$8500

A standing rebuke to the folly of minimalism and the snobbishness of those who insist that only separates can scale the peaks of audio artistry, McIntosh’s C53 preamplifier replaces a whole shelf-full of components, rolling a state-of-the-art linestage, phonostage, DAC, equalizer, and headphone amp into a single elegant, albeit large box, with no compromises in performance. With 16 inputs and three outputs, the C53’s connectivity is unrivaled, its DAC supporting every popular digital format (including all DSD and PCM hi-res formats, excepting MQA), plus an ARC HDMI input that correctly decodes and mixes down movie and TV sources for those who demand first-class AV reproduction through their two-channel setups. Its two phonostages, one each for mm and mc, with loading and capacitance options that will match almost every pickup out there, are good enough to obviate the need for separates. In addition to all this, the C53 offers battleship construction and looks that just radiate class, taste, and timeless style. One of PS’s reference preamplifiers. (315)