I had this preamp with DNA 0.5 power amplifier, it was ok, nothing to get excited about, I found it kinda cold, it had its moment, but overall character was cold.

Would I recommend this to anyone, well if the price is right, yes, but I would not pay alot for it.

The kind of sound TLC offers is transparent yet unfocused, active mode was better then the passive as it offered better dynamics in active mode.

There are better preamps available, just have to do a proper search and read reviews, specially here on audio review site.

The proverbial straight wire with gain but offering switching abilities. Build & parts quality.

None at this price point. Best passive preamp I have heard and no doubt contributed by the quality of the volume pot.

This is the closest you may get to a straight wire with gain & the shortest signal path leads you to audio nirvanna more quickly. Even if your love tubes, the TLC-1 is an excellent alternative providing an uncolored, neutral sound. I was very surprised at the dynamics it produced but naturally the source & power amp will also play an important role. I tried it on both a Belles 150A reference & a McCormack DNA-1 with excellent results. I tried both passive & buffered (buffered gives a slight more gain between the two) but I like the passive output for the best for resolution, transparency, & detail but both outputs are close. For what the TLC-1 does so superbly right I have no choice but to give it high marks.

Similar Products Used:

Other passives & many other preamps, too numerous to list.

The sound is very sweet and warm, almost tube-like. It clearly was designed to be as transparent and uncolored as possible, and does a good job of it. Build quality is very good. Design and controls are very straightforward and simple.

No remote or balanced input/output (RCA only). Single pair of outputs makes bi-amping tricky.

At full retail price, this unit has long been considered one of the great values in audio. You can find them on the used market these days for <$500, which is an unsurpassed bargain for anyone looking for a two channel music-only system. Modifications and upgrades are available from the original designer, who sold the company several years ago. I have auditioned preamps costing $2k - $3k that are no significant improvement over the TLC-1.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom, Rotel, Parasound, NAD, Creek, BAT, Krell, Classe, Bryston, PS Audio

Everything but the one weakness (for lazy people or those without other newer components)...

No remote control. But this can be circumvented by purchasing a CD player, transport, or DAC that has remote functionality.

Believe all the hype. This is the real deal. I had read for years about the transparency and true reproductive qualities of this classic, and it is all true! Simple, clean, detailed, spacious, even a 5 year old can use it (my daughter stresses me when she starts playing it thought!), and available in the used market for cents on the buck compared to when new. Nothing comes close in its new or used price range. 10 year old technology and construction that I intend to keep a lifetime!

Similar Products Used:

Luxman, Denon, Arcam, and Dynaco. The Dynaco was good, but the McCormack was clearly much more accurate!!!

Very open and neutral sound without the harshness associated with solid states. You'll have to spend way more to beat the sound quality of this little gem.

No remote; may be a little bit too soft-sounding in passive mode.

The TLC-1 sound can be characterized as very neutral and open, acting like, well, a totally passive unit; however, the sound in passive mode is slightly lacking in dynamics specially in the lower frequencies. For the price though, it is very hard to fault this equipment.

Similar Products Used:

Classe, Parasound, Onkyo, Denon.

mostly all strengths here!

see below

there are some better pre amps out there, ok..
but expect to start paying 2,000 and much more.
audio research, (not all), but some of their models
are simply the best on the planet.
but you combine a typical audio research pre and power
and your bill is over 6,000 +++ to start.
imagine the cables and speaker wires only costing
another grand for such a system. now that is class 1,
albeit none.

so, for us with less moola available, i want to recommend
STRONGLY what VALUE is in today's sick sick world.
TLC is the PREAMP to get, if you can find it at about
1,200 or so.. this amazing pc of work, is ALL PASSIVE
VOLUME CONTROL, thats right, you are paying half that
money for a vol. control. before you try to become
an engineer, LISTEN to it, and compare it the best
you CANNOT afford...

do you see what i mean by value now? you are geting
at least 80% of the big guys sounds for about 1000 bucks!
yes, this amp can also be activated as a line amp,
but its mostly a buffer amp, with very tiny gain.
most people upon months of comparison will probalby
pick its passive mode.

its not only pristine CLEAN (as far as a pot, and
transistors go) but, it is capable of givng you
very uncompressed n/s or e/w..horiz or vertical
dynamic range, and almost 3 D spacing of indiviadual
instruments. you are hard pressed to find a VALUE
power amp for this one...

their own dna series are well matched, but you may
wish to put ina bit more money to get a better
power amp for this pre amp.

the pre amp is almost a class 1 (subjectively as well
as from various tests, client reports, field experience
installations, reviews of IAR, etc etc etc...) and
the DNA series are a notch down at about class 2.
however, no fear...they do mix and produce
WONDERFULLY RELAXING music that
you can listen for many hours a day if you wish.

i would recommend sticking to PHASE accurate designed
speakers, which are TOO few in todays world..
wilson and spica did make those...wonderfully
accurate 3 D devices.. vandersteen is your current
day bet...of course, match and play what you chooose,
these are only my honest opinions.

may you have peace.

Similar Products Used:

many..over 30yrs now..

Associated Equipment:Wadia 23 CD Player (note: higher gain than usual)
ARC SP14 (as reference)
Bi-Amp: Audio Analyse A9 (mid/high) & McIntosh MC2205 (low)
Speaker: Alon V (Tri-Wirable), Spendor BC1
Cables: Nirvana SL (CD-Pre), JPS SuperConductor (to A9); Sliver Streak (to McIntosh), Cardas Golden Cross Speaker Cable (bi-wire from A9), AudioQuest M4 (single from MC2205)
Sonex diffuser

Have been using TLC-1 for about 9 months and has always enjoyed the transparent, clear, detailed & most importantly "clean" music which is very easy to listen to in my small music room of 8'X10'. Note the higher gain than usual output from Wadia and high power per channel from the 70W Class 'A' A9 plus 200W MC2205 which may not be your usual set-up.

