Audio Score – Mcintosh C49 AC – Audio Components

AUDIO EXCELLENCE.
Moving over to the very important SOUND-section, I start with the technical specifications and audio excellence. The C49, like most of the Mcintosh products, is an excellently engineered piece of equipment. It shares most of its components with its bigger brother the C53, although it doesn’t offer the full feature set. The C49 is built in a one-box, though split alignment separating the power and analog sections from the digital ones. This reduces noise and interference significantly and leads to a Total Harmonic distortion of 0,005%.
The Signal to noise ratio for high level is 100 DB and even the MM number is above 80 coming in at 82. These numbers are truly high end and there is nothing to complain about. For Audio Excellence it receives a very high 8 out of 10, just short of fully balanced designs and true-multi chassis rivals.

DETAIL.
Next up is the level of detail in the sound and to keep it interesting, I am going to focus mainly on the DA1 DAC section here. The level of detail and positive sharpness the C49 pulls out of CD and SACD sources is simply astonishing. This is truly a step up from many other preamps in this prize range and I really missed something going back to other models. For detail, contours in bass and separation of instrument, the C49 also earns a very strong 8 out of 10. There are not many preamps, that have given me more in this regard.

IMAGING.
For imaging, I am giving it a 7 out of 10. No question, the preamp is dead-quiet and pulls out a very focused sound stage. However, rivals in this class can sound a little bit more rounded. This is personal taste and on a very high level, since there is not really anything to complain about. My go-to- imaging album is usually Billie-Eilish’s “When we all fall asleep…” and the C49 overwhelms me with its clarity, but not with its soundstage. It’s very good, but no excellent. Scaleurs tipp- check out Ilomino, close your eyes and turn it up a little. There should be a wall of sound surrounding you with this preamp.

BASS.
The bass is tight, grippy and punchy, never boomy, too little or too much. It earns a 7 out of 10.

OVERALL.
The audio score also has one more category which is called synergy. The sum of the 3 categories can either be the same score, better or worse. For the C49, simply due to the excellent DAC and phono section, it’s sound versatility and Mcintosh presentation is very strong in this regard. Not only does it have a little of that Mcintosh bloom and comfort, but it also combines it with a level of detail, which extremely rare and hard to beat. This makes the C49 a very consistent and coherent device, which demands a lot from its audio-teammates. Therefore, it earns an 8 out of 10.

TOTAL.
For the SOUND, the C49 comes in at 38 out 50.

The last category puts the C49 into some perspective. The C49 comes in around 5-6000 Euros or USD and is the current model. You can find it on the used marked with a 4 as a first digit, but that’s about it. This makes the C49 a high-End product, not only for the sound, but also for the price. However, if you have the Cash, short list it, test it and consider keeping it.
It is significantly cheaper than the bigger brother and sonically doesn’t disappoint in an A/B.
For price to Value it earns a 6 out of 10, which is massive for such a high-end two channel device.

Add it all up and the scores are 29+38+6= 73 out of 100.