’ve ever tested... a forward-looking, comprehensively equipped product that can easily form the heart of any top-end stereo set-up." - What Hi Fi

"The McIntosh C2500 and MC452 excel at spectacular dynamic expression, beautiful and accurate tonality, satisfying detail retrieval, and the recreation of a generous sound field." - Audio Esoterica

Tone controls may be assigned to individual sources as needed. Up to three stereo power amplifiers may be connected at one time; two of them can be switched on and off to simplify your whole house audio distribution. The Home Theater Pass Through feature allows for seamless integration into existing multi-channel theater systems. Our new internal High Drive headphone amplifier offers increased gain and output power, optimizing it for virtually all headphone types to ensure the most enjoyable personal listening experience.

"The C2500 sounds... as it looks – noble, elegant and without nervousness. It knows the reason for its existence, and it does its job well, producing a big, saturated and musical to the bone sound." - SoundRebels.com​

Not only does the polished stainless steel chassis look beautiful, but it shields the noise sensitive analog audio section from the power supply and control circuitry to provide the cleanest signal possible to your amplifier.

ELECTRONIC SPECIFICATIONS
TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION 0.08%
FREQUENCY RESPONSE +0, -0.5dB from 20Hz to 20,000Hz +0, -3dB from 10Hz to 100,000Hz
MAXIMUM VOLTS OUT (BALANCED / UNBALANCED) 16/8 V RMS
INPUT IMPEDANCE (BALANCED / UNBALANCED) 44K ohm, 22K ohm
PHONO VOLTAGE GAIN 60dB
HIGH LEVEL VOLTAGE GAIN 15dB
SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO 100dB
DUAL MONO POWER SUPPLY No
DUAL MONO, FULLY BALANCED No

CONNECTIVITY
BALANCED INPUT 2 Stereo
UNBALANCED INPUT 6 Stereo + 2 Phono
PHONO INPUT MOVING COIL 1 (adjustable)
PHONO INPUT MOVING MAGNET 1 (adjustable)
DIGITAL COAXIAL INPUT 2
DIGITAL OPTICAL INPUT 2
DIGITAL MCT (DIN) INPUT 0
DIGITAL USB INPUT 1 (2.0, 32/192 Asynchronous)
DIGITAL AES/EBU INPUT 0
BALANCED FIXED OUTPUT 0
BALANCED VARIABLE OUTPUT 3 Stereo
UNBALANCED FIXED OUTPUT 1 Stereo
UNBALANCED VARIABLE OUTPUT 3 Stereo
HEADPHONE OUTPUT 1/4" High Drive
RECORD PROCESSOR LOOP Yes
INPUT LEVEL MATCH Yes, +/- 6dB
HOME THEATER PASS THROUGH Yes

CONTROL
TONE CONTROLS Bass and Treble
TONE BYPASS AND INPUT ASSIGN Yes
RS232 CONTROL INPUT Yes, 9 pin
POWER CONTROL OUTPUT 1 Main, 2 Switched, 2 trigger
REAR PANEL DATA PORT 8
REAR PANEL IR SENSOR INPUT Yes

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
MULTI-CHASSIS OR SINGLE Single, two layer
OUTPUT METERS Yes
VACUUM TUBE OR SOLID STATE Tube, 6 ea. 12AX7a
POWER CONSUMPTION (ON) 50 watts

WEIGHTS & DIMENSIONS
DIMENSIONS (W X H X D) 17.5" (44.45cm) x 7.625" (19.37cm) x 18" (45.72cm)
WEIGHT 30.5 lbs (13.8kg)
SHIPPING WEIGHT 46 lbs (20.9kg)