With the BC1, the midrange is fabulous but lacking in bass and with the Alon IV, it is more dynamic (and hence involving) with greater extensions in all frequencies but the midrange is not as sweet.

Switching to the SP14, the Alon IV really starts rocking with full extensions in frequencies but the midrange suffers as it become almost too detailed in comparision with the TLC-1.

In summary, TLC-1 is an excellent value for money for musicality and mid-range excellence but restricted by careful matching with high gain source, low impendence amp and sensitive speakers while the significantly more expensive SP14 is less demanding on matching and a full range performer.

Apologies for any double posting of this......
Following my purchase of the DNA.5, I suppose it was inevitable that I had to hear the TLC-1. Local dealer went out on a limb to get me one though he is not a McCormack rep (yet!) after lending me a Parasound HP850 to allow me to use the DNA.5 at home (all bought to replace my aging but much loved Naim Nait 2, so I had no pre-amp when I bought the DNA.5). Having used the Parasound successfully with the DNA for over a month I was in no hurry to change, figuring the pre-amp was not going to make much difference to the sound, and furthermore, that among manufacturers, Parasound were likely to provide a fairly clear signal path since they are well respected. So what use would spending and extra $600 on a preamp (without phono) do? Wow, hold that thought. The TLC-1 went in, and it never went out again. It was like night and day. Music opened out at the top end, clarity, presence, call it what you will suddenly seemed to appear. And this was in the buffered mode. After a few days I switched to the passive inputs on the TLC-1, probably to slight improvement, but it's a close call to my ears. Either way, I just plain gave up wanting to fiddle and change inputs to test this as I am delighted with the sound as is, even though the TLC-1 has no phono input for my beloved Rega 3. Can you figure that a vinyl junkie would buy such a pre-amp and pay $1000 for it? Well I did and I have no regrets. With the DNA.5 this is a very sweet combination and finishes my search for a replacement and upgrade for my amp. This pair is for the foreseeable future. For those who say amps don't make a difference, well, I am an experimental psychologist by training and an arch skeptic when it comes to claims of subjective reviewers and I didn't need an ABX test here to convince me of the sonic improvements (though I happily use such tests with cables etc) . My only wish is that McCormack would make a preamp for people like me who just want a cd and phono stage, with a selector switch and volume control + remote. I don't want tape inputs or tuner or home theatre compatibility - I am a straight audio guy and sort of resent paying for all this other capability. Still, the music is bliss....now onto speaker searches.

Associated gear - Rotel 945 cd, Kef 103/2s (next to go) joined by MIT Terminator 3 (loaner from dealer) from CD to Preamp, Kimber PBJ pre to power amp, and Kimber 4tc speaker wire.

Following my purchase of the DNA.5, I suppose it was inevitable that I had to hear the TLC-1. Local dealer went out on a limb to get me one though he is not a McCormack rep (yet!) after lending me a Parasound HP850 to allow me to use the DNA.5 at home (all bought to replace my aging but much loved Naim Nait 2, so I had no pre-amp when I bought the DNA.5). Having used the Parasound successfully with the DNA for over a month I was in no hurry to change, figuring the pre-amp was not going to make much difference to the sound, and furthermore, that among manufacturers, Parasound were likely to provide a fairly clear signal path since they are well respected. So what use would spending and extra $600 on a preamp (without phono) do? Wow, hold that thought. The TLC-1 went in, and it never went out again. It was like night and day. Music opened out at the top end, clarity, presence, call it what you will suddenly seemed to appear. And this was in the buffered mode. After a few days I switched to the passive inputs on the TLC-1, probably to slight improvement, but it's a close call to my ears. Either way, I just plain gave up wanting to fiddle and change inputs to test this as I am delighted with the sound as is, even though the TLC-1 has no phono input for my beloved Rega 3. Can you figure that a vinyl junkie would buy such a pre-amp and pay $1000 for it? Well I did and I have no regrets. With the DNA.5 this is a very sweet combination and finishes my search for a replacement and upgrade for my amp. This pair is for the foreseeable future. For those who say amps don't make a difference, well, I am an experimental psychologist by training and an arch skeptic when it comes to claims of subjective reviewers and I didn't need an ABX test here to convince me of the sonic improvements (though I happily use such tests with cables etc) . My only wish is that McCormack would make a preamp for people like me who just want a cd and phono stage, with a selector switch and volume control + remote. I don't want tape inputs or tuner or home theatre compatibility - I am a straight audio guy and sort of resent paying for all this other capability. Still, the music is bliss....now onto speaker searches.
Associated gear - Rotel 945 cd, Kef 103/2s (next to go) joined by MIT Terminator 3 (loaner from dealer) from CD to Preamp, Kimber PBJ pre to power amp, and Kimber 4tc speaker wire.

I'm now the proud owner of a McCormack DNA.5 Deluxe and TLC-1 combo and am very pleased with both. Forget the sweet spot, which I'll get to later, I'm constantly being drawn back into the room by the engaging transparency of the music - yes, it's transparent from the next room!.
From the sweet spot - I've ABXed the buffered and passive outputs and found the following to be true. Buffered gives more life to the music, if a high energy piece of music is being played, but it loses some presence i.e. where the musicians are placed in the soundfield. Passive has soundstaging and transparency in spades, the speakers get lost, but the energy heard in the buffered section is missing. I prefer passive for my listening, primarily jazz and soft rock.

The interconnect between the two is fairly important, I use a Tara Prism 22 to good effect. The more neutral the better. I think the music source, CD or turntable, will be very important as its character will be fully revealed, I use a Cal Labs DX2.