From McIntosh: a SACD player and a network amplifier equipped with a hard disk

McIntosh has unveiled two new devices. One of them is a SACD player, and the other is a music streaming player. Both are flagship models from the manufacturer.

The MCD600 is a SACD/CD player whose digital circuitry is built around an eight-channel and 32-bit DA converter. There are therefore four DA conversion channels per stereo channel. The player plays SACD and CD discs as well as home recordings and, thanks to the front panel connection, also USB sources. Supported file formats include, for example, aac, aiff, alac, dsd128, flac, mp3, wav and wma. The device upsamples PCM signals to 32-bit and 384 kHz quality.

Outputs include balanced and unbalanced connections. Both are available with fixed volume via the fixed connection and adjustable volume via the variable version, so the CD player can be connected to either the preamp or the main amplifier directly. Digital inputs and outputs are available both in optical and coaxial versions. The headphones do not necessarily require any additional equipment, as the device also includes a headphone amplifier.

The MS500 is an online music player that combines an online streaming service and a 500 GB hard drive in the same package. The hard drive is an SSD model, so there are no moving parts causing noise and distortion. There is also no fan in the device. The streaming services available are Deezer, Spotify, Tidal and Napster, and for online radio services there are Slacker, TuneIn and SiriusXM. You can set the online radio stations to presets.

The device also has a total of three USB ports through which you can connect external storage devices. You can also connect USB drives or other devices equipped with a USB dongle and USB connector to them. In that case, you can also set up a zone. The operating system is Linux-based. The device can be used with a remote control, a web browser, and an Android or iOS app.

The Finnish schedules and prices are not yet known. The reported US prices are $7,000 for the MCD600 and $6,000 for the MS500.

www.mcintoshlabs.com

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