After almost two weeks of listening, I've got a little bit of a followup:
1) I don't know why the bass in my music is better. Is it due to the ref 6 or the use of the DAC on the XMC-1? With the C2600, I was using the built in DAC, and maybe its equalizer isn't as capable as the XMC-1? I wish I had tested A-B. That being said, I really, really like how everything currently sounds. The music that needs a punch (Tchaikovsky, Dvorak) gets what it needs. The stuff that doesn't (Mozart, Chopin) is crystal clear. Super happy.
2) I ended up setting up my home theater bypass/processor through the SE connections on the XMC-1 and Ref 6 for TV/movies. For everything else (stereo music), I send it through the balanced connections (which on the XMC-1 are actually fully balanced). Now I can use the XMC-1 as my DAC for all devices, including my new M50.2 server/streamer.
3) Audio research never got back to me on the mute thing, but I figured it out anyways. On the Logitech harmony application, make sure you tell the system to keep the Ref 6 on while switching between activities, and then on the power on commands, add mute.
4) I rarely need to turn the volume past 25 on the ref6. The only source which needs higher volume is my M50.2, but it's also the only source going to my DAC via Toslink. I'm going to switch it to a different input that might have a higher dB. In any case, this allowed me to set the speaker amps to a lower setting and get really quiet backgrounds on all of my music.
So, I can definitely say that while the McIntosh preamps are more convenient, the Ref 6 sound quality was worth the upgrade for me. If you do as I did and get a system used, you can save yourself a nice chunk of change.
1) I don't know why the bass in my music is better. Is it due to the ref 6 or the use of the DAC on the XMC-1? With the C2600, I was using the built in DAC, and maybe its equalizer isn't as capable as the XMC-1? I wish I had tested A-B. That being said, I really, really like how everything currently sounds. The music that needs a punch (Tchaikovsky, Dvorak) gets what it needs. The stuff that doesn't (Mozart, Chopin) is crystal clear. Super happy.
2) I ended up setting up my home theater bypass/processor through the SE connections on the XMC-1 and Ref 6 for TV/movies. For everything else (stereo music), I send it through the balanced connections (which on the XMC-1 are actually fully balanced). Now I can use the XMC-1 as my DAC for all devices, including my new M50.2 server/streamer.
3) Audio research never got back to me on the mute thing, but I figured it out anyways. On the Logitech harmony application, make sure you tell the system to keep the Ref 6 on while switching between activities, and then on the power on commands, add mute.
4) I rarely need to turn the volume past 25 on the ref6. The only source which needs higher volume is my M50.2, but it's also the only source going to my DAC via Toslink. I'm going to switch it to a different input that might have a higher dB. In any case, this allowed me to set the speaker amps to a lower setting and get really quiet backgrounds on all of my music.
So, I can definitely say that while the McIntosh preamps are more convenient, the Ref 6 sound quality was worth the upgrade for me. If you do as I did and get a system used, you can save yourself a nice chunk of change.