McIntosh C500 manual

C500 Owner ’s Manual McIntosh Laboratory , Inc. 2 Chambers Street Binghamton, New Y ork 13903-2699 Phone: 607-723-3512 F AX: 607-724-0549 Controller/Preamplifier/T ube Preamplifier[...]

2 IMPOR T ANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS! PLEASE READ THEM BEFORE OPERA TING THIS EQUIPMENT . W ARNING - TO REDUCE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRICAL SHOCK, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS EQUIPMENT T O RAIN OR MOISTURE. The lightning flash with arrowhead, within an equilateral triangle, is in- tended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” wi[...]

3 Customer Service T echnical Assist ance Please T ake A Moment Thank Y ou Copyright 2007 © by McIntosh Laboratory , Inc. The serial number , purchase date and McIntosh Dealer name are important to you for possible insurance claim or future service. The spaces below have been provided for you to record that information: Y our decision to own this [...]

4 Import ant Information W ARNING: The McIntosh C500 is a two chassis design, with separate Preamplifier and Controller chassis. There are custom interconnecting cables and custom chassis sockets used to connect the two chassis together . Use ONL Y the custom interconnect cables supplied with the C500 to connect the chassis together . DO NOT connec[...]

5 • • • • • Dual Chassis with Dual Mono Design The Dual Chassis design completely separates all power supply , microprocessor and control circuits from the pure audio circuits for total noise isolation. T o further aid in channel isolation the circuitry for both channels is totally separate, physically isolated and shielded. The C500 inco[...]

6 The following dimensions can assist in determining the best location for the C500 Controller , C500 Preamplifier and C500 T ube Preamplifier . There is additional information on page 8 pertaining to installing the C500 System into cabinets. Dimensions 17- 1/2 " 44.45cm 4- 5/8 " 1 1.75cm 6" 15.24cm 17" 43.18cm 18- 3/8 " 46[...]

7 Dimensions 17- 1/2 " 44.45cm 4- 5/8 " 1 1.75cm 6" 15.24cm 17" 43.18cm 18- 3/8 " 46.67cm 3/16 " 0.48cm 4- 13/16 " 12.22cm 1- 3/8 " 3.49cm 13- 1/4 " 33.65cm 17- 1/16 " 43.34cm Front V iew of the C500P Rear V iew of the C500P Side V iew of the C500P 5- 3/8 " 13.69cm 13/16 " 2.06cm 3" 7[...]

8 Dimensions, con’t 17- 1/2 " 44.45cm 4- 5/8 " 1 1.75cm 6" 15.24cm 17" 43.18cm 18- 3/8 " 46.67cm 3/16 " 0.48cm 4- 13/16 " 12.22cm 1- 3/8 " 3.49cm 13- 1/4 " 33.65cm 17- 1/16 " 43.34cm Front V iew of the C500T Rear V iew of the C500T Side V iew of the C500T 5- 3/8 " 13.69cm 13/16 " 2.06cm [...]

9 The C500C, C500P and C500T can be placed upright on a table or shelf, standing on their four feet. The four feet, may be removed from the bottom of the C500C, C500P and C500T when they are custom installed as outlined below . The four feet, together with the mounting screws should be retained for possible future use if the C500C, C500P and C500T [...]

10 Notes[...]

11 Rear Panel Connections Rear Panel Connections The identification of Rear Panel Connections for the C500 Controller , C500 Preamplifier and C500 T ube Preamplifier are located on separate folded sheets contained in the Owner ’ s Manual Packet. C500 Controller C500 Preamplifier C500 T ube Preamplifier Refer to folded sheet “ Mc1A ” C500 Cont[...]

12 This page contains information for connecting the McIntosh C500C to the C500P or C500T and to other audio compo- nents. The C500 has the ability to automatically switch power On/Off to McIntosh Source Components via the Power Control Connections. The Data Port Connections allow for the remote operation of basic functions using the C500 Re- mote [...]

13 19. Connect Cables from the External Sound Processor Left and Right Outputs to the C500 Preamplifier PROCES- SOR FROM LEFT and RIGHT Input Jacks. 20. Connect Cables from the Music Server Left and Right Outputs to the C500 Preamplifier Unbalanced SR VR (4) LEFT and RIGHT INPUTS Jacks. 21. Connect Cables from the Music Server Left and Right Inputs[...]

14 C500 Controller Front Panel Controls, Displays, and Push-Buttons BALANCE Control allows the adjustment of the relative volume levels for each channel and is used for setup functions RECORD Switch selects the program signals that are available to record from and is used for setup functions LISTEN Switch selects the program signals that are listen[...]

