We're at the World of McIntosh international press launch in Sardinia, and this morning the group has unveiled three new products it will launch in the third quarter of 2016.
First is the $5500 MVP901 Blu-ray player (above), which the company describes as a 'bridge player'. Although it can upscale standard Blu-rays to 4K Ultra HD, it is not (yet) a full-blown 4K player like the Panasonic DMP-UB900 or Samsung UBD-K8500. The implication is that McIntosh will produce a 4K player in due course.
The McIntosh MVP901 can also play CDs, SACDs and DVD-Audio discs. Digital-to-analogue conversion is handled by a 32-bit/192kHz DAC.
There's built-in decoding for Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio, as well as Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro-3D passthrough for sending the relevant signal to a compatible processor.
The McIntosh C2600 vacuum tube preamp has redesigned tube circuitry and an "advanced digital audio section". It also incorporates other improvements made to the company's C1100 preamp, and has 14 inputs for connecting multiple analogue or digital sources. It can accommodate turntables with moving magnet (MM) or moving coil (MC) cartridges.
A 32-bit/384kHz DAC (digital-to-analogue converter) can decode and play DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256 files plus DXD352.8kHz and DXD384kHz audio.
The MP100 is the first dedicated phono preamp from McIntosh with selectable moving coil (MC) and moving magnet (MM) inputs. Additional features include balanced and unbalanced outputs, optical, coaxial and USB digital outputs and a mono switch for listening to mono records.
Other developments in the pipeline include a software upgrade (v2.0) for the McIntosh MX160 AV processor with Dolby Atmos.
McIntosh says it will also extend the Play-Fi wireless multi-room function across more of its products this year, and will add Qobuz and Napster support in Europe.
Full details and prices will hopefully be confirmed shortly, when we get to view the products. We are also hoping to see a selection of new products from Sonus Faber, Audio Research and Pryma, all of which are now part of the World of McIntosh portfolio.
