Ok, so I think its time to admit I have an addiction. “Hi my name is Chris and I have a problem – I really love music and audio gear”. As you can see we are now traveling a bit outside of the classic Pioneer receiver space and moving into new uncharted territory. I was presented with an opportunity to buy a McIntosh C42 solid state pre-amp and a McIntosh MC162 solid state amplifier. As far as I can tell thus far the only problem with this equipment is a burnt out bulb in the amp just behind the McIntosh logo. The amp is on the small side for a McIntosh with a rating of 160w per channel at 4 ohms and 100 at 8 ohms with a THD of .005 – wow. These utilize balanced XLR cables between them and I admit that it has a super clean sound that is never tiring. The biggest downside is that it now has me shopping speakers, DACs and cables… Its the rabbit hole.. Unfortunately my day job has me working extreme hours but I hope to start the process of re-lighting the MC162 and of course I will document the process. I do not think that I will be doing any recapping on these as they seem to be in super shape and already sound terrific. Also stay tuned as I may be finding my way into some really extreme gear soon….