15 HEADPHONES jack accepts dynamic headphones METER indicates the Preamplifier’s Right Channel relative Out- put Level METER indicates the Preamplifier ’ s Left Channel relative Output Level C500 Preamplifier and C500 T ube Preamplifier Front Panel Displays and Jack HEADPHONES jack ac- cepts dynamic headphones METER indicates the Preamplifier ?[...]

16 Figure 6 2. Press the C500C Front Panel SETUP push-button once. The LED above the SETUP Push-button will illuminate and the Front Panel Display will indicate CONTROL- LER. The “Controller” is the first of the two main menus. The second main menu is named “Preamp” and will be accessed in step 5. Refer to figures 2 and 5. 3. Rotate the BAL[...]

17 Figure 7 The following listings indicate the Setup Menu Mode (Con- troller or Preamp), Menu Name, Default Setting and the page number for instructions on how to change a setting. Default Settings Menu Function Name Setting Page No. Control V ersion (C500 Firmware) _ . _ _ 17 Control Display (Brightness) 7 17 Control Remote (Control) HR061 17 Con[...]

18 Meter Illumination Figure 11 The Front Panel Meter Illumination of the C500P or C500T Preamplifiers may be switched Off. Follow the steps below: 1. Press the SETUP Push-button once to access the Setup Controller Mode unless the C500C is already in the Setup Controller Mode. 2. Rotate the MENU Control until the words “METER ON” appears. Refer[...]

19 Figure 16 The Rear Panel T rigger B Jack can provide either a 5 or 12 V olt Output when activated, with 5 V olts as the default. McIntosh Components with Power Control utilize 5 V olts; non-McIntosh components when connected to the C500C might required a higher voltage to switch them On or Off. T o change the output voltage to 12 volts follow th[...]

20 Dat a Port Assigment The Data Control Ports on the C500 Controller by default are assigned to control just one input (1 thru 7) on the Preamplifier . In the following example there are two McIntosh CD Players, one connected to the CD Balanced Input number 6 and the other CD Player connected to the CDR Unbalanced Input number 5 on the Preamplifie[...]

21 Setup, con’t 3. Rotate the SELECT 1 Control until the desired Input T itle to be changed appears in the Display , e.g. “D POR T CDR 5”. Refer to figure 29. 4. Rotate the SELECT 2 Control until the number 2 ap- pears in the Display , e.g. “D POR T CDR 6”. Refer to figure 30. Note: Connect a 1/8 inch S tereo Mini “Y” adapter to Data [...]

22 Accessory Control When the T rigger A or B Power Control Outputs on the C500 Controller are used, one of the T riggers may be as- signed to switched On or Off by using the ACCessory Push- button on the supplied Remote Control. T o select either T rigger A or B for remote operation, perform the following steps: 1. Press the SETUP Push-button twic[...]

23 Listen Processor The C500 Preamplifier has a Listen Processor Loop for connecting an external sound processor . The Listen Proces- sor may be assigned to be active for only those Inputs de- sired. T o activate the Listen Proccessor Loop and assign Inputs, perform the following steps: Note: If the Listen Pr ocessor is set active for a given Input[...]

24 The C500 allows the adjustment of the Moving Magnet Ca- pacitive Loading to accommodate a wide variety of car- tridge types and turntable/cabling combinations. The range of adjustment is from 50pf to 750pf in 50pf increments. T o change the capacitance from the default value of 50pf set- ting perform the following steps: 1. Press the SETUP Push-[...]

25 Setup, con’t and Setup Settings Chart s Nu m b e r D e fa ul t Ti tle N e w Ti tle T r im Le ve l D e fa ul t Da t a Po r t N e w D at a Po r t T r ig g e r S e le ct (A or B ) L i sten P ro c es so r ( O N o r OFF) Re c o r d P ro c esso r ( ON o r OFF) P a sst h ru Input 1D V D 1 2A U X 2 3T U N E R 3 4S R V R 4 5C D R 5 6C D 6 7D / A 7 8M M[...]

26 Remote Control Push-Buttons Selects one of the seven High Level Audio/V ideo Sources or Phono Input T urns AC Power ON or OFF to certain McIntosh Components when connected via the Data Port Adjusts the volume level up or down Selects Disc Player , Mu- sic Server or T ape Re- corder Functions and also performs various func- tions on a variety of [...]

27 automatic brief audition of each of the presets stored in the tuner memory . Press +10 a second time to stop on a station preset and exit the Review process. V olume Press the Up S or Down T VOLUME Push-button to raise or lower the listening volume level. Note: The Recor d Signals present at CDR and SRVR OUTPUTS ar e not affected by volume chang[...]

