I also wondered why Mac stopped at a 4K tone control, especially given that some amps have filters to deal with
the almost inaudible very-high-end (above 10K), like the
Headroom Max headphone amp (I have one of these, too).
The Kharmas are fed by an Edge NL12.1.
I stopped using the Bass tone controls after the C46 broke in after a few days, and now only use the 4K one just a bit, like between the 9 & 10o'clock positions, and again,
just on some sharp rock or popular CDs. It's a necessary evil with this kind of music if you have revealing tweeters (I'm just guessing here... I've learned never to generalize too much with this stuff).

For what it's worth, a few years back I had a megabuck Levinson No. 32 preamp and was surprised when I took it out of the signal path to run my Accuphase DP75V CDP directly how much the preamp had degraded the sound (added some distance and shrunk images somewhat).

With the C46, I actually like the way it sounds vs. the EMM preamp, a nice friendly relaxing warmth, maybe blending images a little into the soundfield in a way that IMPROVES soundstaging to my ears but still not making things lifeless or dull at all. Sibilance and grain are also reduced. (And all of the above without using the tone controls at all.) Bass seems more satisfying, too; a strong and more "melodic" low end without being boomy or overbearing.

It seems really sensitive to what power cord is used. A TG Silver I had was OK, but things really sounded full and well-integrated (especially with bass-detail) with a Shunyata Anaconda Alpha (the old, non-helix version).

My only complaint is that you can't adjust the balance or defeat the tone controls from the remote. Also, you can't turn off (or turn down) the display temporarily while listening. And the headphone jack on the front is not a standard 1/4-inch one (and mine doesn't seem to work at all, but I really don't use it).

I would probably go with tubes but I don't like the heat and hassle of letting it warm up when I want to listen on impulse. I will probably keep the Macintosh for a long time.

rgs92 March 08, 2007 02:50

Yeah, on popular music my Kharma titanium tweeters can emit searing highs sometimes (never happens on classical, though). Turning down the 4k treble control is a real blessing, producing a nice warm sound with, to my ears, little to no loss of resolution. These are the best tone controls I ever used, by far. I once had a megabuck digital eqalizer and it made everything sound intolerably weird and lifeless, even with everthing set to flat. My friend's Behringer analog equalizer also sucks the life out of things terribly. But The C46's tone controls work really well. I also turn down the bass a bit (the 20K control) and that removed a trace of boom, with equally good results. FYI, I use 1 meter Kubala-Sosna RCA emotions between my pre & power, and 1 meter Stealth Indras (RCAs) from CD to the preamp. Thanks for the info, 'appreciate it.

rgs92 February 26, 2007 23:57

Any thoughts on using the tone controls on the C46?
Also, do the balanced inputs and outputs have any advantage? Thanks in advance from a fellow C46 owner.

rgs92 February 24, 2007 17:19