That’s their M.O. so to speak. Silver can be shrill, but keep playing through them because thats the best way to break them in. The benefits are detail and smoothness which can be very rewarding. Good luck.
I have a C28 and I think the phono stage is first rate. In fact, all Macs have excellent phono stages. Ive used a modified upgraded Jolida JD9 and a Schitt with my C28 and my C26 and in my opinion MAC pre either meets or exceeds both. I really don’t think you’re going to get a big boost from an...