The C1100 preamplifier from McIntosh has, say the company, “high level inputs having the lowest noise of any McIntosh preamplifier ever produced”. It utilises a two-chassis design where the control and power sections are completely separate from the audio section.

The C1100 is comprised of the C1100 controller and the C1100 vacuum tube preamplifier. Inside each, the left and right channels are electrically and mechanically isolated from each other to allow true dual mono operation. The two units are connected together via a pair of specially designed umbilical cables that are shielded. While they are two separate units, when connected they act as one and are easy to control and operate from the included remote control or the C1100 controller front panel.

All power control, data ports and external control connections are located in the C1100 controller; the introduction of a dual microprocessor allows for an improved robustness of the control system. The C1100 vacuum tube preamplifier houses the audio connections and circuitry, featuring a total of 12 analogue inputs: 6 balanced, 4 unbalanced, plus an adjustable loading Moving Magnet and a Moving Coil phono input.

For outputs, 2 sets of balanced and 2 sets of unbalanced connections provide flexibility in connecting to your amplifier. Twelve vacuum tubes (6 each of 12AX7a and 12AT7) power the tube preamplifier. Compared to the C1000 preamplifier which had 8 tubes, the additional 4 tubes in the C1100 lowers its dependency on any solid-state support. The amplifier circuit has much higher common mode rejection, so any noise introduced by interconnect cables is significantly reduced. For personal listening, the headphone jack features a higher output than any of their other preamplifiers and uses Headphone Crossfeed Director (HXD^®).The Home Theatre Pass Through feature allows for integration into your existing multi-channel home theatre system. 

The C1100 preamplifier employs fully balanced circuitry and has the classic McIntosh black glass front panels, blue meters, knobs, stainless steel chassis, illuminated logos and custom machined brushed aluminium end caps.