McIntosh C33 Brochure

The C 33 Control Center is the
distillation of more than 30 years
of technological progress. High
Fidelity* described it as mind
boggling in its usefulness and
flexibility.
After all, its really two
preamplifiers; it includes:
— The most flexible, complete,
stereo preamplifier
— The most flexible, complete,
separate stereo recording
preamplifier
—The most flexible, complete,
program compressor and
expander that can operate in
either the listen or record
preamplifier
— High quality, high
performance distortion-free
five band tone shaping
controls that can be used in
either the listen or record
preamplifier
— High quality, high
performance monitor power
amplifier that protects your
speakers and your music with
the exclusive McIntosh Power
Guard and Sentry Monitor
Circuits.
Unique separate listen
and record facilities,
introduced and perfected
by McIntosh, permit
complete and independent
operation. Separate input
selectors, electrically isolated
from each other, provide non-
interference operation in both
the listen and record
preamplifier. Both listen and
record input selectors control
low DC voltages which in turn
control, electronically,
Field Effect Transistor Analog
switches. Because the FET
analog switches are located at
the input, noise, switch clicks
and pops are eliminated and the
potential for induced hum
pickup is close to zero.
You can record on 3 tape recorders
from any source and you can copy
from one tape recorder to another
while listening to a completely
different program. The program
being recorded can be monitored
easily with the monitor
pushbutton. A fourth tape deck
may be plugged into the front
panel without disturbing your
permanently wired system.
Suggested Retail Price $2299
Cabinet Extra
Five separate tone
shaping controls provide
musical spectra tone
shaping. Each control
adjusts two octave band
segments to satisfy your personal
preference or the demands of the
program material. At the detent in
the center of the rotation of each
control the equalizer circuits are
disconnected, completely removed
from the operating circuits.
McIntosh has pushed the barriers of
low noise performance with this
new totally shielded, direct input
connected phono preamplifier
section. Superior performance, even
in the presence of strong
interference fields, is assured by the
use of the steel exterior chassis plus
an inner shield enclosure of plated
steel, (shield removed here to show
circuits)
The McIntosh compandor
permits expansion or
compression of the
dynamic range of
program material.
Compressed recordings and
broadcasts can be expanded on
playback to restore dynamic
range. Tapes can be recorded
using compression and replayed
using expansion to increase signal-
to-noise ratio. The operating
ranges of the compandor are so
versatile that commercially
encoded program material can be
reproduced without the added
investment in other outboard
equipment.
Loudness controls in
ordinary equipment are
usually simple, passive
circuits connected to a
portion of the rotation
range of the volume control. As a
consequence, loudness
compensation accuracy is
dependent on many variables such
as speaker efficiency, amplifier
gain and differences in input level.
The C 33 loudness control is
continuously variable, operates
independently of the volume
control, and its contour is
accurately modeled after the
family of "Equal Loudness"curves
developed by Drs. Fletcher and
Munson.
The precision tracking
volume control, a step
attenuator, has channel
to channel accuracy
within 1 dB throughout
its entire rotation. Such extremely
accurate matching is achieved
through electronically controlled
trimming of the resistance
material deposited on pairs of
printed circuits. The accuracy of
the channel to channel balance
and the completely noise free
performance are permanently
maintained. Use does not affect
performance as in ordinary volume
controls.
The main circuit board in the C 33,
as with the other boards, is
constructed of military grade epoxy
fibreglas resin. The photo processed
circuit foils are protected from
excessive solder, potential short
circuits, and destructive circuit
bridging by an extra process,
screened solder resist. This is
another McIntosh practice to protect
your musical pleasure and the
unit's performance.

McIntosh C33 Specifications

General

Brand	McIntosh
Model	C33
Category	Amplifier
Language	English