McIntosh C 31V (circa 1988)

Name: McIntosh 31V
Brand: McIntosh

Little is documented about the McIntosh C 31V. Nearly everything known about it comes from a single source: an Equipment Profile by Leonard Feldman in Audio (February 1988, p.80). The magazine called the C 31V an audio/video preamplifier. Feldman's review, with measurements and listening notes spread across pp.67-68, is essentially the whole public record.

The review described an electronically switched ladder attenuator for the volume control. It was chosen so the control would not develop noise or intermittency with age. The preamp also used McIntosh's "Panloc" mounting arrangement, which let the entire unit slide out of a cabinet for servicing. Feldman was impressed by the absence of switching noise and background hum, and by what he heard as a clean, transparent sound. His measurements put signal-to-noise at 88 dB. That was enough, he noted, to take full advantage of the greater-than-90 dB dynamic range CDs offered at the time.

That is all that survives in the period record. No production years, original price, full specification sheet, or owner/service literature have surfaced, and the C 31V does not appear in McIntosh's better-known catalog history. If you own one, or have an original manual, brochure, or ad, the Archive would welcome the details.

Type: Audio/video preamplifier (per Audio's equipment profile listing)
Volume control: electronically switched ladder attenuator
Mounting: "Panloc" slide-out cabinet system
Measured S/N: 88 dB (Audio, February 1988, p.68)