McIntosh C-8

The C-8 was McIntosh's Professional Audio Compensator and preamplifier, sold in the mid-1950s as the companion to the McIntosh 60 basic amplifier. It had a bank of five bass (turnover) switches and five treble (de-emphasis) switches. They worked independently and cumulatively, which gave what the company described as "innumerable" compensation settings. The bass switches stepped the turnover from 1200 down to 280 cycles per second. The treble switches stepped the roll-off from 0 to -2 (the upper end of the roll-off curve is cut off in the surviving record).

Period advertising in High Fidelity (March 1957, p.20) called the C-8 and McIntosh 60 combination "the ultimate in listening pleasure," and called the C-8 itself "the Heart of True High Fidelity." The same ads list the price at $88.50. Later ads from 1957 describe the C-8 as providing "complete and precise audio control" and mention "exclusive McIntosh engineering features." The surviving copy doesn't say what those features were.

Outside its advertising in High Fidelity between 1955 and 1957, little independent documentation of the C-8 survives. No service manual, schematic, or measured review has been located. The record does show that the C-8 was a pairing piece - McIntosh positioned it as the control center for its 60-watt amplifier of the same era - and that its stepped, switch-based tone compensation was the center of the design.

Known specs from period advertising:

- Five bass (turnover) switches, 1200 to 280 cycles per second

- Five treble (de-emphasis) switches, progressive roll-off from 0 to -2 (upper range not documented)

- Bass and treble switches operate independently and cumulatively

- Price: $88.50 (1957)