Mcintosh MC500 or Accuphase P800

Hey Blueskywalker glad you like your Mc500, I had one for 12 years. Never had any issues, not even a bulb and I listened to it all the time. If you ever get a preamp itch the Mcintosh c100 is a real winner, it was paired with my Mc500, excellent match.

Hi Blue, the c100 is a transistor two chassis preamp from the late 1990s. It was the predassessor to the c200, c500, and c1000 preamp. Never tried the cinema preamps but heard good things. Your c46 is more than likely as good as the cinema preamps in two channel mode. Traded my Mc500 for a pair of 1.2kws.

I have toyed with the idea of tubes but never followed through. It seems that once people try tubes they always incorporate them somewhere in the chain from then on. I don't think you could go wrong trying a tube preamp as they sell quickly if you don't enjoy. Yes there's a big difference between the 1.2s and the mc500 as there should be for the price difference! That being said I could easily live with another mc500 or maybe two biamped or ran as monoblocks.