I’d look at the big picture. If you can set your speakers up properly that’s a big plus. If you have one in a corner and another in a hallway, you might see tonal differences but don’t expect miracles. If you have great setup and amp you can hear changes in cables. Do it methodically. Foundation up. I’d go with the McIntosh it’s a solid piece- just keep in mind that lots of people collect McIntosh for all kinds of reasons (not only sonics) so that can skew the price to performance ratio.
$7000 preamp vs $700 receiver - Is the difference THAT significant?
Current setup:
Marantz SR5005 (AV Receiver) + Peachtree Amp 500 + BluSound Node 2i + GoldenEar Trition 2+ = Current Setup
I'd like... no, want... no, desire... to add "Blue Meters" to my setup. McIntosh haunts me. For dozens of years.
My quandary:
Acquire a McIntosh C52/53, maybe C2600/2700... vs something like a Marantz AV7705 (or AV7706 appears it was just released). Yes I know I'm comparing brie cheese and cheddar. I'm more concerned with the notion that I can get "as good" sound out of that Marantz preamp, as I can from those McIntosh units... (ignore the multi-channel notions for the moment)
Is my sonic happiness "that much better served" by a McIntosh $7K unit vs a Marantz $2-3K unit? How much difference can I expect?
Marantz SR5005 (AV Receiver) + Peachtree Amp 500 + BluSound Node 2i + GoldenEar Trition 2+ = Current Setup
I'd like... no, want... no, desire... to add "Blue Meters" to my setup. McIntosh haunts me. For dozens of years.
My quandary:
Acquire a McIntosh C52/53, maybe C2600/2700... vs something like a Marantz AV7705 (or AV7706 appears it was just released). Yes I know I'm comparing brie cheese and cheddar. I'm more concerned with the notion that I can get "as good" sound out of that Marantz preamp, as I can from those McIntosh units... (ignore the multi-channel notions for the moment)
Is my sonic happiness "that much better served" by a McIntosh $7K unit vs a Marantz $2-3K unit? How much difference can I expect?