New Products From McIntosh

McIntosh Laboratory unveiled for the press three new products that they will be showing at CEDIA next month. They are the MX135 A/V Control Center (already shipping), the MVP861 Universal Player, and the MC207 7-channel Power Amplifier, all with McIntosh's signature design and cosmetics.

The MX135 A/V controller is an impressive device which includes most of the functions of the C45 multichannel analog preamplifier with a full complement of digital inputs, balanced and unbalanced inputs/outputs, digital processing (including Dolby ProLogic IIx), and five sets of video inputs and multi-zone controls. Retained from the C45 are the MM phono input, the option of a first-rate AM/FM tuner module and, most importantly, the facility to set up and manage functions from the front panel or remote without the necessity of a video display. Also retained are the traditional front panel knobs and buttons for control and operation.

The MX135 seems to fill the gap between traditional analog preamps and full-digital A/V processors by combining the familiar human interface of the former with the functionality of the latter. In addition to a normal McIntosh remote control, the MX135 also comes with a Harmony learning control, pre-programmed for the MX135. MSRP is $7600.

The MVP861 Universal Player, shown in prototype, plays CD, SACD, DVD, and DVD-A and includes DD and DTS decoding. Separate DACs are used for PCM (24/192) and DSD. Armed with both single-ended and balanced outputs, full bass management, and bass enhancement (to provide subwoofer output from a stereo signal) for audio, the MVP (Most Valuable Player?) adds a 12-bit, 108MHz video DAC, progressive scan, and component/composite/S-video outputs. As with the MX135, only digital video outputs, HDMI or DVI, are lacking. MSRP is $4000.

Completing this trio is the 7x200W MC207 Power Amplifier. This 83lb amp sports three of McIntosh's blue-face power meters across the front panel, so there's no mistaking its heritage. It provides 200Wpc into either 8 ohm or 4 ohm loads, with the amp sensing the load so it can adjust the power supplied to output stages without any user involvement. The MC207's inverted chassis design contains all the low-level circuitry and shields it from the output and power circuitry which sits on top of it. MSRP is $6000.

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