McIntosh MP100 Phono Preamplifier

Description

Highly Commended
Highly
Recommended
The MP100 is the first dedicated phono preamplifier from McIntosh and is designed to help both new and experienced vinyl lovers get the most fidelity, performance and – most importantly – enjoyment from their albums.

Like all McIntosh products, the MP100 is packed with features designed specifically for the vinyl lover including: Moving Coil and Moving Magnet inputs; Moving Coil and Moving Magnet adjustable loading (6 settings each); balanced and unbalanced analog outputs; optical, coax and USB digital outputs; and a Mono switch for when playing mono records to decrease noise and play the signal correctly. For pure analog use, the digital outputs can be completely disabled and powered down.

“This is a clean-sounding, detailed, commanding phono amp that also represents excellent value. It’s compact, beautifully-made in the McIntosh manner and easy to use. Once the features are accounted for, especially XLR balanced out, you realise that it’s actually something of a bargain.” – Hi-Fi News

There are many ways to integrate the MP100 into your audio system. If you’re new to vinyl and just building your system, it can become the main part of your setup. Or if you already have a system with an older preamp you don’t want to part with, the MP100 is an excellent way to add modern phono features. If you’ve got a home theater system and would like to add a turntable, the MP100 is an easy way to add full phono preamp capabilities without having to get a full-sized stereo preamp that would undoubtedly duplicate many of your home theater processor’s features.

“It is clean, clean, clean and of course quiet times three as well… it excels at delivering the goods at very low SPLs where some at this price point just pack up and go home… a product built and presented to [McIntosh’s] legendary standard” – Analog Planet

While spinning vinyl on a turntable is a great and unique way to enjoy music, there’s no denying the convenience of having digital versions of the albums. When used with a properly configured conversion program, the MP100 can “rip” the records to a computer via USB to produce high quality digital files. The digital outputs are fixed at 24-bit/96kHz to capture the full dynamic range of a record while optimizing digital file size. If an album has a very loud section, the clipping indicator will alert you so you can lower the digital output in order to produce a distortion-free recording.

“The fully featured MP100 offers a low noise, mature and detailed sound… For many users, the MP100 will be the only phono [pre]amplifier they will ever need.” – The Audiophile Man

Compact in size at just 3” tall, it has many ageless McIntosh design cues. It shares the same 11.5” narrow chassis design as the MXA80 Integrated Audio System, MHA150 Headphone Amplifier and MB50 Streaming Audio Player to help build a cohesive system. It can also easily be added to a system comprised of standard, wider width chassis.