McIntosh C22 Mk V Vacuum Tube Preamplifier

The McIntosh C22 Mk V is the fifth generation of the C22 vacuum tube preamplifier — blending classic McIntosh retro aesthetics with state-of-the-art analog circuitry. Successor to the celebrated C70 Limited Edition 70th Anniversary Vacuum Tube Preamplifier, the C22 Mk V continues a design lineage that goes back to the original C22 of the 1960s, when McIntosh preamps first defined what a high-end vacuum tube control stage should look and sound like.

Vacuum tube gain stages deliver the McIntosh tube preamplification character in a chassis whose visual language honors the company’s heritage — the mint-green faceplate lettering, the analog meter face, the exposed tubes visible through the top panel. Underneath the retro aesthetic, the C22 Mk V uses the same fundamental analog circuitry as the current McIntosh tube preamp range, delivering modern low-noise performance in a form factor a 1960s McIntosh owner would recognize.

At LMC the C22 Mk V anchors two installations, and they demonstrate different things. In Tempe Hall it is paired with the MC275 vacuum tube power amplifier and McIntosh ML1 Mk II loudspeakers as a complete McIntosh vintage-format system — the closest a listener can get to the McIntosh sound as it existed when the company was founded. In Scottsdale Hall it sits in front of a pair of MC1.25KW monoblocks driving Sonus faber Lilium, the same tube-preamplifier-into-solid-state-power configuration at reference scale.

At $7,500 in current McIntosh pricing, the C22 Mk V is available for audition in Scottsdale or Tempe. Balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA outputs to any McIntosh power amplifier; MM phono input for vinyl systems. Walk in during business hours or book ahead — hearing it in both halls is the honest demonstration of how far the C22’s character carries.