Let’s face it. This isn’t a hobby that is known to attract the handsome and famous. You won’t see Megan Fox or Brad Pitt posing next to a pair of Martin Logan electrostatics, though it may be damned sexy if they did. Instead, the hobby tends to attract those whose physical form is more akin to that of either a pear or a toothpick. Not sexy. So like all disadvantaged creatures, we compensate for our lack of physical appearance in other ways. We buy nice gadgets, nice cars, nice homes, and bad ass stereo systems.

The only problem with the last bit is that there have only been a few times in recorded history where an audiophile was able to impress his/her potential mate with a hi-fi kit. By and large, the whole thing is an exercise in self indulgence. Only pre-ordained audiophiles seem to understand the testosterone flared sensation that often blows up the geek skirt whenever stacks of aluminum brushed components dominate a living space. While many o’ listeners get off to the visual spectacle, there are nonetheless a good number of enthusiasts who would rather enjoy their music on a system that is easy on the eyes and simple to operate. So in honor of those who err towards uncompromising minimalism, we are going to look at a top tier system that showcases what simplicity has to offer. 

From the USA, with Love

 

There’s something to be said for quality control and taking pride in your work. This holds especially true in a time when the outsourcing of production and labor has all but reached trend status. With so many companies unable to resist the allure of taking a bite of the proverbial offshore apple, it is nice to know that there is still a number of long standing manufacturers that continue to proudly craft their goods without resorting to cutting corners.

One of the finest examples of a company with unwavering consistency is McIntosh Laboratory. The name alone stands as an institution in the world of hi-fi. Practically every aspect of the development and manufacturing of its goods has been kept in-house throughout the company’s entire 60 year tenure in the business. This article will examine of two of McIntosh’s current flagship one-box components along with cabling from one of the most prominent cable manufacturers in North America, MIT Cable. 

The Components: A Closer Look

 

Before diving straight into the review, let’s first take a look at each of the components in this article.

McIntosh MCD-500 ($6500.00 USD)

$6,500 isn’t exactly chump change, especially for a CD/SACD player. Still, it is the price you will have to pay if you want to step into one of the best one-box digital sources to wear the McIntosh badge. So what makes this particular disc spinner so special (and expensive)? 

Part of that answer resides in the unit’s hand-built chassis, assembly by skilled technicians who are compensated fairly for their work, quality control checks by said technicians, and the inventorying of parts to ensure that these units will be serviceable for a solid decade or so after production. 

The other part of that answer resides within the units build quality, flexibility, and of course, performance. The whole driving force behind the MCD-500 is to be as transparent, quiet, and as linear as possible. To achieve this goal, McIntosh decided to use a differential balanced circuit to maximize efficiency and to reduce noise floor and distortion.  McIntosh then employs the impressive 24-Bit/192kHz Sabre DAC to extract every last ounce of resolution from a CD, which once placed in the tray, is read at twice the normal speed through a memory buffer before being clocked out to the DAC chip.

Throw in two sets of digital inputs, a hand-wound R-Core transformer,  a built-in headphone amplifier and jack, a built-in volume control, an impressively sturdy die-cast CD-tray, along with the option of using fixed or variable single ended and balanced output’s, and you’ve got a piece that truly has a lot to offer. So how does it sound? Balanced, Detailed, and smooth are a few adjectives that immediately spring to mind. I will delve further into the sound quality side of things later. For now, I will simply say that the MCD 500 is an excellent CD player that gives you the type of performance that you would expect to encounter at this price point.

McIntosh MA-7000 ($8000.00 USD)

Tipping the scales to nearly 100 pounds and outputting 250 clean watts per channel into 8, 4, and 2 ohm’s, the MA7000 current stands as the most substantial integrated that McIntosh has ever released. It is also one of the most expensive.  Yet as the common adage goes, ‘you get what you pay for’.

Tipping the scales to nearly 100 pounds and outputting 250 clean watts per channel into 8, 4, and 2 ohm’s, the MA7000 currently stands as the most substantial integrated that McIntosh has ever released. It is also one of the most expensive.  Yet as the common adage goes, ‘you get what you pay for’.

In a nutshell, the MA7000 is essentially a modified MC252 power amp with a high gain pre-amplifier circuit attached to it. The overall design is very ‘one size fits all’ by nature and hones in on the virtues of reliability, versatility, efficiency, operational silence, linearity, high current capacity, and the ability to sound great at both low and high volumes.  True to the McIntosh credo, no exotic parts or unorthodox circuits were used to achieve this goal. Instead, the New York based company differed to its tried and true class A/B circuit along with the numerous technologies it has developed and refined throughout the past decade.

A lot of time and resources were used to develop the unique circuits that keep the MA7000 safe and efficient. McIntosh calls these circuits the ‘Power Assurance System’.  The MA7000 also employs McIntosh’s famous hand-wound Autoformer power transformers. Not only are these heavy transformers built to provide you with decades of problem-free service, they also serve to ensure that gobs of high current juice will always be evenly distributed to your loudspeakers regardless of their load.

