Mcintosh C26 Vintage Stereo Pre Amplifier Pro Restored!!!

Description

Hi Welcome to Another Outstanding Hifi Listing
A little info about the gear I offer…
I only select the best examples of vintage HiFi, from the late 60s to early 80s. This is considered by many to be the Golden Age of audio.
When you are lucky enough to find equipment from this period, it will often be damaged and have severe imperfections. This gear may have been sitting in an attic, basement or shed for the past several decades. In that time it may have accumulated dust, have liquids leak into it or even become the home of small animals.
None of the pieces I purchase and restore fall into that category. I hunt for the best examples and carefully select which will be given new life. Once selected, I start the restoration process, which can take weeks or months. After inventorying what needs to be replaced, high quality modern components are sourced from DigiKey, Mouser, PartsConnection etc. When the unit is electrically sound, it is thoroughly cleaned so that it looks as good as it sounds. I do not cut corners, this is a labor of love.
Up for sale, I have a beautiful restored classic and timeless Mcintosh C26 Preamplifier in excellent condition with some glass bubbling as its common with units of these vintage, light scratches and wear overall excellent condition. faceplate glass still displays very nice as seen in the pictures if new owner wishes to get glass replaced they are still available to order from mcintosh directly just contact their parts department.  More pictures available on request.
Some history of this unit…
I purchased the Preamplifier from the original owner locally. Once I had it on the bench, there were several issues these units being from the late 60s  are starting to suffer from severe leaking filter multisection capacitors and failing main rectifier diodes and the usual dirty controls which result in low audio output or channels that cut in and out.
All Parts that from experience working on these models I’ve seen fail were replaced this include diodes resistors and transistor even If the part is working I always replace them since its only a matter of time before they fail.
More than 60 hours went into the careful restoration of this Preamplifier.
I have a deep respect for vintage gear and do not cut corners in my work, once again truly a labor of love.
The full restoration performed on this Preamplifier includes the following:
1. Full electrolytic capacitor replacement using Nichicon Muse UKZ capacitors.
2. Any electrolytic capacitor rated at 10uf or less, has been replaced with Wima film capacitors.
3. Main Rectifier Diodes that are prone to failure were replaced with a more robust pair of soft recovery fast acting turbo diodes
4. The Power supply has been completely rebuilt with metal film military spec vishay resistors which are much more robust and lower noise than the original.
5. Known Problematic Zener diode has been replaced with a more robust component
6. The two main multisection filter capacitors were replaced with custom mutisection capacitors which use a stainless steel cylinder and contain higher quality power supply capacitors which are the same value as the original but higher voltage for longer longevity. These capacitors not only look better than the original but also preserve the original look the preamp! (See 6th picture for comparison of new vs old multisection capacitors before i replaced the second one)
7. Loudness control potentiometer which was not tracking properly was replaced with my last NOS (new old stock) mcintosh original i had
8. All incandescent bulbs were replaced with new correct type bulbs for continued performance and proper illumination
9. All factory service checks have been performed to spec.
10. Safety Capacitors in the main rectification circuit has been replaced with high quality Murata
11. All functions tested on bench and under load for a period of 24 hours. Then, factory specs were rechecked.
12. Performance test was carried out by a professional state of the art ultra low noise audio analyzer. both channels were checked at factory rated power THD of about 0.016% this is much lower than the factory rated spec of 0.1% for both channels quite impressive for a preamplifier from the 60s!
13. All Potentiometers, switches, rca inputs, and speaker connections were cleaned and conditioned with DeOxit D5 for prolonged life and protection.
14. Faceplate and knobs were removed and properly washed, cleaned, disinfected and hand polished. Light dust was removed from chassis with compressor and brush.
15. All solder points inspected and when needed reflowed. All solder work was performed with high quality Kester solder and professional Hakko equipment. This results in good solder work, no lifted traces or damage to the boards.
16. Adjustments and measurements were done with calibrated Fluke and agilent measurement instruments, Tektronix and siglent oscilloscopes and high end ultra low noise highly accurate Audio Analyzer among other professional audio repair tools.
17. The phono section was tested with a turntable for several hours.
18. Service bulletin update from factory has been performed
Final Notes….
How does it sound? Highly Detailed Powerful, Musical and warm tube like non fatiguing presentation
The impact of all the high quality modern replacement parts and audiograde capacitors combined with the complete rebuid of the power supply with low noise components has created a very transparent and sweet sounding preamp!
Music Reproduction is Highly Detailed, Bass is Deep and powerful, Vocals are realistic and instrument Separation is nice loudness control is very unique on this unit and is an absolute treat to use when listening at low volume levels which is achieved without bass compromise.
Mcintosh continues to be a leading company in the audio market to date and their designs are classic and timeless this unit is truly a masterpiece and it sounds just as good as the higher end units in the line i particularly like the c26 since being an early solid state preamp mcintosh were voicing them very warm in their early designs this gives you a very warm tube like sound which is super smooth and can be listened to for hours on end with no fatigue just like tube preamps also its much simpler design with less buttons and switches as the other units makes the audio path much less convoluted which in my opinion results in better sound
More than 60 hours of work have gone into this restoration. Mcintosh knocked it out of the park with this preamp it’s a beautiful piece of modern art Representing a special period in audio, i have taken all the extra steps to make sure this was a restoration worthy of the Mcintosh name and have gone to extra lenghts to preserve the original design and look for of the inside of the unit with custom multisection capacitors. it was a privilege to restore this unit for future generations to enjoy.
It needs to be noted that being an early solidstate preamp design as with all mcintosh units from this time period they can produce a slight speaker thump (this is normal) when powered on since there is no muting relay soft start circuit which was not introduced until the mid 70s that being said it is always recommended as with any modern or vintage gear that the correct powerup poweroff sequence is used powerup should follow the following order the source should be turned on then preamp and finally amplifier and the reverse should be done when powered off.
I will end this long explanation by saying owning a piece of vintage mcintosh audio equipment is very special and much more than its prestige and fame they are known the world over for their reliability and full gorgeous sound which are truly a privilege to listen to and own!
Terms and Conditions PLEASE READ IMPORTANT
As with any electronic device or appliance, both vintage and new, there is always a chance that something will fail. Even though new parts are used and all adjustments and care have been taken in the repair, this possibility exists. For that reason, any vintage or new device sold by me; is sold in AS IS condition and all sales are Final. My feedback speaks for itself and the amp will be packed professionally and shipped via FedEx, with signature required.
Thank you for visiting my listing! All sales are final! please read entire listing to see whats included. test equipment is used for reference and demonstration purposes and is not included in listing. Please ask any and all questions before submitting a bid or purchasing an item. Items will include free shipping only within continental U.S. I’m sorry, but at this time I do not offer international shipping. Please no international bids. Once again please check my other auctions, and don’t hesitate to ask any questions about the items. Thank you!