Recent content by frodaddi

To me, personally, the traditional McIntosh livery of black / chrome / blue is an important part of what makes the product line desirable. I don't even care for the look of the gold chassis versions that come along once in awhile, TBH. But, then again... you can get Wilson speakers in a...

That is a really nice looking piece of furniture and fits the spot and the gear perfectly! How did you handle the wires, did you have to drill holes?

I agree with you about the Dante. I'd never heard of it so I looked it up briefly, and learned what you said about it being a digital audio over ethernet protocol. But it also means you need wired network access at the point where it's installed. If you are not using Dante specifically, seems...

It's an interesting product for distributed audio. I have a whole home system that was installed with ceiling speakers and wall mounted volume controls all around back when our house was built in 2001. A couple of years ago I updated the electronics to use a similar audio matrix / amp from...

WiiM is my choice, use it to stream Amazon HD at full bit rate straight to the DAC on my MA8950. I figure if it delivers the stream bit perfect from the service that’s really all there is to it. Perfectly usable app although I can’t speak to anything other than Amazon as the service. The...

The owners manuals are on the McIntosh website under ‘legacy products’ they usually have mounting templates

I have never heard anything other than positive impressions about the MC452/462. If you are the type to be interested in measurements etc you might enjoy Erin's review of the MC462, which AFAIK is mainly an evolutionary refinement over the MC452. The measurements are truly impressive. That...

The new C55 and C2800 have some pretty nice new features, including the return of the processor / tape loop and bass management for subwoofer.

If it was me, I'd make the decision based on features and aesthetic match to whatever amp you're using more so than sound quality, which I agree with Caddy is likely pretty similar between the two. The C40 is a newer generation, so it has the 17.5" wide chassis vs the 16" chassis for the C30...

I have one of the IoT relay devices (also available from Amazon BTW) working to power a distributed audio amplifier via an IR remote. It works as described, haven't had any trouble with it. In your case I believe you would want to use the white (tip) and black (shield) wires, leaving the red...

I'd recommend taking a look at the WiiM streamers. They range in price from $89 for the 'mini' which is a hockey puck type of thing up to $329 for the 'ultra' which has a touch screen display. If you need Ethernet as opposed to WiFi you will need to go with at least the 'pro' which is $149...

I really have enjoyed my MX117 tuner / preamp. Which I realize is not strictly a preamp, although based on the C504 preamp + MR75 tuner. The tuner preamps were really neat devices and somewhat unusual, you don't see a lot of them from other manufacturers. I wish Mc would have the option of a...

I haven't used or heard one, but the new C55 (or C2800 for tube lovers) has some pretty nice new features with the effects loop and crossover features for subwoofer or biamping management. Plus it is 'Roon Tested' (not 'Roon Ready') which may be important for some users. Personally if I was in...

Can’t speak for the DS200 specifically, but in general a dedicated streamer vs smart TV has the advantage of not requiring the TV to be on. Or if it is on, you could have the ball game or something on while listening to music (I do this often). Also I don’t know whether the smart TV output...

I am a McIntosh fan but their streaming efforts haven't ever seemed to quite hit the mark. Plus I am just reluctant to spend very much on streaming, which seems more prone to obsolescence than amps, preamps, etc. TBH if I was looking to keep the McIntosh aesthetic for streaming, I would buy...