Other features include a built-in MM phono stage, a built-in headphone amp and jack, a healthy mix of single ended and balanced inputs/outputs, along with a very effective built-in 5 band equalizer. Oh yeah, you also get those sexy big blue power meters!  Just be sure to use caution when lifting this heavy integrated, or else it will also feature a trip to your local chiropractor. 

 MIT CVT Terminator 2 series (8ft Speaker Cables: $999.00 USD) (1m RCA interconnects: $499 USD) or (1m Balanced interconnects: $699 USD)

Music Interface Technologies, otherwise known as MIT, have been crafting high end cables since before I entered the first grade.  Much like McIntosh, this California based company takes on the engineering-first design model. You will find no precious metals and geometries inside an MIT Cable. What you will find however, is a solid design that is based around the use of high quality conductors, connectors, good shielding, and a black network box. Ok, so the box may not be so common. Since the black box is so important to the MIT recipe, and since it is one of the least understood aspects of MIT’s design, I will attempt to explain the function of that box as best as I can.

In short, MIT Cables main goal is to achieve absolute neutrality without compromising all the things we audiophiles love. The big challenge here is that practically every piece that makes up an audio cable has its own sound. While some variables seem impossible to control, the good folks at MIT Cable discovered that one of the main offenders that contributes to an uneven and unnatural presentation is perfectly controllable.  As it turns out, it is all in the bandwidth!

According to MIT, a cable should be just as efficient at 80Hz as it is at 15kHz. The problem is that no cable is fully capable of maintaining its linearity while transferring a full range signal from point A to point B. The reason is because every conductor inside of a cable has a point along its bandwidth in which it is weak (or inefficient). So, while a conductor may be great at transferring a signal within a certain frequency range(say for example, between 2 and 12kHz), it’s the rest of the frequency band that it’s not so great at covering that is the problem. The cables inability to transfer the entire signal without creating ‘holes’ along the way results in performance robbing energy loss. This energy loss translates into limited bandwidth, which as MIT discovered, has very audible consequences.  One of the greatest challenges the team at MIT faced was figuring out how to develop a cable that could maintain its integrity while sending a full range signal from point A to point B.

The answer came in the form of surrounding the main conductors inside of the cable with a series of micro-conductors. You see, while each individual conductor may have a hole in its frequency response, it also has a point where it is most efficient. The job of the micro-conductors is to counter the energy loss at the cables weak points in order to maximize its efficiency at strong points. The idea here is to control energy loss. If you can manage to set up these micro-conductors in sequential order to the point of controlling the entire frequency response of the cable, then you will ultimately end up with a truly efficient (and audibly neutral) cable.

The idea worked well, but there were still some problems. Not only would the added cost of running all these extra conductors make the cable insanely expensive, but it would also make the cable insanely thick as well. The final solution came in the form of an innovative network circuit designed to store and release energy much in the way the micro-conductors did, only without the additional bulk and expense. Now that’s what I call a win/win solution!

While the primarily focus of this article is to concentrate on how the McIntosh and MIT combination performs as a whole, it is worth mentioning that  the CVT cables worked well across every type of system that I was able to hook them up to. From tubes to all variations of solid state, from electrostatics to cones and domes, the sound always remained well balanced, well extended, detailed, and full. At the end of the day, I feel like the MIT CVT’s are solid cables that never deposit anything undesirable into the signal. They do a great job at allowing everything else in the chain to have its own voice.

Performance Summary

 

 

The Good:  Excellent craftsmanship, with build quality that should allow for many years of worry free operation; Exceptional sound quality that is surprisingly linear; great resolution at all listening levels; Possess the type of scale and density that is usually reserved for large separates; Powerful bass; detailed and non accentuated highs; clean and open sounding midrange; wonderful integration of all the frequencies; noise free and cool operation; excellent manufacturer support; Easy to listen to

 

The Bad: The systems linearity may not make it the best choice to match with speakers that possess a very ‘thin’ voice; Though not bloated, the bass could be a tad quicker and more refined; No HT bypass; There is no single ended output for a sub; The front panel lights and logos cannot be dimmed; The cables can be difficult to work with in tight spaces and may cause strain on speaker binding posts that are installed in the upward position

 

The Bottom Line: You get what you pay for with this particular McIntosh/MIT combination. When I tally up the systems satisfying reproduction of music, ability to match a great variety of loudspeakers, its impressive power reserve and ease of use, it makes for an easy luxury item to recommend to those who can afford it.

 

General Character: This system is all about delivering the musical goods in a very ‘just the facts, ma’am’ kind of manner. This is not just another group of solid state gear attempting to capture the lush sound of tubes.  Instead, the McIntosh / MIT pairing errs to hit on all of the strengths of solid state, such as great resolution, wide bandwidth, great linearity throughout that bandwidth, and the ability to drive a wide variety of loudspeakers. Subsequently, the system’s presentation may not appeal to those whose stripes are already sewn to the romantic overtones of glowing glass. In fact, if it wasn’t for the built-in 5 band EQ, I’d be tempted to say that this pairing almost sways towards the ‘clinical’ side of town, particularly on speakers that already sound that way to begin with.

