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Design A New McIntosh Product

Yes, but.....

masterlu said:
You forgot the MQ109B Environmental Equalizer.
Click to expand...

Okay, but once again the MQ109 was designed specifically for a McIntosh loudpeaker system, in particular the XRT26-according to Roger Russell. In addition, it didn't span the entire frequency range-its frequency bands were centered at 50hz, 80hz, 150hz, 300hz, and 600hz. It was a relatively small, "black box" type unit-nothing fancy...certainly not the type of beauty we'd like to see...:no:
 
How about a McIntosh outboard headphone amplifier?

A McIntosh outboard headphone amplifier (SS or tube) would be nice for times when you don't want to use your main amp. Also would be an improvement over my C-42 headphone output.
 
How about a very high end outboard phono stage? :thmbsp:
2 chassis, clean box/dirty box like the C1000 (seperate beefy power supply). Call it the MCP1000. And another high end preamp with no phono stage for those that want them to be seperate? C1000NP.
 
One box player/DAC

I would like to see an unstrangled MCD500, perhaps called MCD501 with digital inputs including USB or Firewire and/or even Ethernet supporting FLAC and wav formats up to 24/192. The proper DACs are already there in the MCD500.
 
Just Add one MCD500 + one MS750. What is the data rate of your USB sources? Firewire? The MCD500 is the finest implementation of the ESS Saber DAC and is not strangled in any way.

Thanks,
Ron-C
 
Yes, of course I know! The specs on the sheet may not list all of its capabilities. Up to 24 bit at 96 Khz will be accepted and all inputs will be converted to 24 bit at 96 Khz except DSD which remains one bit. It plays WAV also by the way.

thanks,
Ron-C
 
Devil's advocate ?

My aplogies ron-c,
I hadn't checked your profile when doubting your previous reply.
However, now I'm playing devil's advocate a bit.
From my experience, when working in sales support in the computer industry it is important to keep the tongue in cheek after discussing with development staff. They often talk about new functions that have been tested and running in the lab for a long time and when asking them if a machine can do this or that I often got the reply - of course it can.
In fact, the machines shipped to the customers could not do that because the marketing people had decided certain functions should not be available on a cheaper machine to not cannibalize the sales of a more expensive model.
The development people were completely unaware of such decisions.

From bitter experience I am well trained to compare information from developers with what official announcement letters states about a product's functionality. In certain cases some functions were never ever relased to the market in a certain machine.

When reading that MCD500 "will" support 24/96 my warning bell rings loudly.

Hopefully the distance between development, marketing and production is smaller at McIntosh and that you really are aware of what the shipped machines actually are capable of.
 
Once again I apologize for my doubts regarding the MCD500's capability to accept anything except 44,1 kHz via its digital inputs.
However, I consider the statements below from http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/1219.asp are missleading.

General Specifications:
Digital Input:
Optical: - 15dbm to -21dbm (PCM1 - CD Format only)
Coaxial: 0.5V p-p/75 ohm (PCM1 - CD Format only)
Sampling Frequencies: 44.1kHz (PCM1)

Thanks to my friendly Mac dealer an MCD500 is now decoding one of my live 48kHz DAT recordings in my home.
It sounds very smooth.
I have spent most of the weekend to thoroughly test just about every facility and mode of operation except the optical inputs and outputs, but including use of my old CD-drive as input to it, and the digital output to feed my old DAC.
Using the variable output feeding my power amps directly was very slightly superior to the fixed output via my C2300.
Thanks to the trim function of the C2300 it was easy to calibrate the inputs from the MCD500 and my DAC.
A few very experienced listeners have visited me and we played a wide variety of music, the major part being acoustic classical and contemporary.
On exceptional recordings the definition of the rear corners of the recording venue is clearly superior. It is soooo smooth, rough recordings are easier on the ears, BUT it smoothes over the microdynamics compared to my old DAC.
The finest nuances ov vocal or instrumental articulation aren't there.
Considering that my current drive and DAC are 20 (yes twenty) years old (and in daily use) that is a major disappointment!
Even if the MCD500 is built like an armored car and mine is built like a tank and would probably have cost more to build today than an MCD1000 and MDA1000 together, I had expected the MCD500 to be superior in every way.
 
