C22 rereleased

[frequentflyer]

I guess this was one of many famous McIntosh preamps.

McIntosh Reintroduces C22 | The Absolute Sound

[2fastdriving]

Wow! Interesting. I like it.

[Industrial]

Shame it doesn't have HT Bypass. Was seriously looking into it.

[Toobs]

Originally Posted by Industrial

Shame it doesn't have HT Bypass. Was seriously looking into it.

At the time the original c22 made its debut, there was no such thing as home theater. It is my belief that McIntosh wanted to stay true and not include a feature that was not in the original.

I think the c22 reissue is beautiful and I'm thinking of trading in my c220

[beowulf]

Comparing the specs from McIntosh's website ... For instance on the Signal To Noise Ratio specs:

C22 has 98dB,
C220 has 90dB,
C2300 has 93dB,
C500T has 93dB,
C500P has 100dB,
C2500 has 100dB.

Just a few questions ...

1. What is better when it comes to "Signal To Noise Ratio" higher or lower dB's?
2. Out of the preamps I have listed ~ which one of these has the best Signal To Noise Ratio and what makes them have different ratios to begin with?
3. And are we splitting hairs on these ratios or is this something that one can really tell a difference in comparison?

Thanks guys!

[TWiiii]

The higher the ratio the better, less noise. Everytime you add a piece of equipment in the analog chain you add noise. If you stay digital throughout there is very little increase. If two components have the same noise figure, the amp and pre-amp, by having two pieces the noise can climb as little as a few db to as much as 6db when combined. It just depends on where the noise is concentrated as to how the different nosies add together. And they don't add arithmetically, but geometrically. So if you have a 100 db pre-amp and 120 db amp the gain in noise will be a fraction of a db. Usually if noise of one unit is 15 db higher then it masks the noise of the other unit.

[Industrial]

Originally Posted by Toobs

At the time the original c22 made its debut, there was no such thing as home theater. It is my belief that McIntosh wanted to stay true and not include a feature that was not in the original. I think the c22 reissue is beautiful and I'm thinking of trading in my c220

Neither was DVD but it's listed on there. Just complaining as I kinda wanted one just for the ability to do most things from the actual preamp. I love all the buttons

[TWiiii]

If you will read about the C500, c200 and C100 you will see how design considerations can reduce the apparent noise of a preamp to be negligible when compared to an amp of a higher reading. Power supply design can create all sorts of noises usually confined to the bass, where resistors of older designs, capacitors, as well as all active devices, be they tube, or SS have inherent noise. Circuit design through out the piece in question can cause noise, too. One of my room EQ's requires a special low noise integrated circuit to meet specs and remain quiet. When one fails, and they have , in the future, I will have to replace the unit as the parts are no longer available.

[beowulf]

Thanks TWiiii. So just by Signal To Noise Ratios on the preamps listed above the new C22 Signal To Noise Ratio is better spec'd than the C500T and C2300 and almost on par with the C500T and C2500 correct?

[Stahle]

Isn't this the same exact c-22 as the 60th anniversary reissue, just without the 60th anniversary badge.