The industrial design and build quality of the C500 is excellent and is as one would expect with a current flagship piece in a mature premium product line, The C500's sound quality is intoxicating and will please audiophiles and music lovers alike, The C500's tube or solidstate option along with its quality MM/MC phono stage, single ended and balanced inputs and numerous setup options provide
My only soundquality related criticism of the C500 is that its midbass is slightly loose as noted above, Even though McIntosh has one unit above the C500 in its preamplifier lineup, this is a flagship product and it deserves a remote of commensurate quality. The remote included with the C500 does not measure up.
I could easily live with the McIntosh C500 in my stereo system for a very long time. The C500 combines several desirable sonic characteristics providing an accurate and detailed picture that is musical and non-fatiguing to listen to. At $12,000 it is a...
