The MX 117 ia combination of the McIntosh C504 preamplifier and MR 75 tuner. Interestingly, the C504 and MX 117 employ the only McIntosh phono section with an input capacitance of 50 pf, rather than their standard 65 pf. The combination of self iluminating face plate and manual tuning dial glowing green is visually impressive.

Since the MX 117 is a relative dark horse in the McIntosh preamp family I was able to score my 1981 model for $400 at a local A/V thrift store. I had been using an Adcom 565 for quite a while, and though I love that units input/output flexibility and extremely low noise floor, its tendency toward the extreme side of analytical was beginning to grate on me - in particular while listening to CDs. I was not disapointed by the MX 117. Warm, smooth, detailed without being analytical. I had previously owned a C 26 preamp, and though cool to listen to, really had little to do with quiet, and was archaic in terms of in/out capability. Not this unit, it has everything that I realistically need for two channel. And the phono section - OMFG! So quiet, so warm, so... BIG! It plays extremely nice with my Shure v 15 type 5 MR. What are CDs, again?

Strengths:

Extreme build quality, that green glow, phono input to die for.

Weakness:

No tone bypass/input direct option. When switching from Aux to Phono the selector takes you past FM for a brief blast of that depending on volume setting.

Similar products used:

McIntosh, Adcom, NAD, Marantz