Treble:            I found the highs to be transparent in the original sense of the audiophile term. If the recording is bright, then the treble will be bright. If the recording is rolled off the top end, then that’s what you will get.  Whatever the recording has to offer, this system will let you hear it in as much detail as possible –for better or for worse. The only notable ‘character’ that I observed during my time with this system is a lack of digital ‘edge’, courtesy of the MCD500. All in all, I would classify this setups top end as being transparent, linear, and resolute.

Midrange: The McIntosh/MIT combination does a wonderful job of projecting an open, clean and articulate midrange without ever robbing the music of its flesh and palpability. This made it incredibly easy to follow subtle and emotion inducing nuances woven within live recordings. This system is all about allowing the music the freedom to express itself without the intrusion of obvious tonal shadings and coloration. No, you won’t get the organic bloom of a tube setup, but that’s not always a bad thing.

Bass: I must admit that the McIntosh/MIT combo really gave the 8” drivers on my Wilson Audio Watt Puppy’s the kind of workout that few other integrated/CD-player systems have. It was almost as if someone turbo charged the bottom end. Electric guitar power-chords suddenly became a lot more visceral, charging the room with copious amounts low end energy. While the bass kept largely true to the rest of the systems resolute and detailed persona, I nonetheless felt like it could have been a touch better at handling quick paced bass riffs. This is not to say that the bass is overblown or pitchless. It’s just that I expected a bit more ‘snap’, particularly at this price range. It’s also worth noting that this observation remained consistent regardless of the speakers or other (non-MIT) cables that I used.

Imaging: Much like the treble, the imaging prowess of this system seems to hinge largely on the quality of the recording itself. That said, I found the imaging to be very encompassing in most circumstances. Not only does this system ace the ability to unearth the layers hidden deep within a good recording, but it presents those layers with great precision and spatial separation. Top things off excellent image depth and width, and you’ve got a soundstage that is easy to enjoy.

Dynamics: If a components physical size has any direct parallel to its ability to properly reproduce the physical scale of live music (and I believe that it does), then it’s no surprise that the McIntosh gear does a damn good job of rendering the sort of “life like” scale and dynamics that would normally be associated with large separates. While it is not uncommon for simple two-box systems to get a lot of things right when it comes to reproducing all the goodies that we audiophiles covet, the one area that these systems tend fall short on is in capturing the physical scale and power of a performance. Not so with the McIntosh/MIT combo. In fact, it laughs at such plebian notions.  Dynamics? Bring it on.

5-Band Equalizer: I may have to turn in my audiophile stripes after saying this, but screw it, I will say it anyway. I feel that the built-in EQ housed inside the MA7000 is a huge selling point for this system.  If it wasn’t for the ability to attenuate the signal, I would be close to filing the entire system under the ‘clinical’ category. Thankfully, the EQ enabled me to bump things up/down where I felt necessary. Too much treble? Just lower the knob a bit and valla – bleeding ears no more. Too much bass?  Ditto. Want to feel that kick drum just a bit more? Bump up the lower end. In mere seconds (or minutes, if you want to experiment around a bit), you can tailor your sound to how you want it. Although self proclaimed diehard audiophiles may scoff at the idea of an EQ, I can say that the system still sounds far more linear with this circuit in place than many other so called ‘purist’ systems that I’ve encountered. A big tip of the hat goes to the McIntosh engineers for figuring out how to pull that off without any major compromises.

Closing Summary:   Part of what I love so much about this system is how each component is capable of standing well on its own sonic merits.  What this means is that you won’t have to match an MCD-500 with a MA7000 to get the most ideal performance out of the two products, though if you do, you are guaranteed to get a fantastic presentation that may in fact serve as an end-game.  I can honestly say that I envy those who have the luxury of listening to this system in their homes on a daily basis. Good stuff!

The Wrap Up

 

When I first stepped into the world of high performance home stereos, a wise man once told me; “Son, this hobby ain’t cheap”.  Oh how right he was!  Through the years I’ve come to appreciate that while it doesn’t always take a lot of cash to get great sound, you really do have to ‘pay to play’ if you want to attain state of the art performance.  Such is the case with this particular McIntosh / MIT system.  There is no doubt that $16,000 USD is a lot of money to spend on just two components and two sets of cables.  However, when you factor in the craftsmanship, performance and convenience of this system, I can without hesitation say that it is worth its weight in dollar bills.

McIntosh Laboratory                                                      MIT Cables

 http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/                              http://www.mitcables.com/

2 Chambers Street, Binghamton, NY 13903           4130 Citrus Ave Suite 8, Rocklin, CA 95677

1-800-538 6576                                                                  1-916-625-0129

 

 

Addendum:        Please note that I modified the contents of this review (on March 8^th, 2010) a few days after publishing the original copy.  A number of formatting and technical errors required fixing.