28 How to Operate the C500 Power On The Red LED above the ST ANDBY/ON push-button lights to indicate the C500 is in Standby mode and is connected to a live AC Outlet. T o switch On the C500, press the ST ANDBY/ON push-button. Refer to figure 64. The Al- phanumeric Display will indicate the last input listened to. If this is the first time the C500 [...]

29 How to Operate the C500 RECORD Selector has stopped. Refer to figure 66. Note: When the McIntosh MDA1000 is connected to the C500 Contr oller (refer to page 12) and the “D/A Contr ol” is active (refer to the Setup Contr oller Mode page 19) the LISTEN Contr ol and the INPUT Push- buttons ( W and X ) on the Remote Contr ol will step thru the a[...]

30 4. T o listen to the playback of the program source just re- corded, rotate the LISTEN Control to the desired input. Note: The C500 RECORD OUTPUTS ar e not affected by the VOLUME or BALANCE Contr ols. T o listen to a differ ent program sour ce while recor ding, turn the LISTEN Contr ol to the desired sour ce. The r ecor ding pr ocess will not be[...]

31 How to Operate the C500, con’t Trim Funct i on A dj us tme nt Figure Nu m b e r s I nput V ol um e T r i m + 6 dB to - 6 dB 7 5 a a nd b B a la n c e L e v e l (L e ft )107d B t o (Rig h t )107d B 76 Mono ( S ter eo) O n or O f f 7 7 a a nd b S pea k er 1 O n or O f f 7 8 a a nd b S pea k er 2 O n or O f f 7 9 a a nd b D i s p l ay 1 - 7 8 0 a[...]

32 Figure 87 Figure 85 Figure 89 Figure 91 Figure 88 Figure 90 Reset of Micropr ocessors In the event that the controls of the C500 stop functioning press and hold the ST ANDBY/ON Push-button. Three to four seconds later the Front Panel Alphanumeric Display will indicate “DETECT SYSTEM”; at this point release the ST ANDBY/ON Push-button. This w[...]

33 T echnical Description McIntosh Laboratory , the company who introduced the world’ s first amplifier that could be called “High Fidelity”, has done it again. The McIntosh Engineering S taff has cre- ated a Preamplifier without compromise, using the most ad- vanced McIntosh circuit design concepts. The C500 is the third generation of a two [...]

34 Figure 98 balance and freedom from control noise. The V olume Control on the Front Panel of the C500 is actually a special digital optical encoder . As the V olume Control is rotated, a beam of Infra Red Light is picked up by two in- ternal sensors as a series of digital pulses. Refer to figure 97. The number of and time between pulses are count[...]

35 to the unbalanced Inputs of the C500 are first converted to a balanced signal before they are amplified. In a similar man- ner the balanced audio signals are converted to unbalanced signals before they are available to the unbalanced outputs jacks. Moving Coil Pr eamplifier One of the popular types of Phono Cartridges for T urn- tables used toda[...]

36 Figure 104 problems electrically . By developing electronic circuits the meters are made to respond to short intervals with an accu- racy of 95%! T o permit the eye to see such high speed mo- tion, the electronic circuits that drive the meter pointer are time stretched. Special logarithmic circuitry allows the meter to indicate a 60dB plus range[...]

37 Frequency Response +0, -0.5dB from 10Hz to 40,000Hz T otal Harmonic Distortion 0.002% maximum from 20Hz to 20,000Hz Signal T o Noise Ratio High Level, 100dB Phono, 88dB Maximum V oltage Output 12V RMS Unbalanced (Spkr1 and Spkr2 Outputs) 25V RMS Balanced (Main, Spkr1 and Spkr2 Outputs) Output Impedance 220 ohms (Unbalanced and Balanced Outputs) [...]

38 Specifications C500 Controller General Specifications Power Requirements 100 V olts, 50/60Hz at 75 watts 1 10 V olts, 50/60Hz at 75 watts 120 V olts, 50/60Hz at 75 watts 220 V olts, 50/60Hz at 75 watts 230 V olts, 50/60Hz at 75 watts 240 V olts, 50/60Hz at 75 watts Note: Refer to the r ear panel of the C500 Controller for the corr ect voltage. O[...]

39 Packing Instructions Quantity Part Number Description 1 033838 Shipping carton only 4 033837 End cap 1 033836 Inside carton only 1 034414 T op pad (foam) 1 034301 Bottom pad 4 017937 Plastic foot 4 400159 #10-32 x 3/4” screw 4 404080 #10-7/16” Flat washer Packing Instructions In the event it is necessary to repack the equipment for ship- men[...]

McIntosh Part No. 04105400 McIntosh Laboratory , Inc. 2 Chambers Street Binghamton, NY 13903 The continuous improvement of its products is the policy of McIntosh Laboratory Incorporated who reserve the right to improve design without notice. Printed in the U.S.A.[...]