Mcintosh MC352 / 2102

Ljgj, thanks for your comments, I appreciate it! I listen mostly to classical, both large-scale and small-scale. So I guess the only thing the 2102 has against it are the accurate reproductions of crescendos and tuttis in symphonies, but it should be well suited to everything else. Is there anything else out there with regard to amplifiers in that price range or slightly above you could recommend to giving a listen?

It seems like we were in the same boat. I would recommend you to try out a tube preamp instead of changing out the MC352. I love my MC352, it is absolutely musical (my next upgrade maybe a MC501 or MC602). To get the type of three dimensional, harmonic rich sound that will draw you to the music; I have finally settle down with a BAT VK51SE preamp. I have the Levinson 380S preamp in my system for a few days. Nice but it did what you described, lots of detail but it did not draw me to the music. Then after a few more extended home auditioning of quiet a few other respectable preamps including BAT VK31SE (VK51SE is much better), Spectral DMC-30S (great combo by the way, after listen my friend like it so much he brought a MC602 to replace his existing amp), ARC LS25MKII, ARC Ref2 MKII, VTL 5.5, VTL 7.5, and each reproduce a certain aspect of sound better than the other except the flagship model from the same company is always better than the lower priced model, figure that!. It was a difficult choice for me. Bottom line is it all comes down to personal taste and I picked the BAT VK51SE and I have not regreted it since. Now I listen to music till 2 to 3 am in many many occasion, I felt like I was addicted. Try out a few of these preamps and I think you will find what you are looking for. If you want to take another huge step to further improve your system. Get a Virtual Dynamic Nite power cord and put it in your MC352, it is magical! A huge improvement. Mcintosh Amp love this cable, my friend who now own the MC602 and the Spectral DMC-30s combo has his jaw dropped to the floor when he heard the improvement of his system using this cable. Since then I wire my entire system with the Nite cable and my system is now sounding incredible. It has everything you describled about harmonic richness, three dimensional, and present but now it just has more of it. Good luck with your search, it is a fun journey.

Thanks for your reply. BAT only uses balanced inputs/outputs, though, and I have found that unbalanced runs preserve more musical textures (at least with the interconnencts/speaker cables I use, Transparent super, with your setup, its apparently totally different) than balanced ones, which tend to whiten and bleach out everything. But I'll definetely try your suggestion regarding the Virtual Dynamic Nite power chord.

The 380S is a great preamp. I use the Mcintosh C2200 tube preamp with my 352 to give it a more natural presentation. If you go to the 2102 the 380S will probably give you that same effect as the reverse tube/SS combo C2200/352. Very similar results in the end. I used a 38S with the 2102 but now use a Mcintosh C42 in that system.

Ljgj: I also have the Mac C-2200 pre-amp. It feeds a C. J. Premiere 11a tubed amp. I have a question. Do you use a balanced or single-ended cable between your CD player and the C-2200? I use a Nirvana SX Ltd. balanced cable for this, and wonder if single-ended would be more musical.