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jdandy said:
MacStereo.....Think of it like this. Your room is a speaker, too. The only possible way the sound at your listening position is not being altered by your room's acoustic signature would be if all frequencies, 20Hz to 20KHz, were flat at that spot. What equalization can do, in conjuction with a full frequency spectrum analyzer, is to correct back to flat any frequencies that are being excited or nulled by the rooms acoustics. Once the measurements, and EQ adjustments have been successfully completed, then you will be hearing exactly what has been recorded, because the room acoustics are no longer coloring what you hear at your listening position.

The downside of this is, the listening position where the measurements were taken during EQ adjustments is the only place in the room where a flat response will be present. Move from this listening position, and the room's acoustic signature enters the equation once again.
Click to expand...


I'm not an expert on this matter but if one were to correct strictly for freq response the sound would be terrible... Its been done ...

McIntosh has no reason to offer an old school parametric equalizer when Tact and others have products which can correct for frequency and time domain problems. In addition, software development for such a product would be prohibitively expensive and time consuming which is undoubtedly why the AP1000 thingy is delayed. BTW high frequency correction is accomplished very effectively with room treatments but the low freq stuff really works well with DSP.
 
LIONKING said:
I'm not an expert on this matter but if one were to correct strictly for freq response the sound would be terrible... Its been done ..... BTW high frequency correction is accomplished very effectively with room treatments but the low freq stuff really works well with DSP.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree with you more regarding room treatments as an effective approach to control room acoustics. My main listening room was reflective, with a low frequency standing wave problem in one corner, and all of it was controlled satisfactorily with bass traps and acoustic panels. I much prefer acoustic treatment to electronic frequency alteration, especially if the results correct the problems.
 
The MQ104 and 107s were amazing devices that just transformed the sound for the better. They were acoustical equalizers used to correct problems with the listening room. The MQ109s were used to correct a problem with the XRT26, according to Roger. A standalone equalizer would be a nice option for those pre-amps that don't come with enough tone correction.

The really nice thing I would like to see is an open (vs proprietary) media server that allows us to tinker with the drives within while also being a convergence box.
 
mrbooboy said:
I'd like to see a MS interface without a hard drive (which limits the storage capability and creates unwanted noise). Something that I can use with my NAS storage device. Basically, a real fancy Squeezebox with quality DACs and a slick video interface.
Click to expand...

I second this motion. The goal is a silent front end for the listening room, with file storage on a commodity NAS device which allows for (relatively) inexpensive RAID drive mirrors or other backup solutions.

BTW, kudos for using FLAC non-proprietary format. Expanded format support is fine, but please ensure support for OGG and other Vorbis open audio/video formats. Open technology is the future, and it's incredibly encouraging to see McIntosh going in the right direction.
 
Of all the simple things I would like to see made is a nice power control center (ie) relay s with 20 amp capacities to allow my MX-134 and 130's to power the multitude of power amps i have with the control circuit and match the fronts with back lit glass fronts .
 
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Wow, another thread back from the dead, 2008?!?

Actually the MPC1500 will do everything you request and will pass the maximum amount of current legally allowed. It will power two MC601s without limiting them so you should be OK with multiple amplifiers. 20 amp dedicated circuit is recommended.

Thanks,
Ron-C
 
I'd like to see Mac bring Roger Russell back to make an updated version of the ML-1c without the current metal dome tweeters. Maybe an up dated version of his IDS speaker with more Dynamic capabilities, too.

I also agree Mac should produce a reissue of a 2105 with all the latest technology, but on a 16 inch chassis. A basic 2100 type reissue might not be a bad idea either, built on a 275 chassis to save money.

Maybe an updated C28 or 29 on a 16" chassis or a reissue of the C-40 with all its flexibility with updated remote controls and components..

How about a C1000 or 500 with tone controls.

New products could include a room EQ similar to accuphase with calibrated mic so you could draw in curves you want, and have Room perfect or Audessey as an additional plug in card if you wished. Have multiple memories to store preferred setting and more for each input when selected on existing pre-amps using the data circuits.

How about variable pitch on a 3 speed turn table turntable with a straight line tracking tone arm with a sandwiched metal platter with accessories for controlling record deformation al la VPI. How about being made in the USA. !!!!!! Instead of Germany.

Updated reissue of a MC3500 rated at 500 watts, Quad balanced, with Power Guard including 1 and 2 ohm taps. With quiet cooling fans to allow continuous long term operation.
'
 
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